Just a little war story on my latest tank ordeal........................
We had new carpet installed in our house yesterday. To do this, I had to move my 75G tank out of the family room. Here's what happened:
T Minus 4 days - Draw 40 gallons of RO water, mix salt, heat and circulate it.
Drag unused 20G tank from attic. Clean it up, check for leaks.
T Minus 2 Days - Devise setup plan. Decide to set up 20G refuge in kitchen. Buy small filter for it. Scrounge up a spare heater.
T Minus 1 Day - Remove some coral from main tank, set up 20G refuge. Pump water from main tank into 20G using 30 feet of tubing across the floor and a power head. Fire up the filter, heat the water. Remove remaining coral from main tank. Gently capture the fish and transfer them to refuge. This was fun!
Every fish went easy but the soldier fish. He's a wily little rocket. So, I drained the remaining water into another storage can, beaching the soldier fish, and moved him into the refuge.
Moved the main tank out of the family room into my tiny kitchen. It was fun moving that tank with almost 200 pounds of wet sand in it. The fish were not thrilled a bit with their new home. By the time we were ready to move them back, my Coris wrasse was breathing rapidly and I had my doubts.
Carpet Plus One Hour - Moved main tank back into position. Set up filter, and dropped two extra heaters in the tank. Commenced filling the tank with new water and remaining old water. Once the tank was filled, I fired up the filter and thankfully had no leaks. Waited 4 hours for the water temp to come up. Tested saliniity and Ph - cleared to move fish!
Recaptured the fish and moved them back to their house. The wrasse promptly buried himself in the sand and was out of sight all day yesterday. Everyone else showed no signs of stress besides being a little grouchy.
Carpet Plus 1 Day - Everybody is out and about on their usual routines! I can't say that I enjoyed all of the gymnastics involved in this move - the fish even less, but they came out unscathed. I was on pins and needles this entire operation.
We had new carpet installed in our house yesterday. To do this, I had to move my 75G tank out of the family room. Here's what happened:
T Minus 4 days - Draw 40 gallons of RO water, mix salt, heat and circulate it.
Drag unused 20G tank from attic. Clean it up, check for leaks.
T Minus 2 Days - Devise setup plan. Decide to set up 20G refuge in kitchen. Buy small filter for it. Scrounge up a spare heater.
T Minus 1 Day - Remove some coral from main tank, set up 20G refuge. Pump water from main tank into 20G using 30 feet of tubing across the floor and a power head. Fire up the filter, heat the water. Remove remaining coral from main tank. Gently capture the fish and transfer them to refuge. This was fun!
Every fish went easy but the soldier fish. He's a wily little rocket. So, I drained the remaining water into another storage can, beaching the soldier fish, and moved him into the refuge. Moved the main tank out of the family room into my tiny kitchen. It was fun moving that tank with almost 200 pounds of wet sand in it. The fish were not thrilled a bit with their new home. By the time we were ready to move them back, my Coris wrasse was breathing rapidly and I had my doubts.
Carpet Plus One Hour - Moved main tank back into position. Set up filter, and dropped two extra heaters in the tank. Commenced filling the tank with new water and remaining old water. Once the tank was filled, I fired up the filter and thankfully had no leaks. Waited 4 hours for the water temp to come up. Tested saliniity and Ph - cleared to move fish!
Recaptured the fish and moved them back to their house. The wrasse promptly buried himself in the sand and was out of sight all day yesterday. Everyone else showed no signs of stress besides being a little grouchy.
Carpet Plus 1 Day - Everybody is out and about on their usual routines!
I can't say that I enjoyed all of the gymnastics involved in this move - the fish even less, but they came out unscathed. I was on pins and needles this entire operation.
