Aquiring a Sw tank. Advice needed

[Guest]

Hey all.
I'm buying a 10 gallon sw tank this coming friday night. From what I gather the tank has been set up for 2 or so years. It comes with everything including a lee's skimmer, air pump, 4 wpg lighting fixture, powerhead, live sand, 17 pounds of live rock, an 80+ yellow polyp colony, some ricordea, 2 damsels, 4 turbo snails, etc.
I've spent the last few months reading reading and doing more reading about sw tanks. I have a few questions tho.
Its going to be about an hour and 15 min drive home. We discussed the best way to get the setup home and here is what he thinks:
He's going to take about 2/3 of the water out of the tank, take the lr out and wrap it with newspapers, and take the shrooms and the lr with the polyps in it and stick it in a bucket/container w/ water.
My questions are:
1. If i put the water he takes out of the tank and put it in to gallon jugs, will it be ok to fill the tank back up with that water when I get home?
2. Should the shroom and polyp colony be left in the tank with enough water to cover it?
3. Will the tank go thru a mini cycle?
4. If the tank does go thru a mini cycle, assuming i put the corals in the tank when I get home, will everything be ok? Or should I leave the corals in the bucket with a powerhead and the light over them for a week or so?
5. Is there anything else i'll need to know about the move/ in general so something doesn't go wrong?
TIA
-Stewie

 

[lando]

1. If i put the water he takes out of the tank and put it in to gallon jugs, will it be ok to fill the tank back up with that water when I get home?

I would suggest bring three 5gal. buckets instead of one gal jugs. Fill each one up with some water, put corals/fish in one, LR in one and substrate in one.

2. Should the shroom and polyp colony be left in the tank with enough water to cover it?

No, completely empty the tank before moving it. You do not want to risk damaging it.

3. Will the tank go thru a mini cycle?

I doubt it. With the time frame you are taliking about you should be fine. You may experince a bit of a nitrate spike. Be ready to do a water change if needed.

4. If the tank does go thru a mini cycle, assuming i put the corals in the tank when I get home, will everything be ok? Or should I leave the corals in the bucket with a powerhead and the light over them for a week or so?

No, go ahead and put the tank together fully.

5. Is there anything else i'll need to know about the move/ in general so something doesn't go wrong?

I would have some aged SW on hand and replace about three or four gal of the original water. I would not use the water left over from the substrate bucket. Like I said, just be ready to do a water change if needed. Should be a pretty easy move. Good luck...Lando

 

[Guest]

Kudos to you ladno for the very helpful information. I'm not sure how big the grains of sand are but it also has crushed coral in it. I'm thinking if i use a play shovel like the ones you use at the beach to scoop the sand into and out of the bucket I should be fine. The only problem is the aged sw. This will be my frist sw tank so i'll just have to play it by ear I guess. I do have demineralized water available along with distilled water. I could just mix salt in with that and add it when needed.
If there's anything else i'm forgetting or I should know, let me know.
Thanks
-Stewie