Red sea seam failure..... tips for tank transfer?

[petcellar]

Hi all.....

My Red Sea 900 XXL G2 isn't aging well already at 18 months old. That's a whole conversation in itself ......

Is this the beginning of the end…….

I have a Red Sea Reefer 900 XXL G2 (see build thread). I didn’t know about the Red Sea seal problem when I bought it (ironically as a replacement for a leaking tank). I’ve been a bit paronoid about watching the seals and noticed this today. What do y’all think? (not that the tank is a ticking...

www.reef2reef.com

However, I need to pretty urgently breakdown this tank and transfer to a new tank. This is going to be a massive undertaking.

I basically have a dry rock build with a LOT of Marco Rock.... and yes.... I mortared it all together when I made the 'scape. I certainly didn't plan for something like this.

I've got about a hundred lbs of TBS live sand in the bottom. I'd like to try to save the sand.... I've read in the other threads how to rinse with tap water in buckets before transfer.

I've got conchs in the sand that I'll need to try to find and save and who knows what else.

I don't know how I'll ever get my fish out. They will disappear into the 'scape at the first provocation. Even siphoning some of the water out first may not help that much. I'll need to get the rocks out.... and that will stir up clouds of silt.

I also have two yellow wrasses.... which I'm sure will bury in the sand. I need to be able to remove them from the tank without harming them.

I also run a high nutrient tank.... my phos runs from 0.6 to 0.8. I'm afraid moving my corals to fresh ASW will shock them and maybe set off brown jelly.

I'm working through these things.... but if there is anybody that has been down this road before and has some tips and tricks to pass along.... I'm all ears.

Thanks so much :)

@ReefSquad

 

[JumboShrimp]

I am sooooooo sorry you are having to go through this. (And rocks mortared together, at that!) This hurts my brain.

 

[Tripod1404]

Best option may be a transfer to a rubber tub.

 

[W31Olds]

What tank are you transferring it to? Does it have to go into the same exact location? I'm asking because I'm doing this not because my Red Sea tank is leaking but just going bigger.

 

[get-salty]

Man.. wish you the best. All i can say is get a buddy and buy him beer, bc you're going to need help. Good luck bud.

 

[Largeangels]

Sucks. I had to move a few tanks when a hot water heater burst in the basement. Like Tripod1404 said get some rubber tubs. Drain as much water as you can into a large tub, then move rocks/corals into the tube and put pumps and heater into it. Then concentrate on catching the fish and put those in the tub with the corals. Remove sand and put in a different tub as you will stir up quite a bit of sediments while trying to catch the fish in the sand. If you can have a third tub where you make up fresh salt water for the move back to the new tank.

 

[ReneReef]

You could look into getting a foldable koi bowl.

Those are inexpensive and come in sizes large enough to hold the entire contents of your tank. After use you fold it up and store it for the next emergency.

 

[JumboShrimp]

One of those Tractor Supply store type tubs. So handy to have for so many reasons; this is a 40-gallon, but of course they make larger ones. But you can really jamb a lot into a 40, with an air stone and heater.

 

[petcellar]

What tank are you transferring it to? Does it have to go into the same exact location? I'm asking because I'm doing this not because my Red Sea tank is leaking but just going bigger.

I'm going to replace it with an equivalent G3. I know.... I'm not crazy about that either.... but short of spending of fortune for an entire new setup I have limited options. I wish I had a time machine :)

It will be in the exact same location. I'll need to try to arrange for movers to help with the tank exchange.... it'll take 4-5 people at least to move it.

 

[petcellar]

You could look into getting a foldable koi bowl.

Those are inexpensive and come in sizes large enough to hold the entire contents of your tank. After use you fold it up and store it for the next emergency.

I had never heard of those. I'll look into it.... sounds like a great idea! Kind of like a kid swimming pool.

 

[petcellar]

One of those Tractor Supply store type tubs. So handy to have for so many reasons; this is a 40-gallon, but of course they make larger ones. But you can really jamb a lot into a 40, with an air stone and heater.

We have a tractor supply in town, so I'm going to go down there and see what options they have in stock.

 

[Tripod1404]

We have a tractor supply in town, so I'm going to go down there and see what options they have in stock.

