Just found a great deal but would need to move

am looking at a persons exsisting set up ... it's much larger than the 90 Gal i had planned but seems like such a sweet deal i can't pass it up

"180 gallon, oak cabinet,
metal halide/fluorescent/moon light fixture, sub tank,
pumps, heaters, chiller, bubble skimmer, UV sterilizer,
Wavy Sea system, test kits."

all this plus livestock for only $1500


The problem is that it currently has livestock in it which comes with the tank. And it is located on an island near where i live... so it would be atleast a 4-6 hour trip plus dismantling and setup time and i'm concerned about the live stock. It's really quite out in the booneys and there is even a dirt road that has to be driven on

do you think i should just drain the tank, try and sell off the live stock and start fresh or try to keep the system maintained?

i don't know the specifics of what livestock they have but it sounds like quite a few fish atleast. i'll have the details tonight but was just hoping for some advice. i know moving a tank can be absolutly brutal but it would be nice to have livestock in my tank from day 1

 

with that many hours drive, i think you'll get a mini-cycle regardless of how you try to save the water and stuff. I would try to sell off the live stock and start over.

 

I've never had to do it personally but I would think it would take a lot of individual containers and such to make everything "moveable"prolly would just leave the sand in the tank with enough water to keep it wet, then individual buckets/tubs for all of the rock(/w water), then divide up the livestock in other containers. Adding corals to the mix would make it more difficult trying to make sure they don't get crushed in the move...

But, I have read stories of people moving their large tanks cross country 12-15hr drives this way and had zero casualties. Just make sure you plan thoroughly and it would be a nonstop proccess until tank is back filled up in your house

Careful of temp, being in small(er) containers try to keep the environment they are in close as possible to water temp.


And on a side note, I see lots of full setups go for cheap around me, currently asked about a 75g setup /w finished wood stand, equip & livestock for $500. Heck the lights they have have on the tank are $500 new. I think you would make a good decision no matter what you decide to do go with this one or wait it out..

 

Personally,I would sell the livestock and keep the rest.Unless he/she has some fish you already planned on getting or maybe some super rare fish.So you can make this system your own.

 

Has anyone had experience with a LFS "babysitting" fish for you?

 

You're going to have a very hard time moving that tank with anything in it..a 180g tank empty weighs over 300lbs...Not to mention is being 6' long...it's going to have to be empty...Typically it's not your responsibility to take or have to decide what to do with the fish, unless he said he's not willing to part it out...I would ask him to get rid of the fish. If you can't do that, I'd find out what he has, contact the closest LFS to him and see if they'll take them for cash since it's so far away.

 

yeah i would empty everything out into totes, but as Wes was saying the odds of getting a mini cycle is pretty high especially since i dont know what kind of substrate he has or how much cuc he has cleaning detritus out of it.

The town doesn't have a LFS which i think is contributing factor to him getting rid of it, as it's a pretty big pain for him to get supplies.

realistically how long could a fish survive in rubber-maid tote without circulation? people ship fish all the time don't they, so it must be quite awhile? I could make 2 trips.. one for the fish and leave them with a lfs while i move everything and the tank cycles again. Which would give me time to change the substrate if needed and not worry about having to transport save 1500 pounds worth of water

 

When the mail order company ship fish, they pump oxygen into the bags. It give them a little higher chance to survive a bit longer.

Your plan should work fine. I certainly would not use the substrate without thoroughly washing it. To lower chance to have a big cycle, you could use the same tank water to wash it before you move it home.

How much Live stock/Live rocks he has? If you don't want to depend on LFS, you could transport them home using one rubber-maid for fish and another rubber-maid for Live rocks. Both have enough water to keep them all alive. After you take them home, split the fish into these 2 rubber-maid and split the live rocks between the 2 rubber-maid as well. Get 2 small powerhead and keep the water circluate. Have a couple of fans blowing on top of the containers if it's a hot day. Then, after you get the tank home, just go bare bottom and put the fish and LR in. Deal with the sand later.

 

Just spoke with my step mom who went to check it out for me (what a great step mom eh??) and she found out the following information for me

lighting is 3 x 250 W Metal Halide, 4 flourescent bulbs ( i dont know if t5 or VHO or PC or what) and 4 LED moon lights

it has a sump with skimmer and comes with a quarintine tank with its own lighting and filter

has 2 koralia power heads and a wave maker

comes with a uv filter, calc reactor and chiller

It has a single large piece of live rock in it and a sand substrate but i think would need more as it's only about 1/5 inch thick at the thickest place and bareglass over about 1/4 of the rank.

So i would need to get more sand and more live rock anyways, so it looks like i'll need to cycle it regardless

live stock is 2 tangs (blue hippo and one unknown), a wrasse of some kind and 5 small fish he doesn't know what they are but from the description maybe some assorted anthias. So nothing too exotic but i am interested in keeping a couple tangs, and the wrasse and anthias perhaps depending on particular species

I'm going to go for it, sure wish i didn't just spend all my money moving :mrgreen:

i'm going to get some pictures and post em up here for some opinions!

 

bring some big friends... alot of them. Good luck. Can't wait to see the build.

 

That's a fantastic deal. It will be worth it!

 

Congrats! I can't wait to see the pictures!

 

Congrates on the find, When you do move the tank just go to your local hardware store for buckets or walmart (they sell them for about 2 bucks apiece). I ould like somone suggested leave your sand in the tank with a lil water to keep it wet. If there is a lot of live rock wrap it in newspaper and keep it wet as well. When moving the fish that you do want to keep take a airpump which will help keep them alive. Your gonna wanna wash your sand anyways when you get ready to set it back up. It's really not as hard to move a tank as people mite think but it is time consuming and can be a lil stressful. Goodluck :Cheers:

 

Here are the random picture dear ol' ma took for me
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

edit: just changed them from images to links since there are so many

 

You could definitely turn that into something fantastic! I'm so excited for you!!!

 

I'm such a happy camper right now

It's only been like... 2 years of dreaming haha.

on picture 11 you can see the other tang although super blurry. It kind of looks like a blonde naso? what do you guys think it is?

 

I think you're right about that tang... Some sort of naso.

 

For some reason most of the pics won't load for me.The one with the blonde naso and chromis did load.

Congrats.