• Folks, if you've recently upgraded or renewed your annual club membership but it's still not active, please reach out to the BOD or a moderator. The PayPal system has a slight bug which it doesn't allow it to activate the account on it's own.

Suggestions for temp housing of tank inmates :)

C

Carlo

Talk about bad luck. I have to be out of my apartment no later then 3/18 (this sunday) but will not do closing on my house until 3/26.

I've got a kennel lined up for the dog and I of course can stay at a hotel for the week or so BUT the fish tank is a whole other story. It appears the tank livestock will need to go with me and stay in the apartment as I have no other place to "store" them.

Current tank(s) contents. One 120 gallon and one 44 gallon tank.
About 60-70 corals, dozen clams, 30-35 fish, 300lbs live rock.

I'm looking for suggestions. :)

My current thinking is to take the 44 gallon tank with me to the hotel as well as to purchase a couple of other "smallish" size tanks say in the 30-55 gallon range (no stands needed) and set them up in the hotel room. With all the equipment I have I should be able to setup basic filtering and circulation on the tanks. I was thinking of using a 35 gallon rubbermaid "trashcan" to hold any live rock that doesn't fit in the smaller tanks. I've got a couple of older light strips (PC compacts) I could put over a couple of tanks for the fish and lower light needing corals. I have the halides for those that need it. Hopefully I should be able to make up water in the hotel with the RO/DI unit so I can do water changes to make up for the lower filtration.

Anyone got any suggestions or improvements/ideas for me?

Man will I be glad when it's April and all this is behind me!

Carlo
 
Phyl

Phyl

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
Any chance you can get the current owners to allow you to set up a tank (or two) there, prior to moving in (maybe pay them a fee and sign a waiver of their responsibility to any damage the tank causes)? That would be the best suggestion. I can't see keeping "small" tanks running properly to store all of those corals. They are likely to fight, slime and kill one another with the stress of the move and small quarters. I can't even think about keeping 35 fish in a temporary situation. Let alone all of that in a hotel room! That sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.
 
C

Carlo

I'm trying to do exactly that Phyl. My Realtor who is currently in Aruba on vacation is talking to the house owner who was transferred to Hawaii to see what can be done. With all the timezone differences communication is well "lacking".

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I will be able to do that. I do know the owner originally said I could move stuff into the garage if I needed too as they could have someone there to let me in for the movers but it didn't sound like I'd have access to it so even if I were to set it up in the garage I don't know about feeding, etc...

The major problem is that he still has furniture in the house and is having a problem getting a moving company to get his stuff out. He is trying to get this done ASAP. I have asked my Realtor to see if there was anyway the owner would allow me to "house sit" for the week. :) I told him I could slip the owner a couple of hundred under the table and this way there would be no "rent" or anything that could cause a problem. It happens to be the realtor's cousin who owns the house and interestingly enough my ex brother-in-law's brother who owns the house. So at least the "family" knows I'm a straight up guy and don't/won't play games.

So why I'm working it to try and get into the house one way or another directly from my apartment I'm still trying to figure out a "worst case" setup which isn't pretty!

I have already figured if I have to go "worst case" I'll loose some of the acros and frags, the elegance and maybe a couple of hammers but I think everything else CAN make it. The objective will be to save as much as possible.

Not to complicate matter but if I can gain access to the house then when I move I'll have the movers also move my Perfecto 265 into the new place and start setting that up. I wouldn't/shouldn't be drilling any holes into the basement for that tank but at least would be able to get it there with the movers help and setup on the stand in the proper position!

Assuming I do need to go worst case, does anyone have any recommendations on "ideal" tank sizes to utilize that I can carry myself? How heavy are the 55 gallon tanks? Stands don't matter because I won't be using any.

Carlo
 
D

debfife

You should contact your local LFS to see if they can hold the fish for you.
An option for the corals might be to donate some of them to the club so that you have less of a bioload to worry about.
 
C

Carlo

debfife said:
You should contact your local LFS to see if they can hold the fish for you.
An option for the corals might be to donate some of them to the club so that you have less of a bioload to worry about.
Click to expand...

I've been stocking my current tanks to the brink so that I'd have a decent amount of stock for my bigger tanks when I move. I'll be setting up a Perfecto 265, 44, 125 and either a 120 or 180. Depending on how the floor situation pans out I'll be adding a 750 gallon tank also and if the weight is a problem then I'll add an additional 265 instead of the 750 and call it quits.

So I'll definately have room for everything once I get "moved in". It's just the 7-10 days that will be the hurdle.

I good go the LFS route but if at all possible would rather not do that. The biggest reason is that I've went to great lengths to QT everything I have to make sure everything is "clean" and healthy. If I was to "store" them at a LFS then I'd need to go through QT again to be on the safe side. It's sort of six or one thing or half dozen of another. :)

As of today I've started making up new water just in case. I'll be taking water from my main tank and storing it. Add new water and do the same thing the next day. By Sat/Sunday I should have a good 100 gallons of "system" water available for use if needed.

Ed I'm sending you a PM.

Carlo
 
C

Carlo

Very good at first but I think I've lost about 75+ corals.

I had two tanks to move, one a 120 gallon and one 44 gallon. The person I'm buying the house from agreed to let me setup the perfecto 265 in the house as long as I didn't put any water in it yet. That was good because I used movers so they took care of moving it for me. :)

While the movers were moving all my furniture from my 3rd floor apartment I emptied my 120 gallon tank into 44 gallon Brute Rubermaid containers (with wheels). I then wheeled the containers out onto the deck and used a garden house to syphon the water down to my rented van with other 44 gallon containers in it. The "water move" was pretty easy. I moved the 300lbs of rock in 40-50lb batches by hand down to the van. I put all the corals into various coolers with water in them. I moved all the fish to the 44 gallon tank at that point. When I had the tank empty I got the movers to carry it down to their truck so it was the last thing on the truck.

