Help me please.

[copenhagen_cowboy@live.co]

I am looking at purchasing a saltwater aquarium. I don't have any former experience with this but I am doing as much research as possible and the owner of the local pet store is helping me. This is someone else's set up but they are moving so they must sell.They said it has been going for a year and a half.I was wondering if you could please tell me the best way to transport everything and any other advise you may have. This is what it contains.

-Tank 49 x 18 x 24
-sock filtered
-larger protein skimmer in its sump
-two blue tinted t5 flourescents
-two hetal hallide bulbs on seperate progamable timers
-two submersible fans
-heater
-3 damsels
-2 pink skunk clowns
-1 kole tang
-1 yellow tang
-1 orange shoulder tang
-1 sea grass wrasse
-1 six line wrasse
-1 yellow wrasse
-1 goby
-1 lawnmower blenny
-2 peppermint shrimp
-1 cleaner shrimp
-live coral
-urchin
-sea anenome
-1 sea cucumber
-2 feather dusters
- and lots of crabs

Thanks for all your help

[BlueTang<3]

I assume the tank has rocks also. The best is to borrow or buy some large rubber maids. I have moved lots of large systems and have never lost a thing. Remove the rock and place it in a tub with some water then place wet towels on the rock(depending on distance of move). Try to keep as much water as possible. Throw out all the substrate and get new substrate. Remove the fish and place in a tub move tank. While moving have a powerhead and heater in the tub with the fish to keep warm and oxygenated. Make sure you have all the right plumbing for quick setup once moved. Have a bunch of water mad up where the tank is being moved so once its in place you can have the water ready to go in. Unless you know the for sure age of the bulbs i would also change them to prevent nuisance algae from growing. Also consider getting carbon and start running it to take up and toxins and crap released from the move.

[BlueTang<3]

I should also add the be careful when handling the anemone and sea cucumber, corals. To make sure to wear gloves and then wash very good after. Keep an eye on the anemone when you get moved as it will walk and they seem to find power heads

[eli@fijireefrock.com]

COPENHAGEN Danish.
Welcome to Canreef
For someone with no recent experience in reef keeping you sure are taking a big risk,not to be negative.
You will have your hand full just do it a step at a time.
Just like BlueTang<3 wrote.
remove all the live rock into a tub when in new place fill with water and a couple of pumps.
transport all the fish with tank water and again have pumps going.
i would keep some of the substrate and transport it in water.
now the tank,pluming and the rest of the equipments.
Set it up where you need it to be finish pluming place new water in and i would place some of the original water in as well.
lots of carbon as mentioned above.
Place rocks in let settle then slowly the rest of the inhabitant.
Your new setup needs close monitoring for any unusual signs,..
Good luck and plan it all ahead.

[ScubaSteve]

I've moved tanks more than a few times across the city and have found that for those short trips that you can load it all into rubbermaids or buckets. As soon as you get home though, get the heaters back on with the powerheads.

GO SLOW is the name of the game. Take your time, don't rush so you don't make mistakes. You'll do just fine. Like above, get new substrate but keep a cup of the old stuff to "seed" the new stuff.

Have fun!

*** Just re-read your post. Sounds like mostly fish so it'll be a fairly easy move. Is it fish only or do you have corals as well?

[copenhagen_cowboy@live.co]

Thank you all for your help so far. I havn't seen the tank yet, I see it on wednesday night. all i know is what he has told me so far.He sent me one picture

[copenhagen_cowboy@live.co]

How much substrate is needed for a 90 gallon tank? I was looking as some live sand in the pet store and they recommended 1 pound per gallon is this to much? what do I need to do as far as cycling the water?

[Frankly Canadian]

I'm fairly new to this hobby/obsession aswell and the one thing I would say is read alot of the older post from this web site, search things like lighting cycles, feeding times, water changes, or even getting started equipment. This web site is a wealth of information and most of these people have had tanks for a long time. Good luck and I'm sure you'll love this hobbie you just need to devote time to it at the beginning and after a while you just develope a steady routine.

[Doug]

Perhaps our reference library may be of some help.

http://96.31.86.198/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=40

[ScubaSteve]

Originally Posted by copenhagen_cowboy@live.co

How much substrate is needed for a 90 gallon tank? I was looking as some live sand in the pet store and they recommended 1 pound per gallon is this to much? what do I need to do as far as cycling the water?

1 pound per gallon is a decent rule of thumb though most people have their own feel for what they want. 1 lb/gal will give you approximately 1.5" to 2" of sand. Some people like more, some like less.

When first setting up your tank will do a mini cycle because of the sand. During this time feed lightly as you are lacking the ammonia and nitrite fixing bacteria. Feed lightly for a few weeks so that your system can rebuild itself.

Other than that, make sure you get a good handful of reef janitors (hermit crabs, snails, etc) to keep things clean and happy and to tackle a bit of the algae I see going on in that picture. Give that tank some love and it'll love ya right back.