Dakwan's 180 Gallon Move/Rebuild

[Dakwan]

Howdy,

As some of you may know i'm buying someone's currently set up 180 Gallon System. Here are all the pictures i have, that i posted in a previous thread.

http://dakwan.ca/tank/1.jpg
http://dakwan.ca/tank/2.jpg
http://dakwan.ca/tank/3.jpg
http://dakwan.ca/tank/4.jpg
http://dakwan.ca/tank/5.jpg
http://dakwan.ca/tank/6.jpg
http://dakwan.ca/tank/7.jpg
http://dakwan.ca/tank/8.jpg
http://dakwan.ca/tank/9.jpg
http://dakwan.ca/tank/10.jpg
http://dakwan.ca/tank/11.jpg
http://dakwan.ca/tank/12.jpg
http://dakwan.ca/tank/13.jpg

The livestock in it is, as you can see, pretty sparse and includes
A Blue Hippo Tang
A Blonde Naso Tang
Some kind of wrasse
5x small fish , probably blue green chromis

I'll be picking it up on the 21st of August (Next weekend) and am pretty pumped.

This will be my first setup so i'll be relying on you guys for advice :mrgreen:

So my first step is to simply move everything over which is going to be quite the task and here is what i have made to help

The T-1000 Bradley-Tech Fish Transportation System(tm)


http://dakwan.ca/tank/build/1.jpg
http://dakwan.ca/tank/build/2.jpg

I wanted the lids because i didn't want water to end up all over my new jeep but i also didn't want to seal them in there so i cut the holes and then added the egg crate just so i didn't have any airborne missiles flying around when i'm driving down the freeway.

I was paranoid of the oxygen being depleted so i bought 2 cheapie 15 dollar battery powered air pumps and secured them to the lids

I'm contemplating refinishing the stand and if when i see it i decide i should, i'll set up the QT when i get home and house the tangs in there and leave the chromis and wrasse in one (or two) of the T-1000 Bradley-Tech Fish Transportation System(tm) :mrgreen:Units.

I'm hoping i don't have to because i cringe at the though of two tangs stuffed in a 30 gal.

I have a couple other totes to bring water/live rock over and i'll buy some ro/di water from the store to premix some salt water since i don't think my ro/di unit will get here and that i'll have enough time to make water and age it before the move.

There is only one piece of LR in the tank but i assume there MUST be some in the sump because i have a hard time believing that one lil piece of live rock provides enough filtration for a 180G even with the small bio load.

I'm going to rinse the sand like crazy in spare tank water and if i can't get it clean enough i'll just toss it. I'll wipe the tank walls downs before and maybe after as well the move.

My questions to you fine people are:

1. How much water do you think i have to save to try and avoid a cycle? 50%? I'll move as much as i can but 180 gallons of water is 1500lbs so as much fresh salt water as possible would be easiest.

2. would wiping down the tank with something like a 20:1 Water:White vinegar mix help clean the tank? I know thats what people use to clean the outside but i don't know If cleaning the inside with it would help get rid of the dead bacteria or just get the tank all vinegary

3. Kind of random, but when a fish dies how do you dispose of it? Might seem wierd but i've been a vegetarian since i became one when i was a teenager to piss my old man off :mrgreen: (kids eh?) and have never had to throw away fish... does it stink up the garbage super fast if you just dump it in the garbage? Silly question but just curious


http://dakwan.ca/tank/build/3.jpg
4. Do you think putting the tank near the back of my little couch would look good? I've asked this like 3 times but just can't decide :bounce:

Anyways.. Fun Times!

 

[reeffreak]

Sheesh,you cut the top and strung eggcrete on that tote.A few holes drilled would of been good enough or no holes at all.You are being anal but that's okay,we are get like that from time to time.LOL.

1)At least 1/3 should be good.I moved my tank 5 foot and only saved 1/3.
2)You will need to rinse the inside well if you are going to use vinegar.
3)I flush them down the toilet.Yes,they can smell really bad,I mean they are fish after all.
4)I'm not sure.Do you think it looks good there and does it interfere with you working and viewing the tank?

