Moving My 47 Year old Reef Tank. OMG

[Paul B]

Last night I took my new Jeep Renegade on the beach to collect water. The thing should have no trouble in sand because it says "Trail Rated" and has a setting for sand, mud, snow and rocks so I would assume it will travel on those substances.
So I put it in sand mode and we go on to the beach which is deep, loose sand. I went about 100 yards and backed up to the water which was not easy because the Jeep wants to follow the ruts in the sand and it is almost impossible to deviate out of those ruts.

It was low tide so the water was way down the dune. The Jeep had no problems getting there.
We filled the back with 40 gallons of water and now it is a lot heavier.

I tried to get the thing off the beach and it just sunk. Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, two inches back and three forward, again and again. The people on the beach were all yelling advice to me like I didn't know what I was doing. Of course they didn't know I had a snow plowing business with a Jeep for ten years. or that I had 400lbs of seawater in the back, With my friend pushing, I finally got back to the sand ruts and out of there.

The next time I collect water there, I will only collect 20 gallons and only at high tide. ​

 

[Mark_C]

https://www.amazon.com/WawaAuto-All...=1-7&keywords=traction+plates#customerReviews

Or, if you want to go a bit upper class with some extended life and durability...

https://www.amazon.com/X-BULL-Recov...id=1533176646&sr=1-1&keywords=traction+plates

References: Old Jeep I try to break, and oft succeed, with multiple cases of stuck in somethingitis

 

[Paul B]

That is very cool. I may either build those or buy a pair. Of course I could always buy a bulldozer.

There is another beach here where the cop chased me from but now I have a permit and will not be bringing a big truck so I don't think he will bother me.
It's a cement boat ramp so no sand to worry about.

 

[Mrx7899x]

I don't know if you did or not but it helps if you air down your tires when you drive on the beach to like 20 psi it will give you a wider footprint.

 

[Paul B]

I know about that and I did not do it this time. I have done it in the past with my Willy's Jeep though.

With all that weight in the back, I doubt it would have helped

 

[Paul B]

Oh No!!! I am Battling hair algae, red algae, cyano, Godzilla Larvae and scrunge. But that stuff refuses to fight back, it just stays there laughing at me. There are dead Beatles and lightning bugs floating in a sea of sludge. I am at my wits end, and my wits are very long. I think I will change the water. Oh wait, that is stupid because it is all new water. Maybe i will add Prizapro, hermit crabs, snails and a Manatee, then cut down the lighting to 15 minutes every other day

I really need to get my skimmer up and running. I first need to get electricity there, luckily, I know an electrician. I sucked out a salad of hair algae.
OMG. I may have to quit the hobby, sell everything and get a job managing the French Fry machine at Burger King.

In the move I broke my skimmer pump. I have no idea where my ozonizer is and my algae scrubber is being used as a fly filter on my exhaust fan.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAhhhhhhhhhhhhh, I am such a loser. I don't know what to do. ;Wideyed

 

[diana a]

I am battling GHA too. Never had it before. Tell me how you plan to get rid of yours! I took out 3 large rocks today and scrubbed it with a brush. Had cyano on my first tank 8 years ago, but that was easy to deal with.

 

[Paul B]

Diana I have some steps to deal with these problems. First, when my wife wakes up we will go to a nice breakfast on the water someplace, maybe I will have the poached eggs. Then I will come home and hang a very overpriced mirror we bought yesterday.
After that I will try to start one of my diatom filters that leaks the least and scrape off the algae growing on the back glass. Speaking of glasses, I will have a nice glass of Merlot as I watch the thing make a puddle on my floor while I am listening to some vintage Linda Ronstadt.

Eventually I will remove the diatom filter and this afternoon at the "Club" (yes we are now Snooty as they have a "Club" here) and watch the line dance, square dancing, break dancing or dancing with the Stars, I am not quite sure what they are having but my wife wants to go.

I will come home at night to see my crystal clear tank, but the algae will still be there.
It will leave when it is ready and no matter what I do or don't do, it will leave when it is ready.