Make sure you have a way to over the top with a mesh if you are going to keep fish in there as well.

 

[Euphyllia098]

Did you make the transfer?

 

[BryanM]

I'm going to replace it with an equivalent G3. I know.... I'm not crazy about that either.... but short of spending of fortune for an entire new setup I have limited options. I wish I had a time machine :)

It will be in the exact same location. I'll need to try to arrange for movers to help with the tank exchange.... it'll take 4-5 people at least to move it.

I highly urge you to reconsider moving to a G3. You do not have to be "owned" by their ecosystem, almost all gear if not all gear, will work in other tanks/sumps.

This is a bad brand IMO (I had a RS tank, I moved to Waterbox).

Either way, sorry you're going through this and I wish you the best.

 

[underground_corals]

Hi all.....

My Red Sea 900 XXL G2 isn't aging well already at 18 months old. That's a whole conversation in itself ......

Is this the beginning of the end…….

I have a Red Sea Reefer 900 XXL G2 (see build thread). I didn’t know about the Red Sea seal problem when I bought it (ironically as a replacement for a leaking tank). I’ve been a bit paronoid about watching the seals and noticed this today. What do y’all think? (not that the tank is a ticking...

www.reef2reef.com

However, I need to pretty urgently breakdown this tank and transfer to a new tank. This is going to be a massive undertaking.

I basically have a dry rock build with a LOT of Marco Rock.... and yes.... I mortared it all together when I made the 'scape. I certainly didn't plan for something like this.

I've got about a hundred lbs of TBS live sand in the bottom. I'd like to try to save the sand.... I've read in the other threads how to rinse with tap water in buckets before transfer.

I've got conchs in the sand that I'll need to try to find and save and who knows what else.

I don't know how I'll ever get my fish out. They will disappear into the 'scape at the first provocation. Even siphoning some of the water out first may not help that much. I'll need to get the rocks out.... and that will stir up clouds of silt.

I also have two yellow wrasses.... which I'm sure will bury in the sand. I need to be able to remove them from the tank without harming them.

I also run a high nutrient tank.... my phos runs from 0.6 to 0.8. I'm afraid moving my corals to fresh ASW will shock them and maybe set off brown jelly.

I'm working through these things.... but if there is anybody that has been down this road before and has some tips and tricks to pass along.... I'm all ears.

Thanks so much :)

@ReefSquad

lots of bins and 5 gallon buckets to put all the corals and fish, to be honest, i would get rid of the sand and start fresh or go barebottom, adding existing sand can be another headache itself, i would start with taking our the corals and then draining the tank it will make the capture of fish much easier and the start taking out your rock and place them in the bins with water

 

[exnisstech]

Sorry to hear this. Im currently watching a couple of seams my reefer 300 G2 full of acros failing and haven't decided what I'm going to do yet. Your tank is beautiful and I wish you luck on the move and sorry you have to be staying with redsea. Until they state that they have changed the silicone they are using I don't have any confidence the G3s will fix the problem any more than the G2s did or the lack of the center support in the G1 when RS spewed their BS stating it was only larger tanks failing. All they've done is spew nonsense and try to hide the problem by banning people and removing posts anytime anyone mentioned a failure on their FB page. I had a g1 reefer 170 with a vertical seam fail. I agree about the stock tanks from TSC. I have a 100g and a 40g which is the same dementions but shallower.

 

[petcellar]

Did you make the transfer?

Not yet......

I need to get a move on. However..... life is busy, and I haven't gotten around to it yet.

I have started getting things together for it, and will need to coordinate with movers to get the old tank out and the new in.

The old tank has been hanging together so far, but I know I don't need to push my luck.



I really appreciate all the responses here and this has been a big help. Thank y'all.

 

[Pmj]

I did this same thing. Used tractor supply 100g right next to the tank. Drained all water into it. Got sand into 5g buckets, that is a pain and they get real heavy. Got new tank on same stand and put everything back in one day. My tank was only 6 mo old so I didn’t thing my sand was too funky. Had fresh mixed sw on hand too. Worked well and knock on wood, g3 seems good so far. Suction cups were super helpful.