Moving a 90g setup with fish, come watch!

So this thread is probably going to offer a lot of knowledge and just fun to tag along for the ride. I searched the forums threads for moving tanks and there is very little about moving big saltwater tanks.
So on Saturday, I'm getting a 90gallon FOWLR setup (yay! Have never owned anything over a 30g)and moving the entire tank and its contents 2.5 hrs. Time is of the essence, I plan to get those fish in the tank asap. The stock is a foxface, heniochus, 2 clowns, blue tang, and a hawkfish.
I have 3 5g buckets and 3 battery air pumps coming Tomorrow. I also bought a few totes for any misc tank equipment and a big rolling tote for the liverock which will be covered in wet newspaper to keep anything from drying out/dying off. Hopefully we'll be able to move the stand with the sump in it.
Now the big issue when moving a large tank is getting the water prepared after its set up. We don't have a faucet hookup so it's either a hose through the window or by hand (obviously not filling a 90g by hand) but the water that comes out of the hose is FREEZING. The fish absolutely cannot wait for a 90g to heat up without immense stress.
I have 2 45g bins that in advance I'm going to fill with saltwater and a heater that way when we set the tank up I can use a pump and pump the prepped water right into the tank ready to go! This will save a TON of work and unnecessary stress to fish.
Going to dose with beneficial bacteria and hope that what ever bacteria is saved in the sand bed and sump helps the transition.
I'll be posting pictures here throughout the week as I prep and dig my saltwater stuff out of the basement. (I know not exciting) but once the fish get here ill be posting a ton! I am also going to be redoing the rockwork. Overall getting the tank is going to be a 6hr process.
Its been 7 years since I've been able to keep a sw tank due to moving twice. Now in our final house with a generator and financially stable. this is almost my dream tank. I could cry!! LOL

 

I no longer keep saltwater tanks, but I loved having a maroon clown.. However, they are aggressive. They like having their own anemone as their residence and they will defend it vigorously. Sometimes they will accept a soft coral or even an artificial decoration as a substitute, but they need a place to call home.

 

I no longer keep saltwater tanks, but I loved having a maroon clown.. However, they are aggressive. They like having their own anemone as their residence and they will defend it vigorously. Sometimes they will accept a soft coral or even an artificial decoration as a substitute, but they need a place to call home.

Exactly, they do need a anemone or at least a mate. Since I got this tank from someone else he came with the tank (and the tank was also previously set up as a fowlr) and since I'm keeping it as a fowlr and can't have corals or inverts hes got to go. Definitely not suited for this type of setup

 

Exactly, they do need a anemone or at least a mate. Since I got this tank from someone else he came with the tank (and the tank was also previously set up as a fowlr) and since I'm keeping it as a fowlr and can't have corals or inverts hes got to go. Definitely not suited for this type of setup

You might try a fake anemone and see if he will adopt it.

 

You might try a fake anemone and see if he will adopt it.

No hes definitely going. Fake one will just get covered in algae and hes still going to attack my other fish. I'm not attached to him at all. He bit a hole in my 8" bird wrasse, hes definitely not staying lol

 

No hes definitely going. Fake one will just get covered in algae and hes still going to attack my other fish. I'm not attached to him at all. He bit a hole in my 8" bird wrasse, hes definitely not staying lol

Wow! Wrasses are pretty fast swimmers, so I cannot believe the Maroon caught him.

 

thats sad never had a saltwater but heard there hard to up keep but ive always wanted a little 10 gallon sw and have 1 sea horse in it.

 

Wow! Wrasses are pretty fast swimmers, so I cannot believe the Maroon caught him.

Seriously, this maroon is a nasty piece of work. LOL hopefully he'll go to a tank more appropriate for him. My wrasse is okay. But will permanently have a blemish, I'm annoyed Hes 7yrs old

thats sad never had a saltwater but heard there hard to up keep but ive always wanted a little 10 gallon sw and have 1 sea horse in it.

