[marciemp]

We have decided to get a second hand 72 gallon and got a great deal on it, but I am very nervous about the move.

It has the tank, stand, filter, protien skimmer, light, heater, live rock, fish...This is exactly what he said : "ac500 skimmer ac402 and 802 heater lights stand sand" in an e-mail, can anyone translate?

We saw the tank in person and it is nice but not 100% well kept. The guy has only be refilling the evaporated water, which I know already is a bad thing.

I am also not 100% sure on the fish that are in there. He has 2 clownfish, a blue tang (looks like Dory in finding Nemo) a yellow tang, a clown of some sort that is blackish, a little blue guy with yellow tail (damsel?), a crab, maybe a snail, and a maroon clown. We were considering seeing if the LFS would take the maroon clown as he seemed to be picking on the percula clowns, and I read in a book they can be aggressive? What about the blue and yellow tang? Are they peaceful. My daughter would like for us to keep the Dory fish, but I want what is best for the whole community. I would like to add a few fish we go pick out, and a bunch of snails, shrimp, crabs, etc. for cleaning purposes among other reasons. Any suggestions on how many fish the tank can hold, and what sort of fish would be best, which ones we should return to the store, and what and how many invertabrates we should add?

He also has only 50 pounds of live rock, should we get more?

There was quite a bit of algae on the back wall of the tank, can I scrub that off before we re-set up the tank, or would this cause problems? Would it be better for me to get some snails? I would like the tank to be nice and clean/clear eventually. I don't mind a bit of green on the rocks for the fish to nibble at, but is it OK biologically if the glass is kept clear? The fliter is also quite green, but I wouldn't want to disturb the biology, and suggestions?

Should we quarantine everything live we buy new to add to the tank? If so, for how long?

I also read somewhere that we should only take some of the sand, then add that to new sand, and it will re-seed itself. Is this best, or should we try to take all of the sand? I was worried about stuff in it dying and then causing decay.

I really hope we can get this moved OK. It is very very cold here right now
(-30) so the move will be tough. Any ideas or suggestions would be very helpful. We need to get the whole move done in a day for the fish and because we need a babysitter to keep the kiddos out of the way.

The guy said he moved the fish there in buckets (he got the set up from a friend second hand as well), but I was thinking bags put in coolers would be better and more gentle (no bumped heads). The rocks we were going to carry in buckets or bins, trying to not take them out of the water at all. How should we keep the fish when we get them home? Leave them in their transport bags, or move them to a large bucket or bin with their tanks water, a heater and something to aerate the water?

The tank has no lid so evaporation is crazy (it is so dry here the air just sucks it up), and we want to buy one, should we go glass or plastic?

One more question, I have the test supplies from my freshwater tank that can all be used on Saltwater as well (PH, Ammonia, Nitrates, Nitrites) What else do I need for water tests?

I guess I should mix up some water in advance too, so I will be off to the fish store for advice there. I get the basics (filtered water, chlorine remover, special salt) but I have read about additives too, which is where I need help. I am in Canada, so brand names are all different.

IU plan on buying a couple of great books too, the ones from the library are too outdated, hopefully that will help, the internet can be confusing with all the abbreviations and such, and I am a picture learner.

Thanks for help,
Marcie

[reefer]

Do you have any pictures before you buy?

[volitan_fa]

Well first of all, I would say that tank is overstocked. And you're right about they maroon clown, they usually do pick on other species of clowns. The blackish clown could be a black and white percula clown. They cost about twice as much as a regular percula last time I checked.

Green algae isn't usually a good thing in a saltwater tank. In fact I've never seen it in my tanks. You might want to check the salinity of the water in that tank too. The algae outbreaks you usually get in saltwater are diatom (brown), red slime, and hair algae. And of course the coralline algae, which is good. I would scrub all that down (with vinegar and water, 50/50), get it off your glass. Usually people only let coralline algae grow on the glass, and then only on the back wall. I would still suggest getting some snails to keep your tank clean.

If you mix the old sand with new sand, the risk you run is having another cycle or mini-cycle happen. Might not be a bad thing for the tank, but you'll have to displace your inhabitants until it finishes (could be months). I think the better route would be to use the original sand with a new mix of saltwater. Wait about a week and then vacuum the sand with a water change. That should take care of any gunk in the sand.

[volitan_fa]

As far as the moving part, moving them in coolers is a good idea, you might even want to throw heat packs in the coolers with the fish. Moving the rock and sand in buckets or rubbermaids isn't bad either, but they can't get too cold either or you'll have some die-off. I know how fast things get cold in that temperature (it's -16 here). Also, just be sure you put all this stuff INSIDE a vehicle when moving, not in the back of a truck or anything, even with heat packs it'll get too cold.

Yes, quarantine everything that goes into your tank. For fish, I would recommend about a week, give or take. The easiest way to QT a fish is buy a 10 or 20 gallon tank, set it up with just a filter, heater, and water that you change from your main tank. Make sure the parameters are as close to your main tank as possible.

For the lid, I like the glass tops better (I think they're easier to clean), but the 72 gallon may be an odd shape (bowfront?), and you'll probably have an easier time finding an acrylic cover.

On test kits, I would recommend getting Calcium, Iodine, and Phosphate kits if you plan on keeping a reef. Otherwise, you might just want to consider a Phosphate kit. And as for the water composition, I would use only RO/DI (pure) water and a good salt mix. A good salt mix will have everything you need in it, especially for a fish-only/live rock system. Additives can turn out to be harmful for your inhabitants unless you really know what you're doing with them. Even then, usually you only need additives in reef systems to replenish nutrients.

Hope this all helps. Good luck!