I am taking a day off from building to look for my hydrometer to see if there is actually any salt water in my tank and try to retrofit my skimmer to this tank. The top of this tank with the new stand is about a foot higher than my last set up and I can't find a lot of my skimmer parts. I only had a day to take the tank down and move it with the livestock so some of the parts ended up in a black hole. I also broke the outlet fittng off my big skimmer pump so I will also try to fix that.
The tubes are all facing the wrong direction which will have to be remedied. But the good part is that the skimmer is right next to my condensate pump for my central AC so I can dump the skimate right in there where it will get pumped out.
The tank is acting like a new tank due to the new water and me washing most of the gravel in fresh water and bleach so I killed a lot of the bacteria. It will take a little time to settle down and will go through a Scrunge period just like a new tank. But I will live with it. Besides there are no job openings at Burger King.

 

[Paul B]

The corals are fine but some of the tips died from algae. That will pass. I got my old skimmer working but there is so much slime exuding from corals and other things that my venture gets clogged every hour or so. The tank is now crystal clear because out of my 3 diatom filters I took enough parts off to get one working, sort of. It leaks almost as fast as it pumps so I have to run it in a bucket and keep dumping the water back. But it did the job. I also have 30 new gallons of NSW that I am using as I am skimming the surface to get rid of grunge. I don't yet have a surface skimmer connected to fix that issue. WE are getting company all day tomorrow and different people the next day. Two days of boating and no time to work on the house or tank.
I ordered new parts for the skimmer so that will be a big help

 

[Paul B]

OMG!!!!! My Biggest fear happened this morning. Well, maybe not my biggest fear. My biggest fear would be if Christie Brinkley knocked on my door and wanted to help me work on my tank and my wife told her I was unavailable because I was Ex-foliating.

But my second biggest fear is a FLOOD!... And I got one!!!. OMG. Last night I set up my skimmer and I didn't have much time or materials so I used what I had. The thing was designed years ago to run on a DIY valve that I designed for this unit. It was very easy to adjust and almost foolproof. I also had a DIY fail safe on the skimmer effluent bucket under the skimmer that shut the pumps off in the event that the bucket filled. I don't have any of that set up here yet. I had to use what Home Depot had which was ball valves which are useless for adjusting.

I got the thing running and had to clean the venture valve a few times due to the mass of broken tube worm shells inside the skimmer that died when I moved and bleached the unit.

I checked it last night three times and it was running great. It was making a lot of foam that was going into the bucket a tiny bit at a time.

But when I woke up at 5:00am I looked outside and seen water near my garage door which was normal because the sprinklers go on at night.

Was that it? NNNNOOOOOOoooooo. It was Sea Water. I ran into the fish room/Man cave/workshop and to my disbelief, the tank was only filled 2/3ds. AAAAAHHHHHHHhhhhhh. The 7 gallon skimmer bucket and a 5 gallon bucket next to it were overflowing on the floor.
OMG. I started pulling out plugs while standing in a pool of water, and I don't have GFCIs hooked up yet but only Girly Men would worry about such things. I saw my copperband and he was agast. Or maybe he was laughing at me. I can still see that smirk on his face.

I turned on my very Manly exhaust fan which immediately made my nose hairs stand on end. Then I put on a smaller fan and ran to get towels and a shop vac. I sucked up the water and put towels on the rest.
I had about 20 gallons of freshly collected water sitting there that I didn't use yet. It was a lot colder than my tank but I dumped it in and promised the fish I would heat it later.. The tank still needed about 4" of water so I started mixing some fake water. I only had about 5 gallons of fresh water so I used that. It was really cold so I made the sign of the cross and dumped that in. Now the tank is only about 2" short and will have to stay that way until I have time to collect as our company is arriving even as we speak and we have other people coming all day tomorrow.

I will let you know if I still have a tank.​

 

[Paul B]

The tank is still in scurve mode like a Noob tank. There is some hair alge, I think it's Brunette. But there are brittle stars all over the place which is a good sign, like Sagittarius. The fish are fine and think they are on vacation. Some of the tips of the corals I will lose because they are not smart enough to keep their tentacles extended so the algae don't cover them. But you really shouldn't have corals in a tank that is new, or a tank that thinks it is new. When this scurve phase passes and the grunge phase comes and goes, the tank will be better than before.
I found my hydrometer and had to add a lot of salt. I still didn't put the tank on automatic yet (which is why I had a flood) I didn't connect up my DIY ATO yet or my DIY switch that will shut off the pump when the skimmer bucket fills but I will get to it eventually. It's no emergency and just goes to show you how resilient healthy, immune fish can be. The temp goes from something like frozen codfish to the tropics when a volcano is erupting and the salinity goes from goldfish spawning water to the Great Salt Lake where just brine shrimp live. The tank water rises and falls 7" in an hour and the lighting is all over the place.