I still had a few "misc" items to move myself and figured I'd move the 44 gallon tank myself when I wasn't as "rushed" later that night.

The movers setup my 120 gallon tank in the garage which the owner agreed to let me do since he wasn't worried about water damage there. I then reversed the process and pumped the water from the van into the tank and loaded all the liverock back into the tank. I then more or less put the corals anywhere I could find room for them in the "mess of liverock". I didn't have quite enough water to get the sump going so I just got some powerheads, heaters and a fluval canister filter going. No skimmer at this point.

After the movers were done I took a break and then loaded the rest of the apartment stuff before tackling the 44 gallon "fish tank". I basically did the same procedure for the 44 gallon tank as the 120 but put all the fish in two coolers (no bags). I was concerned about the temperature in the garage even though I had 4 300 watt heaters on the tank so I decided to setup the 44 gallon tank in my hotel room. I reversed the process and loaded the tank and so far all 35 fish or so are doing fine in the hotel room. Talk about a crowded tank!

Yesterday all the corals were looking good. I had setup the RO/DI unit in the hotel room and made up a batch of water to use to finish filling the 120 tank and to use for water changes on the "fish tank". When I arrived today to get the sump filled and get the skimmer going I had a big surprise. The water was pretty milky looking and there was coral guts floating. :(

On further inspection everything looked good on the pinpoint monitors but as soon as I reached in the tank I realized what happened. Seems one of the new heaters I picked up to help with the temperature shorted and shocked the tank and was still doing so as I got a nasty jolt!

So I'm pretty sure all the corals are gone. Maybe with any luck a couple of the corals will survive but the water is to cloady to tell right now. I'm pretty sure they are all gone. I'm just glad I elected to not put the fish in there too as I originally planned on doing.

On a side note, you should have seen the cleaning lady's face when she walked into the hotel room today. That was a pretty funny site when she sees the tank and all the water containers. :)

What really stinks about the whole thing is how well the move went and all the care of moving everything. Everything was doing great until I made a pitstop at the local pet store for a couple of additional heaters...
 
C

Candi

oh no, I'm so sorry.... I can't even imagine! I know how terrible I felt when we moved from MI to NJ a few months ago and I lost a couple corals and 3 fish... multiply that by about a million for you :( Hope some things pull through.
 
C

Carlo

Actually it's the least of my worries right now.

My dog is at the kennel. I'm still checked into a hotel. Wednesday evening I couldn't sleep so I went to the hotel bar and had a beer. Drank one and ordered another. Drank a little more then half and the guy next to me spills my beer all over me. I leave and go back to my room.

Still not able to sleep I take a ride to the drug store to get some Niquel (sp?). Drank half the bottle and fell a sleep about a block from the hotel and crash. Completely totalled my car. I wake up in jail the next morning. The cop writes me 6 tickets including DWI & refusal to take a breathalizer test.

I was unconscience but yet get a refusial? Unconscience and not taken to the hospital? Not cool!

I get released from the police station with a court date 3 hours later (talk about fast). I get a rental car and I'm in the parking lot when my dad calls and tells me my mom took a turn for the worst a probably wouldn't make it to the evening. I get done court and immediately drive to the hospital (over an hour away). I got there around 4pm and was able to be with mom & dad until she passed at 11pm.

I have closing on my house Monday morning, need to get to the funeral home in the afternoon to verify everything is correct. Then have the viewing in the evening followed by the funeral service on Tuesday.

After each "bad thing" happened I kept saying to myself "what else can go wrong?" I think I've learned to stop asking myself that no matter how bad things seem, something "worse" can always follow like the killer tooth ache I'm dealing with that's keeping me up at night.

Yexterday my kids and I went "shopping" for new clothes since everything is packed and MIA during the move.

Maybe I'll get to my new house later in the week and get my dog from the kennel. I'll have to start tring to find a ride to use short term and wait for a court date on the "screwball tickets" I got.

So that's my week so far. How was/is everyone's else?
 
malulu

malulu

NJRC Member
Carlo,

very sorry to hear about your lost...

- fish tank, this can be wait and slow down
- tickets, the bottom line is just more $... (not really a big deal)

- losing a love one seems unbearable at that time, just live on day by day, hour by hour, eventually, you will be back to normal... when my daughter pass away 6 years ago when she was 9 year old, the world seems came to an end, later on as thinking of our love ones are now in heaven happily watching over us, and give us unlimited blessing, that will give us more hope to live on.

Please accept my condolence...

if you need anything, please let me know, i will do my best to help.

Best Regards,

-David
 
J

jazzsam

Sorry to hear about all your misfortunes. I really hope everything starts to improve for you soon. Let me know if I can help out at all.
 
mfisher2112

mfisher2112

Wow. Best thoughts for ya buddy. I hope something breaks soon. Family first, things second. I had to learn that the hard way.

If there's anything I can do, let me know.
 
C

Carlo

Thanks for the support everyone. I thought I'd drop in for a few minutes before going to closing and getting one thing out of the way on this busy day. Except for a brief drop-in via cell phone I won't be around for a few days until I get internet access setup at my new place. I'm making use of the Internet access at the hotel at the moment.

David, I have a 10 year old daughter and 9 year old son. I can't even begin to imagine the pain your family went through when your daughter passed on. It's one thing to loose a parent in their 70s who has been having problems and steadily going down hill but quite another thing to loose a child especially at the young age of 9! Reading that brought tears to my eyes. I just can't imagine.

Carlo
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top