[holiday]

Hi there:

I am a newbie - I have only been wet in the saltwater tank world for 6 months. I bought a 29 gallon bow tank from a friend since her son was going to college and she didn't want to take care of it. I have one trumpet coral, mushrooms and some zoanthiads (sp). I have too many fish for this size tank. What can I say I am addicted and want more critters.

Anyways, I bought a 55 gal tank off of ebay and I am going to get it on Saturday. I think it was a steal of a deal. $250 of live rock, 2 anemones, 2 brittle stars, crabs, snails, 6 fish, tank , lights, heater, all the maintence stuff, wet/dry and protein skimmer plus wood cabinet and hood, and slurp gun all for $403.50. I was pricing brand new equipment and the total was over $1200 and I got sticker shock. I am hoping to keep one tank as a gulf tank with fish we catch at the beach and the other tank with my prize fishes.

I have everything taken care of for the move except the new tank as the overflow built into the corner and we were thinking of keeping the tube hooked up and putting the tank on wooden 6x6's in the truck and keeping the tube taped to the side of the tank so we can keep the sand and 3 inches of water in the tank for the ride home (5 hours), Does this sound correct or should I be doing something else?

Thanks for any info. I looking forward to reading and learning everything that I can so I have a great reef tank.

Holiday

[Kevin W]

welcome to reef builders!!!

[cappy290]

Welcome to RB sounds like u got a good deal on a nice setup..

[NATIVEVAMAN]

It would be good if you kept the live rock in the water on the way home.if you dont you may get another cycle.A couple of rubber maid tubs would the trick.And keep the original water.Oh, and welcome to RB.

[Lowej82]

drain water just a little below sand, to avoid sloshing it around thats what I was told when I was gonna by one off ebay. they say if you dont you can stir the sand bed up to much. also keep as much of the water as possible, check out the fast food chains for empty pickle buckets, (5 gal)

Welcome to RB & good luck to you and your move

[CyberJester]

Welcome to RB, Noel!

Post some pics of your setup when you get a chance.

[holiday]

I was told to wrap the live rock in wet newspaper and lay them in a plastic bin in one layer only and take a spray bottle with their tank water in it and spritz every hour or so on the way home.

The truck is packed with everything I need. Buckets, water jugs, aerators, coolers, blocks to put the tank on. We are taking my husbands truck with a topper so everything can be out of the sun and have air ventilation. I wish I could keep everything in the ac but it's too much stuff.

I will post pics when I can of the new tank. My old set up is doing great. I will be absorbing as much knowledge as I can. From the few posts that I have read - I have been really lucky. I only check salinity, ammonia, nitrates, nitrites and ph. I haven't lost any corals. I have lost one fish. I think a bristleworm might have gotten it. I have one large one that I can't catch. The lfs said it was my starfish that got the chromis. Who knows.

Thanks for the warm welcoming.

Noel