 

[Paul B]

Anyway, getting back to my tank move, the thing is moved and it is doing great. Most of the algae is gone with no help from me and there is nothing growing in my algae scrubber (because it is dying) Some day, if I get time I will drive on the beach and collect 30 gallons of water in case I want to change water.
Today we have to go to some Doctors in the old neighborhood so I will be able to get to my LFS for some corals and fish. I keep mostly small, nerdy, interesting, girly, man/sissy fish so I can fit a lot of them in there. I may also pick up some food while I am there but my white worm culture is still going strong and I think it may be five years old. It's hard to get black worms here but my fish are an equal opportunity eater and will eat any worm. I just want them for the bacteria. I also have not collected much in the way of amphipods this year as we have been busy and the 9 times we went out on the boat it seemed to be high tide and amphipods don't sun bathe at high tide.
All the corals are fully extended and the sponges bounced back and grew quite a but since the move 3 months ago.
The algae cycle lasted about three months which is about normal. As long as you don't mess with the tank, don't add things or do anything silly like change water, the algae will get bored and leave. No need to add sea hares, snails, urchins, duck billed platypuses or manatees.
Last night my wife was running the dish washer and a plastic kind of large dishwasher safe spoon "jumped" out of the basket and melted around the heater coils. Now the place is filled with acrid smoke and a stink.​

 

[Paul B]

Tank is coming along. My good friend came over today and gave me a pair of blue striped pipefish (which my Janss pipefish will probably have for lunch) and a bunch of corals. All is doing well.
He also tested my water because I don't have any Sissy test kits. Nitrates are zero, salinity is 25, calcium is 450 and Po4 is almost zero. But it i9s all new water from the sea. It is just 3 months old and I haven't changed any yet. Whats the sense?

 

[diana a]

Pauly

What lights do you use? As usual your tank looks great.

 

[Paul B]

They are "LightTimeTunnel" what ever that means. They were probably the cheapest so I bought them. I plugged them in, they lit, thats all I care about

 

[diana a]

there you go...they are LEDs. I am guessing you didn't mod them. All these reef specialists always talking how you have to spend $$$ for good lights to have great growth and color on corals. That isn't true in your tank.

 

[Paul B]

No it isn't. All a reef tank needs is water. Many of the Reef Specialists are wrong, or just mistaken, mis understood, uncreative or constipated. And we all know that it's hard to be sexy when you are constipated.

So I went to the bone guy and the nurse took the information and all the nonsense. I asked her if she thought this Dr. was the best guy for this job and she said he is replacing her hip on Tuesday. I figured he was OK.
So the Dr. comes in and twists my leg. After him and my wife pried me off of the ceiling he told me I needed a new knee. I said, I know, thats why I am here.
He then told me it is very painful and will take 6 months to heal. I know and who cares, just replace the thing. It isn't getting any better.
He then gave me a gift certificate to Home Depot to pick out the type of wood I want it to be made out of.

After he told me all about sawing the bone, cutting, chopping, screwing and all that Doctor stuff, the nurse comes back in to ask me what is my preferred type of alcoholic drink. (no Really!!) I told her Grand Marnier. I figured if the Doc was buying I am not going to say the cheap stuff.
I assumed this surgery was going to be a party so I am all in. I was never asked that before a surgery and now I can't wait.

I will have this done in Stony Brook Hospital which is supposed to be a good hospital with great candy machines.
I doubt I will be able to decorate for Christmas or put up a tree but we will see. My Birthday is also Christmas day which is cool because my wife will have to cater to me .

I also won't be able to play Santa this year. Maybe Santa will show up for me.

 

[diana a]

My mom had it done. She said the pain was not what she expected and physical therapy was painful. Good luck.

 

[Paul B]

I am having someone come over to give me physical therapy and the Doctor promised me she will be a Supermodel so I am all excited. I think she is also bringing Grand Marnier.

My Mother N Law had it done when she was 83 and was walking the next day, she never had any pain.