They arent really hard to keep up if you know what you're doing. It may be way more time consuming, but esp a fish only tank, its not hard if your dealing with easy specimens. research/forums is your best friend for sw tanks. If you just dive in without knowing about parameters, nuisance alage, it can be very overwhelming
Seahorses are pretty difficult to keep, they do require a lot of specific care and can be very difficult to feed also but they are REALLY cool.
Its funny they tagged my post as inappropriate language, I didn't even type swear words lol just so y'all don't think I'm just potty mouthed over here xD

 

I think my wrasse is courtshipping the hawkfish o.o
There's very little documentation of these behaviors of bird wrasses, or any other large wrasses. So I really an not 100% sure thats what it is but he was following him and doing it and that sure what it looks like lol. Thought you guys might like to see

 

I *almost* got my AquaMaxx omega biopellet reactor going today. It was a huge ordeal and took about 2+ hours of being wedged under the cabinet. The original spot i had in mind wouldn't work with the hose (it kept kinking) no matter how many different lengths of hose i tried so I gave up and tried a different route. I went around my protein skimmer and put the pump on the other side of the reactor. It works! It fits!
However.....
Even though the pump has a dial for flow, on the lowest setting its still too fast and I think the tumble is too high for the pellets so I will have to add a ball valve.

Also the hose to the protein skimmer from the reactor outtake is kinked as well since I'm working with a very tight space so ill probably put in another elbow and line it up with the skimmer intake

 

After about 80lbs of crushed coral removed and 25g water changes weekly with doing gravel vacs, my nitrates are down to 100ppms!!!! (This test is at a dilution rate) This seriously excites me. My biopellet reactor isn't even up and running yet so I believe that will help finish off the job, and be helpful when I get more fish. My bioload is quite low right now.
Speaking of fish...
So I have a plan for my next 3 fish. 1 is a starry blenny and the other 2 are a white tail bristletooth tang and a female wantanabei angelfish. Both those fish are probably going to cost me $700+.
I cannot afford to loose them. So I am making a plan for my QT tanks now. These fish will probably be added in the next 4 months. But getting the qt tanks up and running is probably going to take a month (establish bacteria on bio media for the hob filters) my plan of action to add these fish:
2 qt tanks: 1 smaller tank for copper/meds and my 29g for the rest of the 14 day non medicated qt.
Both equipped with hob filters with bioactive media thats been seeded by my main tank for months.
Barebottom with pvc and maybe a decoration
Both will have powerheads& a bubbler for aeration. Will have to get a hanna copper checker for this as well. It's going to be quite the ordeal but I can't afford to loose these fish or infect my others. They are wild caught coming from live aquaria.
I will also not buy them until it is no longer below freezing outside at night. It's been 5 at night and hardly reaches above 25 during the day. We have roughly 2 more months of this weather. YUCK.
I think I have a solid plan. I have all the tanks and equipment already from years of fishkeeping. Just need to invest in meds and some misc things.

 

A little treat for the fishies today
We live by the ocean so seafood is pretty fresh around here. The fish devoured the little pieces I chopped up for them.

 

After about 80lbs of crushed coral removed and 25g water changes weekly with doing gravel vacs, my nitrates are down to 100ppms!!!! (This test is at a dilution rate) This seriously excites me. My biopellet reactor isn't even up and running yet so I believe that will help finish off the job, and be helpful when I get more fish. My bioload is quite low right now.
Speaking of fish...
So I have a plan for my next 3 fish. 1 is a starry blenny and the other 2 are a white tail bristletooth tang and a female wantanabei angelfish. Both those fish are probably going to cost me $700+.
I cannot afford to loose them. So I am making a plan for my QT tanks now. These fish will probably be added in the next 4 months. But getting the qt tanks up and running is probably going to take a month (establish bacteria on bio media for the hob filters) my plan of action to add these fish:
2 qt tanks: 1 smaller tank for copper/meds and my 29g for the rest of the 14 day non medicated qt.
Both equipped with hob filters with bioactive media thats been seeded by my main tank for months.
Barebottom with pvc and maybe a decoration
Both will have powerheads& a bubbler for aeration. Will have to get a hanna copper checker for this as well. It's going to be quite the ordeal but I can't afford to loose these fish or infect my others. They are wild caught coming from live aquaria.
I will also not buy them until it is no longer below freezing outside at night. It's been 5 at night and hardly reaches above 25 during the day. We have roughly 2 more months of this weather. YUCK.
I think I have a solid plan. I have all the tanks and equipment already from years of fishkeeping. Just need to invest in meds and some misc things.

