Buying an established 70g

Chito

Reefing newb
Hi all! I'm the new guy. I'm heading out of town to buy an established 70g set up this weekend hopefully. It already has live rock and fish in it but not substrate.

What is the best way to transport all this safely? It's about a 45 minute drive. Also, I want sand, not just bare glass in my tank. What's the best way to do this without screwing it all up?

Thanks! :)
 
Welcome to the forum!

Get a bunch of either 5g buckets or rubbermaid containers, fill them with the tank water and put all the live rock and fish in them. Also, make sure you buy the sand you'll need and have a refractometer or hydrometer.
When you get back to your house, make sure you get heaters into the containers so the water doesn't get too cold and possibly powerheads in each one to keep the water moving.
Then start setting your tank up. The way I would do it is:
Set up the stand and tank where you want them (make sure the tank is level!)
Fill the tank up half way with fresh RO water and salt mix (to a salinity of 1.024-1.026 and the appropriate temp.)
Make sure you have powerheads running in the tank to get the salt mixed up
Once the salinity is at the proper level, start setting up your live rocks how you want them in the tank (try to make sure the rocks are submerged under water so you don't kill anything living in the rocks). Once you have the rocks set-up and they're stable, now it's time to add your sand, pour the sand around the base of your rocks making sure your sandbed is even everywhere.
At this point there will be a huge sand storm going on in your tank, wait for it to settle. When it starts to clear up, I would take your powerhead and use it to blow off all the sand that has settled on your rockwork. Now, use the rest of the water that was in the container you used to transport the rocks, and top off your tank with that. When it starts clearing up, it should be ok to add the fish in.
 
BL1 has you covered. Good luck with it! Just follow what he said step by step and you'll be there!

And Welcome!
 
How much of the water should I try to save?

You'll probably need to use it all to transport. When you fill the tank at your house, fill up the tank halfway with new saltwater (you don't want to fill it too high since when you add the rock and sand it will raise the water level), then fill up the rest with the old water
 
This tip may be too late but when I was picking up RO water from my LFS, I would first put a plastic garbage bag in my 5 gal buckets. That way I can tie off the bag so the water didn't slosh around in my vehicle on the way back home. If it's a short trip this may be helpful.
 
^ Nice tip and it's not too late, I'm not grabbing the loot until this weekend.

I'm in Victoria, BC, Cottonwood.
 
If you're not picking up anything until this weekend, why not start your salt water mixing now? A big rubbermaid tub, a heater, and a few powerheads can be mixing your saltwater and bringing it up to the right temp. "Aged" saltwater is better than freshly mixed water, especially since your livestock will already be stressed out.
 
If you're not picking up anything until this weekend, why not start your salt water mixing now? A big rubbermaid tub, a heater, and a few powerheads can be mixing your saltwater and bringing it up to the right temp. "Aged" saltwater is better than freshly mixed water, especially since your livestock will already be stressed out.

I agree with this. I'd say try to use half new water, and half water from the old tank. You can have the new water ready to go if you mix it up ahead of time.
 
I also have put a towel over the top of the 5 gallon buckets in the back of my truck to help keep the water in, but the garbage bag is a great idea.

I need to get up your way for a visit, I love the outdoors and it looks amazing up there!
 
It is awesome here. Not too hot, not too cold. I have the salt, so maybe I will start mixing up some water. Good plan!

Oh, and it's Victoria, BC. No "Cottonwood". Not sure what happened there!
 
Back
Top