Pete's 125g Basement Move and Restoration

[bioteacher]

So, I am going to start a thread to document my first adventure into SW. I recently moved into a new house and the previous owner has a built in for a 125g fish tank. I am filling it with a tank that I bought off CL. It is a fully functioning reef tank that needs quite a bit of loving care, but I think it has a lot of potential. I am going to try to photo a lot of the whole process including all of the moving of the tank. I hope you enjoy it, and I hope you all help me out (think I will need it, and I have already learned so much from you all without even having had a tank).

 

[bioteacher]

So here is something I engineered to assist in the move. I built a half box out of 1/4 inch ply. I want to be able to get the tank on to a dolly tomorrow when I move it, but I didn't want to scratch it or worse. I think that sliding this on will allow me to get it on the dolly without doing any damage.

 

[bioteacher]

I rented a van today and drove out to the tank site to pick up some goodies. This picture is just an "excited newbie" picture. The light is a HO T5, 432W total. He said that the ballast does not work and that I could have it for free. Not sure if it is fixable but I will deal with it later. This is not the lighting that I will use with the tank. The sump is an extra that he has that he said I could have as well. Also will have to assess the value of this later. The rest is just food, test kits, plumb kit, etc. some might be trash, but hey, you never know. I'm mixing 40 gallons of water tonight, so that we have it for the move tomorrow. Not much else I can do for now.

 

[bioteacher]

Excited Newbie photo!!!

 

[bioteacher]

And thus, the journey begins. Supplies needed for the move. Wish me luck!

 

[Starchar]

Taggin along.

 

[bioteacher]

Soooooooo tired. Lots to report, but first comes sleepy time.

 

[bioteacher]

So today turned out to be busier than I thought. I got everything in place yesterday except the lighting. All the fish and inverts survived the trip. I have 2 perc clowns, a maroon clown, a blond naso tang, and a fox face. He gave me a three line damsel as well, but I decided to donate him to the lfs to make more room for cooler fish in the future.

Funny story: thought I was only getting 1 perc clown. The guy I bought everything from said he hadn't seen the other clown in like a month and a half. As we were breaking down the tank, we found him alive and well just chillin in the overflow! He had a little fuzz on his nose so I had to build a quarantine tank yesterday at around midnight. Any suggestions on treatment? I thought copper, but I read that clowns don't handle copper well.

I have lots of pics on my phone, but I need to get them off there to post them

 

[AquaRick]

Looking good!

Just a note, Maroons are awfully aggressive and teritorial. I wouldn't be surprised if it went after the 2 percs. I'd give some thought as to what you want to do with your clowns.

Post a pic of the clown that's in bad shape when you can.

 

[bioteacher]

They all seem to get along pretty well so far. The maroon is probably my most aggressive, but he hasn't been that bad yet. He has staked out his own cave,and he shares it with the fox face. I will have to keep an eye on how he treats the percs.

 

[don_chuwish]

Is the fuzz definitely Ich? If so then it's not just that one clown you have to worry about...

- D

 

[bioteacher]

Is the fuzz definitely Ich? If so then it's not just that one clown you have to worry about...

- D

I do not think that it is ich….the guy i bought it from says that he has never had ich in his tank, and I did not bring in any new fish.

The one clown that I have quarantined is not even looking that bad. The fuzz is no longer noticeable on his nose. He is active and eating. I am going to keep observing him for a week or two.

 

[bioteacher]

the story of the move

ok, so it has been really busy and I have not had a chance to share. Man, everybody always says that the key to SW is to go slow. Well, if maintaining a SW tank is a marathon, then moving one is definitely a sprint. I worked from 8 am until 2 am with one break for a meal. Happy to report that everything went well.

Here comes photos about the whole day...

 

[bioteacher]

Some pics of the tank partially disassembled before the move. The tank looks like crud, but it was just neglected.

 

[bioteacher]

or, maybe here they are…..

 

[bioteacher]

pics of the inside of the van. It was full!!!

 

[bioteacher]

Tank wearing my plywood slipper on the dolly. I would not have been able to do this alone if it was not for this little invention.

 

[bioteacher]

dirty tank, dirty tank, clean tank.

I think that coraline is beautiful on rocks. On glass, not so much. That took like an hour….

 

[bioteacher]

This is the tank in position in its new home. Getting it up there proved to be the hardest thing to do with only one pair of hands. I stood there looking at it for about half an hour before figuring it out….

 

[bioteacher]

Various pictures showing the explosion that was my basement. What a mess! My cat was really intrigued by the whole process.