Wow!! Congrats on getting the nitrates down, and I am seriously so excited to see the new fish as you stock them, and follow along for the QT process! That said, uhhh... wanna give me some of those nitrates? Mine are undetectable and while my zoas aren't loving it, the dinos sure are. c:

 

Wow!! Congrats on getting the nitrates down, and I am seriously so excited to see the new fish as you stock them, and follow along for the QT process! That said, uhhh... wanna give me some of those nitrates? Mine are undetectable and while my zoas aren't loving it, the dinos sure are. c:¹

I am seriously so excited about the nitrates...because unfortunately my poor Foxface developed HLLE during the nitrate spike. I am on the verge of putting him into my 29g Q to treat him for bacterial after effects. (I'll post some pics in another post) I WISH I could give you some small tanks are so hard. That sucks you have dinos, can you dose nitrate?
I'm doing another w/c tomorrow. By the time I get the new fish in my nitrates should be down a bit more suitable range. On the other sw forum I've littlerly read about 65 pages of QT process and medications.

 

Wanted to do a little informative update my foxface has recently developed HLLE.




Now I have had professional advice from 3 experts that has finalized my conclusion on my fish's condition. I scoured the internet, forums, anything to figure out what was wrong with my fish. He started developing these holes (which are symmetrical) slightly tattered fins and some lesions on his tail. Now HLLE I found effects foxface a bit different than other fish such as tangs and while HLLE has MANY causes I was having trouble pinpointing the cause. So it's nothing I am really doing wrong. The high nitrate spike + moving and going through a mini cycle put a lot of stress on him. Now I just found out he is 12 years old!
For those that don't know, that is INCREDIBLY old for a foxface. Hes pretty much at the end of his life. Their life span can range from 5-8-12. The marine biologist who took care of the tank prior and my old manager I used to work for (at the fish store) agreed its HLLE. The marine biologist also said that a few years ago he started to get skinny she noticed. So this has been an ongoing issue.
They both recommend different treatments in a Q tank if I wish. but honestly, he's not doing too bad, I'm keeping an eye on his issues. I also ordered Selcon.

I feed very well but maybe he needs a boost. Selcon is supposed to help with HLLE and its something I think every tank should feed anyway, regardless. So we'll see where it takes us along with my nitrate reduction plan. In short he's old and got stressed. (Story of my life lol)
Tank is cycling beautifully. I am just now starting to get green algae and it's actually pretty? Lol compared to the brown/red stuff so I'm excited to see the tanks progression on cycling since the transport.




Doing a big water change and algae scraping, it appears so fast.
I also have my QT meds on the way and setting that up soon

 

I am seriously so excited about the nitrates...because unfortunately my poor Foxface developed HLLE during the nitrate spike. I am on the verge of putting him into my 29g Q to treat him for bacterial after effects. (I'll post some pics in another post) I WISH I could give you some small tanks are so hard. That sucks you have dinos, can you dose nitrate?
I'm doing another w/c tomorrow. By the time I get the new fish in my nitrates should be down a bit more suitable range. On the other sw forum I've littlerly read about 65 pages of QT process and medications.

Aw man, that's the worst! Though it sounds like you've got all the information you need to give him the best care. Incredible that he's 12!
(also, I can dose nitrate! gonna start dosing that and phosphate as well this week.)