 

[Bifferwine]

I wouldn't put big fish down the toilet... When I've had big fish die, I double bag them in ziplock and throw them in the trash. It's HOT here too -- like it must be 150+ degrees inside that trashcan. They smell.

I agree with Dominick about the rest -- don't use vinegar on the inside unless you can clean it afterwards.

 

[Dakwan]

Sheesh,you cut the top and strung eggcrete on that tote.A few holes drilled would of been good enough or no holes at all.You are being anal but that's okay,we are get like that from time to time.LOL.

1)At least 1/3 should be good.I moved my tank 5 foot and only saved 1/3.
2)You will need to rinse the inside well if you are going to use vinegar.
3)I flush them down the toilet.Yes,they can smell really bad,I mean they are fish after all.
4)I'm not sure.Do you think it looks good there and does it interfere with you working and viewing the tank?

Haha i prefer to call myself "particular" :toothy12:. I Realize it's more than necessary But this is like arts and crafts for me and since i bought a bunch of eggcrate i wanted to use it for something right NOW :mrgreen:

I won't bother with the vinegar unless the tank is too hard to clean without... i'm under the impression that its a bit of a mess since the owners don't care about upkeep anymore.

And i'll go with a 1/3 , sounds reasonable to me !

Thanks for the advice

 

[VAreef]

Wow you went overboard with those totes but hey it won't hurt nothin. Just move it man. The key is not to mix up the old sand bed from the tank until your ready. Once youv'e drained the water into your totes then put all the sand into another tote of it's own. Thats the tote that could cause a cycle. Add to it new saltwater and just stir it up. mix up the sand and rinse it out. Once you have it cleaned you can then add it to your tank with no fear of a cycle.

And to answer a few questions I agree 30% is a good water volume to save to prevent a cycle as long as you rinse your sand. Rinse the tank but don't worry to much about it being perfect the water will take care of alot of it when it's filled. I think it would look nice behind the couch but what are you going to do with your equipment. And for dead fish well they get a porcelian funeral.

 

[Dakwan]

I think it would look nice behind the couch but what are you going to do with your equipment.

The tank would go against the wall on one of the short edges where there is a receptacle. The tank with the stand is long enough to stick out about 3/4 along where the couch is positioned currently.. so it would be more like a wall sticking out rather than a just sitting behind the furniture.

 

[Jmck]

IMO I dont think you should put it behind the couch unless it fits perfectly on the back of it, it will look silly. place it up against the wall. You will enjoy it more there. With everything else, you seem covered :)

 

[PRC]

The tank would go against the wall on one of the short edges where there is a receptacle. The tank with the stand is long enough to stick out about 3/4 along where the couch is positioned currently.. so it would be more like a wall sticking out rather than a just sitting behind the furniture.

Put a flatscreen TV above the fireplace.:D Tank goes where your current TV is. If you put the Tank directly behind the couch it's going to make TV watching a pain. You're going to constantly hear the water movement directly behind your ears..It's going to drive you crazy.

 

[Dakwan]

Haha i'm not really a tv person... i moved at the beginning of this month and haven't even plugged the tv in yet... But yeah i'm thinking you are correct. If i have a lady friend over to watch a movie or a buddy to play xbox then the water draining down the overflows will be literally right behind our heads.

Never even thought of that! thanks PRC

 

[Dakwan]

well moved the tank and wowza. alot of work.

And lots and lots and lots of cleaning to do... the old owner really let it all go. salt creep everywhere and just everything is mucked up. And i'll definitely be refinishing the stand.

Had a couple little "mishaps" moving in but all in all it went not tooo bad! That tank is ridiculously heavy!

expect more pictures and updates as stuff happens

...edit: why didn't they show up as thumbnails? wierd

 

[PRC]

Haha i'm not really a tv person... i moved at the beginning of this month and haven't even plugged the tv in yet... But yeah i'm thinking you are correct. If i have a lady friend over to watch a movie or a buddy to play xbox then the water draining down the overflows will be literally right behind our heads.

Never even thought of that! thanks PRC

You're welcome. That's all I do all day is think about TV's.:D Those tanks are heavy SOB's aren't they! Even when there empty.

