I'm MOVING!!!

[Poseidon]

Well folks it is official, I am moving to a new house. We get the keys at the end of this week. So far I have ordered a new cabinet, canopy, tank, and sump. Yup that's right, a new tank. I had to downgrade to a 90 Gallon tank, and with that change a new sump, as my current 55 will not fit under my new cabinet. I plan on using all my current equipment, including my external overflow. My new sump is a 45 gallon, with the dimensions 36x16x18 tall. I will be placing the baffles in it myself (hopefully I do a better job this time.)

Anyway what I am looking for is any experiences you can share while moving your tank and its inhabitants. I have managed to save several buckets, and I have the advantage of having a tank partially set-up at my new place once the move starts.

I am still planning a DSB, I already have the sand. I will also move my current lighting set-up, with the exception of my 6 ft VHO... :eek3: I think that would look pretty funny! I do need to find out if the ballast I am using will drive a 4ft VHO though.

My biggest concern is the Tunze I just purchased, it is the 6060 model. I hope it won't cause a big ol' sand storm.

Well if you have any hints let me know, I will be starting a new thread to document the move with LOTS of pictures, once the time comes to actually move. I will also post a few LAST pictures of the tank before I start the teardown process, wish me LUCK!

[zhenya]

Good luck with the move,Mike! Hope everything works out good for you. If you have the advantage to set up your new tank prior to move...use it. ;)

I'm not sure the Tunze will work well in 4' tank with the sand bed, I'm pretty certain that it will promtly relocate your sand bed and pile it up on one side of the tank.
As far as the ballast for your 6' VHO's, it should be no problem using it for the 4 footers. How many do you intend to run over your 90?

[Elmo18]

Hi Mike!

Wow congrats on the new house. I think from experience, I would have lots of new makeup saltwater made before moving anything. Save as much of the old water as possible to store corals and move the fish in. I thought I had enough make up water when i moved to this place I'm in now, but I didn't and should have had made more.

Goodluck with the move!

- Elmo

[Poseidon]

Thanks Guys! I am only using a single VHO for the color, it is actinic of course. I have 2 32 gallon cans to move water in, I hope to move 15 gallons or so in each, plus the water in the smaller buckets I have. I have to lift these cans up a small flight of stairs so putting more then that in each may be a stretch on my uh... BACK!

One other thing I realized tonight is I will have to do some serious fragging. My cap and Milli alone will take up 1/3 of my available space!

I will have the 90 set up and ready to go, well almost ready to go BEFORE I start what I expect to be a full days project all by itself!

[scubadude]

Congrats on the new tank/house Mike

I think Gene may be right about the tunze but dont worry too much you can send it to me Seriously if you have to sell it im sure you will get pretty close to what you got in it. My only thought would be to let your NEW tank settle with the sand in it for a while before you put in fish/corals in there. I dont understand why you had to downgrade though in size?

[almostdiva]

YAY!!!!

Congrats on the new house, Mike!! I know you guys have been looking. All the people in my office who have tried to buy in the last year have had a hard time, too, cause the market is so hot.

I can't remember if you currently have a DSB or not? I did a bunch of reading -- lots of articles online. One of Anthony Calfo's had what I thought was a great suggestion for moving an existing DSB. Get a brand new dustpan (obviously never used...). Use the dust pan to remove the DSB in layers (I did 4), and place it in rubbermade containers (storage ones, I got mine at K-Mart) with lids. Cover the layers with 1 to 2 inches of existing tank water and label them. Install in the correct order and everything works hunky dory. When I moved (2 yrs ago now... ) I was flipping out, but it's not so bad, as long as you plan ahead. I TOTALLY agree w Elmo about the water. His thread about his tank move (and Chuck's) were EXTREMELY helpful also. One last suggestion -- get a BIG van/SUV type vehicle. Moving my stuff in the VW Beetle (even with the hatch back and back seat down) was a PITA

Rebecca

PS I have found my friends can be easily bribed with BEER

[Poseidon]

PS I have found my friends can be easily bribed with BEER

LOL!!!

I think everybodys friends can be bribed with the magic golden ale!

