I guess I needed a little "you can do it" message to myself. As the time is drawing closer, I'm getting very nervous about moving my livestock to Texas. The timing of everything is so hard to plan.
I am going to San Antonio on Saturday (by myself) in preparation for the tank setup on Monday (though right now a slight disclaimer from the fish store responsible for delivery and setup of how they can't control stuff makes me wonder if the trip is for nothing).
I come home on Thursday July 2nd to get the gang ready for the move.
We drive there on July 9th and 10th.
I come back here on the 19th for a meeting on the 20th, go back to San Antonio on the 21st.
Questions...
1) When would you move my live rock (most of which has some type of coral attached to it).
2) When would you move stuff like acans and SPS?
3) When would you move the fishies that are coming along with us? And, when should folks pick up the ones that I have sold?
4) When do I move my lights, controllers, calc reactor?
I had planned on setting this up a few weeks ago, but as is typical plans change.
In regards to question #1 - If I don't move it at the beginning and I get dieoff I will start a new cycle, delaying the rest. Would you remove the more sensitive corals like SPS and acans from the rocks and have someone ship the rocks on July 1st with stuff like zoas on them while I am still there so they are in the tank asap helping to cycle it? (I won't have real lights on the tank until the rest of the corals are moved and won't have anyone watching the tank in Texas until we get there.)
In regards to #2 & 3 - Once I leave SL, someone else will need to tend to these (my daughter) until I get them in Texas. Auto lights and topoff simplify this, but a mistake or malfunction could kill everything. Do you think it is realistic to pack these for shipment to myself on the 21st, send them Delta Dash so that they go on the same flight as me, and pick them up on the other end when I get there. My flight doesn't get in until after 11:00 pm, but I am more comfortable about this if I can figure out a way to be on both ends to take care of things.
In regards to #4 lights - I am thinking about taking my Icecap Ballast for the VHO's (or T5's) and setting those up on the new tank this week (however, I don't think the canopy will be ready yet). Or, I could take 2 MH off the 125 when we leave on the 9th and group the remaining corals as best as I can to get light from the remaining 1 MH and VHO (again I may not have a canopy). Then ship the Icecap ballast later after the remaining coralsl/fish have shipped.
In regards to #4 Controller - Controller would probably come back with me on the plane if the corals and fish ship on the 21st.
In regards to #4 Calc reactor - We will need to take this when we drive there because of the restrictions on shipping the tank. I do have a kalk reactor I can setup on a shortterm basis through my ATO so I think this part of the deal is handled ok (I even bought a new ATO just so I would have one on each tank).
Thoughts, ideas, suggestions about what you would do differently? Would you try and pack any of this yourself? Have friends like you help me out? Or have a lfs who ships stuff all the time do it?
This is hurting my brain...really!
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