? on setting up my tank

[mom2reds]

as I posted yesterday I am getting a 5 year old tank that is still up and running from a guy hee in town. I have a few questions.
1) What is the best way to move this tank so that I keep the gravel and filyers wet.
2) This tank also has about 15 small fish whats the best way to keep them alive and safe.
3.) I would like to stian the natural oak stand if possible before putting it all together.

I will have to transport all of this about 35 minutes from his house to mine.

Thanks for any and all help

Tess

 

[neilanh]

Get some 5gallon buckets to house the gravel. Add enough water to keep the gravel wet, and that will sustain the bacteria. Use the same method of the filter media, either in a bucket or in plastic bags or whatever.

As for the fish, go to your LFS and ask for some baggies, and transport them the same way you would if you were buying fish from the store. Bag the fish 2-3 per bag and you should have no problems, but don't keep them bagged any longer than possible. If you think it'll take a while, which it easily could, also get some tablets of bag buddies from your LFS.

The staining of the stand may be problematic. That is a several day task, and you don't want your fish kept in bags for a week. If it were me, I'd get home and setup the tank on the floor somewhere out of the way, and introduce the fish. Make sure you use a good acclimation technique when you do this. Then, spend a week or two getting the stand ready, and when it's all set, take out however much water you can, leaving a few inches for the fish, and carefully move it. You didnt' state what size tank, so I don't know how hard moving it partially filled will be.

 

[mom2reds]

thanks for the advice, my tank is 100 gallon tank.

Tess

 

[locorosa]

Doing what Neilanh suggested is probably your best course of action. You will want the finish to cure for a week if you are applying a clear coat after staining....somewhere away from the main part of the house.
If you have help, you can remove most of the water into tubs (18 gallon kind with rope handles work very well) and put the fish in a smaller 5 gallon bucket until the tank is setup.
When I moved my tank from one room to the other, I drained all but enough to keep the gravel/sand wet. I pulled everything else out of the tank and still wound up pulling about half the gravel out. Wet substrate can be as heavy as the tank itself so pull out as much as possible when you get ready to reset the tank and stand together just keep it wet.
If you have a small, spare hob hang it on the side of the bucket with the fish and cover with blankets. That will keep the little guys warm while you adjust everything else.
Good luck with this. Are you going to strip and restain or just go over an existing stain? This is doable but wipe the stand down with alchohol or mineral spirits first and then lightly sand. Did you get a good deal on the setup?
We, of course, need pictures for reference...lol.

 

[mom2reds]

Locorosa, I ended up not having to stain it, after i got it home and got a good strong wood polish after it it shined wright up. I did get a good deal i belive I got the tank and stand with 125lbs of sand blasting gravel and 4 pieces of driftwood and long with 15 or so tetras of verious kind along with a enhime 2217 and a magnum 350 filters for 350$. i brought it home yesterday and got it all cleaned up I don't think the guy I bought it from had cleaned it in 6 monthes or so, It was nasty!! I did have two casualties but i don't think i did to bad. i will probably have some kind of small cycle due to the fact that it took 8 hours to get it torn down and cleaned, i put all of the fish that were in tank to begin with back in there so I will have to watch them alot more closely.. thanks for athe advice

tess

 

[locorosa]

Good luck...follow the water perimeters closely. Have you read up on what do to for proper tank cleaning? If you used any soaps or kitchen sponges or rinsed the wet filters and substrate in tap water then you will most definately cycle.
If you already know this then disregard. Just wanted to double-check and since you've been a member longer than me, I assume you have done quite a bit of reading. Lol! Hopefully the rest of the fish kids will do alright!
Post some pics when you get the chance!

p.s. You did pretty good for your tank and setup. I got a one year old 92 gallon corner bow with all the fixings (except fish) and paid $450. Being a specialty tank and so large I think you did very well.