I took my own advice and did nothing to the tank until the algae disappeared. And it did. All the fish are doing the macarana and smiling. The new two bluestripe pipefish are still in there which I am surprised about because the Janss pipefish killed my last ones. He seems to have stopped chasing these but I still don't trust him.
I can't get live blackworms here real easy so I feed my live white worms which stay alive for 5 days in salt water. Maybe they hold their breath.
I found the 2 Gecko Gobies and see the cave they live in. Really beautiful fish but you never, like never see them.
I want a few more small very interesting, rare, odd fish. No angels or tangs because they are to boring and everyone has them.
I would also like more corals, especially gorgonians. If I get time I will collect some water down the block but I don't think I will change any yet, I may keep it until the winter. I am getting my knee replaced in December so I may change some water before that.

 

[Paul B]

It's been about 4 months and it's time for an update. I think this tank move was a success and it was the second tank move for this tank and it is the third glass it is in. It started in 1971 in a 40 gallon tank, then in about 1979 I moved from our tiny apartment and upgraded and moved everything into a 100 gallon tank . Then 4 months ago I again moved and put it all in the 125 gallon tank as the old 100 gallon was to scratched and I couldn't get it out of the wall in the old house. The gravel, water and everything else was always moved with me to the new location. Some of the gravel has been in there since the 60s and probably there are things in there from the 50s.
Once in a while I will find a marble, a piece from a plastic soldier or Lionel train.

I didn't lose any livestock during the move although some of the corals got buried and lost some of their tips. I also can't find one of my anemone crabs but he may be in there someplace. I see two of them but I had more.

Since this tank is larger I needed to add more corals and a good friend of mine gave me a bunch of pulsing Zinia and other very cool stuff that has been thriving beyond my wildest dreams. Well, not the wildest ones as they involve a flounder, bowling pin and a bottle of Rogaine.

My bluestripe pipefish, (which are new) are pregnant and probably gave birth last night. My old pair which I had before the move had problems. My Janss pipefish which is 3 times the size of the bluestripes bit the male bluestripe almost in half and he only lived a few weeks after that and the female died of old age as they only live a few years and she was well past her lifespan. I have two teenager bluestripes now and so far the Janss leaves them alone.
My male mandarin is a little overweight and I have not had time to hatch a single brine shrimp since I have been here. I think he gets "Take Out" besides the white worms and other stuff he finds. He is also kind of old. I forget how old, but old.

The tank went through the normal algae cycle which ended and now some of it is growing again. I don't think of this as a bad thing, just a normal, natural thing as I want a short growth of algae and sponges to cover the rocks as is happening. The new algae is now growing only on the glass rocks and sides and not on the corals. Healthy corals can convince algae to grow someplace else and most of it grows on my algae scrubber.

I haven't changed any water since I set up the tank but I will try to collect some soon, it is very windy today so I can't collect it unless I want to go swimming. I put my boat on dry dock yesterday and this year I didn't hardly collect mud which I like to add but I can probably still get some of that from the shore here. I also didn't hardly get any wild amphipods this year. I am in a new location and can't find any yet. But I will.

I am volunteering at the Long Island Aquarium here and see if I can get any mud or amphipods there or at the back of the place which is where I keep my boat.
The tank is still very natural and extremely easy and cheap to maintain. I throw in some calcium and alk occasionally and clean the glass, that's about all my maintenance. I feed almost every day with some clam or LRS food and live white worms as I can't get blackworms here.
For the anthius, and pipefish I use Cyclopeze which they go nuts for and those fish are all fat and have beautiful colors and fins.

I still use my skimmer and now installed a much smaller ozonizer than I like, but I made a mistake when I bought it. I thought it put out 200mg/hr but it only puts out 50. It should be enough to at least discourage some growth of worms inside the skimmer because I built the thing and I can't really chop them out of there.
My above the tank algae scrubber grows algae almost an inch thick every two weeks which is perfect but I only have a trickle of water going into my reverse undergravel filter and I would like a little more flow. I need to re think my plumbing to make that happen.

All the corals, including the SPS and sponges are growing very well and I doubt they could grow faster. I do almost nothing to the tank because I am constantly building and re designing our new home although it is a brand new building. I don't like they way people do things so I am changing almost everything around, including walls.
In short, I am happy with everything

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