How many days does it take to set up a tank........

[Sea~Horse~Whisperer]

WEDNESDAY

OK Time to set up the 45G High for the pair of H. Redi's. I had a 45G High that I had 3 Koi in. I didn't want to buy another tank and the 45 G High is the perfect height for the horses, so I gave the koi to the LFS that I originally bought them from. Since the LFS is an hour away, I called first to see if they had a stand that would fit the tank. Yup.......great I'm on my way. 1 hr later and about 25.00 in gas the koi are donated and I try to pick up the stand. It would seem they have no 36 in. stands in stock but they can order me one to be in next week. GRRRR wasted trip. drive another hour home with NO stand

THURSDAY
I called Petco to see if they have a 36 in. stand. I'm on hold for 10 mins. but the girl comes back and says they have 2 iron stands in stock that are 36 inches and they were 45.00 each. I had her double check the size and she got kinda snotty but I told here I was over an hour away and i already did this the day before (different LFS) and I just wanted to make sure.
Back into the car 25.00 in gas and an hour + drive, (2 hrs round trip) I get to petco. Guess what.......they were 30 inch stands and the only 36 in. stands they have are 130.00 not 45.00. I explained to them that I called and had them check and recheck to make sure they had the one I needed. Thankfully the woman who answered the phone when I called was still there and she remembered me. At this point i was just a little PO'd. I asked for a manager and I told him exactly what I thought of his help and his store for that matter. I explained that I just drove an hour and that with my truck getting 10 mpg....I was a very unhappy camper. Needless to say I got my 130.00 wood stand at the 45.00 price she quoted me for the iron one. Frustrated and ticked off, but happy I have a stand, Home I go to set up the tank. (Yeah right)

I get home and get the stand in the house. I called my hubby to tell him what happened. I tell him I'm setting up the 45G in my office. NO I'm not he says. The floor will not hold it because of the way the house was built in 1905. There are no supporting walls in the basement on this side of the downstairs. *%#! Ok I can fix this......I want my tank up, and nothing not even a floor crashing into the basement is going to stop me. Off to the hardware store I go. 2- 8ft 4x4's and 2 floor jacks later I'm in the basement reinforcing the floor below where I want to set up the tank. ( Is there a limit to howmany spiders can live in 1 basement?) I could now park a car in my office, but I'm too tired to mess with the tank. Into the shower to wash off any over friendly basement creepies and I'm Off to bed. (with a bad case of the willies no less)

Friday

Note to self........Do not make RO/DI water when U are tired.......forgot to shut it off. About 25 gal of freshly made salt water on the newly reinforced floor and 3 hrs of sucking water out of the carpet. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Water cleaned up tank on stand new water being mixed and airrated. Can't do anything else today........or can I? I decide to work on converting my old in sump skimmer to a hang on. I know bad plan at this point. Is it possible to UN CEMENT PVC? Guess not. Note to self.......remember which pipe faces which way and double check before cementing in place. I now have to figure out how to cut it apart and still be able to use it. That's a project for another day.........about a month from now, lol.

Saturday

water made I'm finally good to go. ummmm sure. Out to the garage I go to get the bags of SD sand (quite possibly the last 2 bags of SD in WI) Hmmmm what happened to my sand? Call husband to see where he put my sand. *%#!#%* He used it to clean up the oil he spilled last week.....He'll buy me more. after a wordy conversation and some unkind thoughts, Here I go again.....1 hr and more gas to the LFS to buy way overpriced sand for a tank that's now just a mission impossible......but I feel like a runaway train and there's no stopping me. who would have thought that out of 3 pet stores they wouldn't have reef sand? ( I should have known) I got 2 - 10lb bags of sand and 1 10lb bag of very fine crushed coral. That's it....one from each store. Nothing more till maybe Thursday of next week. By this time I've had it and I'm thinking how nice the little 20G tank the horses are in now looks and I should probably just leave them there. <--------says words that would make a sailor blush Just so my trip wasn't a total disappointment I bought a pretty little firefish for the SH tank. If it doesn't work out in there, I will move it to the reef tank. (I've read it was ok but I've also read it's not..we will see) No more time left today to add everything to the tank.....I will do it in the morning.