 

[Dakwan]

temperature on ALL the heaters was set to 68 degrees! seems to be more than a little cold....

found another chromis i didn't know i had :D ... he was hiding in the one piece of live rock.

also found a hermit which is kind of fun just because the guy said he killed all of his :P

questions:

i have about 60 gallons of tank water... about half in the qt tank i'm using and half in rubber maids...it'll take me probably upwards of a week to get the tank all ready i figure just because i'm currently doing 12 hour days at work... when i transfer the water/fish/liverock from the qt into the 180 it's not going to be enough to even keep the fish submerged... and i figure i can probably add in about 50% new water safely. So should i keep the extra 30 gallons of water alive by throwing in heaters and power heads? or just dump it? if i add in 30 gallons new and 30 gallons old it's going to take me awhile to get water levels high enough to start running the skimmer/sump and will be quicker if i can do 60 gallons old and 60 gallons new and then slowly add in new salt water.. what do you guys think?

also i notice alot of ich medication so i'm assuming he had ich problems at one point. Should i test the water for copper? since the hermit crab has been kickin it for assumably a long time since he hasn't bought any new live stock in like a year should i probably be fine? crabs are susceptible to copper like most inverts right?

 

[Dakwan]

Actually just found a bottle of dosing copper... so clearly it was used.

Maybe i screwed myself here? The guy had a copper test kit but the water came out more yellow than the browns i was supposed to compare to.maybe i'll let the water settle more over night and try again in the morning


Perhaps he added copper to the main tank and thats why he only had fish... or maybe he had it in the qt.... which is where i'm now storing the one piece of live rock i have

But it better news the fish are doing great... everyone has already been pigging out on mysis and herbivore pellets (i tried a seaweed sheet and the tangs were not interested)

The hippo tang is a bit of a scardy cat and the naso tang is a muffin... both are gorgeous. Turns out the naso is not a blonde naso but juvi standard edition

the wrasse turned out to be a cleaner wrasse which is unfortunate since i don't exactly have a large fish population for him to browse parasites from.. so maybe i'll try to take him into the store for store credit..he's a cutie pie and was zingin' around good but has crawled into a hidey hole for the night so i can't identify his exact species

there are 5 chromis... 3 of one species and 2 of another

the 3 i think are vanderbuilt chromis and i think the other 2 are i think green chromis.. both species are pretty much pure silver and don't have the touches of colour i've seen in other photos

 

[Bifferwine]

I don't know what to say about the copper thing... It does sound like he used it. Maybe throw a few cheap inverts in there and see how they do?

 

[Dakwan]

A couple hermit crabs came along and they must have been in the dt so now that they are in the qt if they kick the bucket then i know i've boned myself and will have to get new live rock

 

[PRC]

Where are the pics?!?!??!?!??!

 

[Dakwan]

The prison cell until i can get the tank up and running. They are gonna be in there for atleast a couple more days while i refinish the stand.. I also want to take a water sample in to get tested for copper since i think all the test kits i got are so old they have gone bad because i'm not even getting readings that are some colour let alone a shade on the graph


My house is a disaster .. good thing i'm not a clean freak *twitch*





The tank all clean and the stand partially stripped down


thanks for replying PRC :mrgreen: makes me think atleast someone is interested:bounce:

edit:
here are some pictures linked so you can see the difference the clean made on the tank and also the qt one closer up

http://www.dakwan.ca/tank/build/9.jpg
http://www.dakwan.ca/tank/build/12.jpg
http://www.dakwan.ca/tank/build/13.jpg

 

[Dakwan]

Here is the first coat of stain... quite an improvement! I'm going to let it dry overnight and see how it looks in the morning then decide if i should but another coat on... i'm thinking i should seal it afterwards somehow but not sure what to use....

also note that i saranwraped the entire tank top (i also sealed the overflow holes :P) ... i'm worried about vapours but there is no way i can move the tank off the stand so this was the next best solution i could think of.


http://www.dakwan.ca/tank/build/14.jpg

 

[BL1]

Everythings looking good so far

 

[PRC]

gipped down

thanks for replying PRC :mrgreen: makes me think atleast someone is interested:bounce:

Aren't many of us in the 180g club. We've gotta stick together.:D