I do have a DSB right now, but it is a mix of particle sizes so I don't want to move it!

I dont understand why you had to downgrade though in size?

I am downgrading in HOUSE size too! Unfortunately this move is NOT one I want to make, it was brought on by 3 months of unemployment and a mortgage company that was not willing to help. BLAH!!!

My new place is a manufactured home, very nice one, but it is still smaller then what I have now. I will be placing the tank in the dining room area. With the floor pan we have a 6 ft tank would only allow a 1ft walkway between the tank and the dining room table... Kinda hard to get to the laundry room with that small of a space!

[miareefer]

Mike

I moved my Tank about 18 months ago and did a Monster 300 km move 2 years ago and i learnt a lot from the expeirence .
One word Kiddy pool mate the easiest way i found was to put all my clean rock and corals and fish in the kiddy pool with your existing tank water in a empty room in your soon to be vacated house . I hung a halide on mine for a week because it took ages for the Otilith sand to settle . I then put the dirty base rock in a separate containers or buckets and give them a good rinse .Set up the new tank ASAP so your plumbing can dry and start making up the saltwater in the new tank below your plumb lines so you can add your new sand once the salt waters right about 24 hours or if you could pre- make even better but id say you are going to run out of bucketts real quick .Like Rocky said id hold back for a while with the fish till it all settles .As far as the Tunze you could easily use it but id plan on putting some well placed rocks on the bed on the opposing side to prevent a blowout it might work but even a 6060 has a bit of grunt .
Good luck
Mia

[Elmo18]

Don't forget to add a powerhead or two and a heater....when you are placing them in a temporary container (i.e. kiddy pool, or the like).

- Elmo

[Poseidon]

Kiddy POOL!! Sounds like a plan! I do have some time to get out of old house, so I don't plan on rushing it that is for sure! I called the LFS and my cabinet and canopy are scheduled to be delivered (to them) Friday. I am planning my move (furniture appliances etc) for the 5th and 6th. I figure the tank will be the following week. I plan on working on the 90 Sunday, painting the back glass, routing the plumbing etc etc. All those pictures I will post in a new "documenting my new tank" type thread. I am sure this one will get pretty long to, once I start! YIKES This is starting to stress me out!

[charlie]

Mike
Congrats on the new place, whether it's a downsize or not. I'm sure you'll be able to manage. Hope everything turns out OK with the tank move, I think everybody has covered you real well here. Get that camera of yours out and document all of it, I'm sure there is bound to be an OH ****, that evryone will get a good laugh from. Just hold off on showing us for a while so you don't get to red!!!!
Good luck man,
Charlie

[Poseidon]

Well I have had my first set back... The tanks are in, but the cabinet and canopy were built 13" wide! DOH! The new stand is supposed to be in this Friday. I hope they get it right this time!

By the way, I ordered them from 2 different LFS, each had a better price then the other on the seperate pieces. I got the tank and sump at one place for 100 dollars cheaper. And the stand and canopy at the other for 150 cheaper... LOL I guess each place takes a low mark-up on the different pieces to try and keep set-up prices lower! Glad I called around!

[vtec si]

Good luck and hope it all works out this time!

Martin

[Poseidon]

OKay so far so good! I have all the "BIG STUFF" moved over to the new place and we didn't have any issues!

The LFS called yesterday to say the cabinet and canopy are in, I will be picking them up tomorrow morning. I plan to make a PVC support similar to what Ninong made for his tank to hold up the rock, get the sand in place, and start filling it up by Monday. I am planning to move livestock around the 14th or 15th, hopefully by then all the cloudiness from the fresh sandbed will have subsided. I also may pick up a box of liverock and start curing that in a trashcan, I know I am going to be leaving a lot of critters in the DSB of my old tank. I may also place an order for more sandbed critters.

I keep going back and forth on my current fish stock though, I know my 90 is to small for an adult Naso, but what are some opinions on one that is 6" in length? The other fish question I have is my Niger trigger, now would be a good time to take him out, but I have grown attached to the "bite fishy" (he can identify him as a trigger and will identify other triggers as well) as my 3 year old calls him, I think Logan would be upset if I got rid of EITHER of them, let alone BOTH!!!