Sunday

I get everything in the tank and get it running. It is still cloudy from the sand, but at least it is full of water and has a sand bed. I added 3 cups of sand from my reef tank and a piece of Live rock from the fuge to get the cycle started. Here's a pic of my 5 day tank set up. I still have to build the canopy and add trim to the stand to hide the fact that the stand and the tank don't match. Oh goody......another project. ; )~

Sorry the post got so long......It's been a long 5 days.

[dakar]

Angie, that epitomizes the reasoning behind why this *hobby* is such an obsession!

A lot of work (95% running around burning gas) but hey, she's wet now!

And BTW, yes I think you had the last two bags of southdown left in the state, more likely any of the three surrounding states! Oil spill? That's what car litter is for!

[JustDavidP]

Wow... I for one believe that what comes around, goes around. That is true for both positive and negative. I'm pretty sure that with all the work and running around, your new tank will be that much nicer!

Keep us informed.

Dave

[Sweetpea]

Wow! You've been busy! Good for you for being so determined! I bet your horses will LOVE their new home!!!

[perpetual98]

I've got a bag of SD in my garage. I'm going to sell it in a year or so to the highest bidder. I figure I should get about $1000 for it. lol

Isn't a 45G tank too big for sea horses? I thought that smaller tanks were better for them so that they didn't have to chase food all over a big tank?

[JustDavidP]

There is a lot to figure out in determining the proper size tank for seahorses. In caring for fry or juvenile ponies, you want a smallish tank so you can concentrate food. This is also true for dwarf seahorses.

When housing the larger species, you want to ensure that the tank height is at least 3X as tall as the mature fish (with tail fully extended). You also need to determine how many fish you will keep. My 26G is perfect for two pair of Reidi. If I were to go with 3 or 4 pair, I'd upgrade to a 36 bow (I like bowfront tanks for slow water tanks).

In a 45G, you could house 3 or 4 pair as well. Some opt to have a few pair or more. Seahorses do NOT fill a tank with color and motion like you'd see in a reeftank. Having a few pair gives you more of a sense of a truly stocked tank.

Dave

[Sea~Horse~Whisperer]

I went with such a large tank because I know me. I may have 1 pair now.......but it won't stay that way, lol. But....even if it does I'm not concerned with them having too large of a tank to find food in. Plus...I already had the tank I just had to get the freshies out of it and convert it to SW.

1. I target feed them so there is no way they will starve. The eat PE Mysid right out of the ridged airline tubing. (someday they will lear that they can not snick it threw the tubing...they have to wait till it comes out the end. Silly horses) After they have gotten their fill and swim away I add a few extra pieces of mysis that they can "hunt for later". If they do not find it the snails and crabs do! I am also in the process of making a feeding station since I feed them in the same spot every day.

2. If you could see my Sea horses.......I mean sea PIGS...you'd know that they will locate food withing 10 miles. I have neve seen ANY fish eat or hunt food with as much gusto as thease two. I swear the beg for it as soon as the lights come on and are still begging after light out. My tang has nothing on thease two!!

3. With the size of the 45G High I can add more flow to the tank because there is more room to add multi spraybars. In the 20 G I have a few dead spots and I'm noticing a hair algae outbreak. I have reduced the lighting and I'm increasing the water changes to 2X a week untill it is gone. Right now there are only 2 spots of HA about the size a quarter each. Nip it in the bud before it get out of hand. (been there done that don't want to do it again)


The hard part is waiting the 4-6 weeks for the tank to cycle. If it takes that long. My 20G didn't have a cycle at all. I used water and sand and rock from my 125 reef and my 40G breeder tank. One can only hope.