Yay green algae!! It really does look nice, especially compared to the other stuff

 

So I ordered a starry blenny from the LFS and it took 3 weeks to come in. But I picked him up last night and well I knew it was going to be iffy because of the wrasse but I thought I would give it a try. (He wasn't expensive and I really wanted an algae eating blenny since I can't have snails) WELL the wrasse tried to eat him as soon as I put him in the tank
He found a nice little cave to hide in but I don't think he'll ever come out. That wrasse has been eyeing him all day seeing if he could get him from the cave. No way I can catch the blenny now. What a bummer, so either he's going to live in the cave forever and find a way to survive and I'll never see him or the wrasse will eat him.
This is why I hate predatory fish lol I love the wrasse and he would probably have been fine if they were raised together or the wrasse was smaller.

 

HAH. I spoke too soon. My algae blenny is just fine he hid for a few days and the wrasse forgot about him and no longer sees him as food. He's been active and exploring the tank and eating a TON of algae. Soooo much, it's awesome. He hasn't taken any frozen food or pellets but probably because he's getting all he needs from the abundance of algae. I love seeing his little grazing marks everywhere.

 

My starry blenny has made artwork along the back wall lol figured you guys would enjoy the pic!
Finally got my AquaMaxx omega biopellet reactor up and running. Now just waiting a month to see progress/add more pellets and if I'm not mistaken I believe my nitrates are around 50 or 60ppms now! It wasn't *quite* the darker shade of purple (test is at dilution rate) so the 10 ppms are actually 50) my phos is 1.0. almost no nasty junk comes out of the gravel now. A huge improvement I am so happy with the changes I have made. Algae galore though. My foxface with HLLE is doing okay. It is what it is and he doesn't appear to be getting rapidly worse.

 

QT 29g almost setup. I have a fluval 306 canister filter that isn't being used, just waiting for a spare hose to come in today and can get it up and running! Will put another 20g next to it on the floor for the 2nd part of the qt. When we are done QT our new fish (white tail bristletooth tang and watanabei angelfish) then it will become a tank for a couple oriental goldfish since our sunroom isn't heated too warmly in the winter.

 

Just a little update for those who may be following or check back! ^_^ I feel this has turned into my personal reef blog xD
Tank is doing great, been keeping up with w/c and the nitrates are down to 20ppms!!! YAY!! success!! I have had the biopellet reactor running for a month now I added about 1/4 cup more pellets. My phosphates are still kinda high, so I have LOTS of algae growth but I keep up with it.
My starry blenny now eats pellets and is super personable, he has no issues with the wrasse now its great. My wrasse has a little tumor/mass on his nose. He's had it since I got him but it's getting a little bigger. He is like...12 years old and well we all know it happens to all forms of life. Dogs, cats, fish, birds, can get masses when in their older years.
I also decided to place an order with DR. Reef. I've spent a LOT of money this year. Having him qt my fish for me is actually less expensive than what I was going to get them for at liveaquaria. So I ordered my dream fish, a red sea regal angelfish. One of the smaller angels that will be able to go into my tank and a whitetail bristletooth tang. I have to call to see if they are in stock, if they aren't it'll be a month to 2 months and then another 5 weeks in qt. But it'll be worth it. I can put them in my tank right away, no stress, no medication, no qt tanks. Perfect. I can't wait to get my beautiful fish and not worry I am going to screw up medicating and kill my $400 fish lol

 

Well its been a while, but I'll do an update, just for the heck of it. So the tank had a bacteria bloom and I lost my hawkfisk. I got the bloom under control and tank is back to normal. I got a flame hawfish and he's doing great.
Also my regal angel came in from Dr. REEF!
day 3 and hes eating pellets now and very healthy looking until tonight.
This is what I get for adding a new fish, even though it was fully QT.
My angel now has ich on his fins and my beautiful huge heniochus is covered in ich. Just all of a sudden. Parameters are good, nitrates are up a little but not too bad and phos is still high but everything else is good. My fish have been eating really well and now I have the dreaded ich. I'll be d**** If my new dream fish that I paid extra to QT kills my tank. None of my fish have ever had an ich outbreak. I just bought a large UV sterilizer that I haven't hooked up yet so I should probably do that. But super bummed and I hope I don't loose my fish and they are strong enough to fight this