Boy am I TIRED TODAY! Moved the last load in just after 12 midnight, and spent some time unpacking after that!

[charlie]

Just make sure you grab a tupperware container full from your old sand bed. That should be good enuf to get you a kick start on your new sand bed. If you order more critters, that'll just help out more. Keep on keepin on, and more good luck!!

[Poseidon]

More setbacks....

Number 2- The canopy I ordered was to be 12" tall from the bottom edge to the Top. The one that came in was SIXTEEN inches from bottom to top. Aesthically it just doesn't look right, and when the 90 is placed on the cabinette, then the canopy on the tank, the whole unit is as tall as ME!!! YIKES, I am 6'2" and can't see on top of canopy... I called the LFS they are going to exchange it and have one built to my specifications!

Number 3- This one is more major, I can't fit the custom sump I ordered in my new cabinet!!! I KNEW I should have waited, but I was trying to get more then one thing ordered at once! My cabinet is 15" wide at the bottom, my sump is 16"! ARGH! The cabinet has a vertical center brace too, so I can't just let the sump hang out the back! I need to think of a way to "truss" the back of the cabinet. I was thinking of bringing that vertical center down onto another horizontal 1x3 and then span that to the edges and support it on each side with 1x3's (the vertical support is a 1x3) I think that would be adequate to support the back side of the 90 given the left and right edges would still have full support. I have seen 55's that were ONLY supported on the left and right, with NOTHING under the front and back, but I don't want to take that big of a risk....

I am going to be removing softies this week, things like mushrooms and Capanella, and my last couple stalks of xenia...

[Poseidon]

Well the setup of the 90 is in full swing, I have modified the cabinet to accept the 45 gallon sump that I had custom built, it measures 36x16x18 tall and just BARELY fits in the cabinet. I will post some pictures of that later. Today I am off to Lowes to buy some eggcrate, and 1" PVC. I also realized that once I get the skimmer in the sump I will NOT be able to get it out, I have to drop it in from the top B4 the 90 is set in place. I will have to do some experimenting before the tank is full to make sure I can adequately clean the skimmer. If I can't clean the skimmer I will be forced to buy a smaller sump, probably and 20 long. That would make my total volume MUCH smaller then I was hoping to keep. I also have to silicone my baffles into place still, if I can't clean my skimmer I will use this 45 as a Q tank maybe? Anyway things are coming along slowly...

[charlie]

If you have room, could you use the 45 as a refuge?

[zhenya]

Mike, sorry to hear about all the problems you been having... the canopy and sump... now that skimmer. I think I like your idea of making it into a q-tank or maybe a future propagation tank if it doesn't work out as a sump. I sure hope it does work though. Any chance you can set up your skimmer outside of the sump? Maybe in the small cabinet beside the tank? I know you probably thought of all the possible solutions too....

Keep updating the thread so we know how things stand with the tank. Also, did you move into your new house yet?

[Poseidon]

No room for a seperate fuge, Charlie. If I did I would have just moved my 135 over! Gene, I think the skimmer will end up external again, it WON'T fit in the door with the 45 as a sump. Looking more and more at the sump and keep thinking that a smaller one would be more prudent, this one gives me such a SMALL amount of space under the tank!

Here is the WORST setback though, I woke up this morning and found PVC primer had leaked out of the closed top, THROUGH a plastic bag, and onto the FLOOR! PURPLE STAIN in a brand new FLOOR! I have tried BLEACH, and some citrus cleaner, (it is a no wax linoleum type) next I have to try something with grit like Comet or Ajax, but I think it is too LATE I think I have this stain to live with now! ARGH!!! I am so FLIPPIN ANGRY!!! It is my fault and I even thought last night before we bought it that I should take it out of the bag... MAn this move has just been one thing after another! Almost want to just say forget it... And set-up a 90 FOWLR and no sump... I am sure I will get over it soon, I have yet to call the leasing office and tell them I have ruined a floor in a house that I have lived in for only SEVEN DAYS!!!! YIKES!