scubasteve92 Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 I am looking to get some new fish, I have 2 clowns and a scooter blenny. First thing though, I am planning on moving my complete system from Big Sandy (middle of no where in east texas) to austin. 4-5 hour drive. So, how should I do that?? Main question can I move my fish and how hard is it? If I can move my fish with little issues then i want to add something. I was looking at fish at my LFS and saw the flame angel, now I've seen them before and thought they weren't reef compatible at all, but the guy there told me it would be great in my tank (LPS, SPS, zoas)! Any opinions? I read a lot that it is up to the fish and is more 50/50. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 My Flame took a liking to any Zoa's and any Xenia I put in the tank. Otherwise, he didn't mess with any of my LPS, SPS, or Leathers. He did like some Fuzzy Mushrooms I had now that I think of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subsea Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Did you tell the LFS that your tank size was 20G. IMO that is too small for a flame angel. With respect to moving with a four hour drive, it is not insurmountable. Have a place to set up tank at new location. A minimum of two five gallon buckets. Put fish, invertebrate in one bucket and live rock in another bucket. If substrate and tank is not to heavy to move, then do not disturb substrate and transport tank. Keep as much old tank water as possible. If you have advance time to set up at new place, then have conditioned water waiting for you at new location. At this point minimize stress to fish. I would leave light off the first day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Hydro Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 I wouldn't put any angel in a 20 gallon tank reef or not. I'm surprised that you are able to keep a scooter blenny alive in there, they are tough to keep. They mostly eat pods, you must have gotten yours to eat frozen right? Or did you just get it? Those guys are just like mandarins when it comes to care. Moving your fish will be easy, get some clean 5 gallon buckets, pull all the water out of the tank and split between buckets, put the fish in one, corals in the other, and the rock in another, sand in another. Once you get to austin wash the sand really well fresh saltwater to remove all the funky stuff and reassemble everything. Watch out for tank cycling, probably want to do small water changes every few days for a week or so to make sure there aren't any spikes from cycling. How bout a goby shrimp pair instead of the angel? Please don't get the angel, in a small tank he will eat your corals out of spite! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scubasteve92 Posted February 1, 2012 Author Share Posted February 1, 2012 Well im convinced, not getting the angel. What about a bicolor dottyback? And yes, the scooter blenny is eating frozen, no worries bout her. So if i got some bucket and put the fish and shrimp in a bucket and .... well i have my coral on my rock, like stuck to my rock.. I may can get them off just curious how anyone moves rock with coral epoxyed to the rock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wa1tx Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 I had a flame angel in my 125 and he was the meanest fish. He would come after me if I stuck my hand in the tank. He pestered my poor clownfish almost to death. He never touched any coral though. I do agree with everyone else. A 20g is too small for an angel. I have moved coral on rocks before from San Antonio. Not as far as you are going. I put the rocks in a bucket with water and got a battery powered air pump. Worked fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+etannert Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 When we moved from DFW to Austin we moved 2 tanks with no problem. Bagged corals, tupperware works great for this - try the Dollar Store - then fish in bags or buckets, live rock in buckets. We always just pitched the sand and replaced it because our tanks are smaller. Rubbermaid tubs work great as temporary overnight storage units so you don't have to rush getting the tank set back up, you just need an airstone and a powerhead in the tub. Marc Levenson (Melev) used multiple Rubbermaid tubs and troughs to maintain his 240g system for months after his tank sprang a leak. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Hydro Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Well im convinced, not getting the angel. What about a bicolor dottyback? And yes, the scooter blenny is eating frozen, no worries bout her. So if i got some bucket and put the fish and shrimp in a bucket and .... well i have my coral on my rock, like stuck to my rock.. I may can get them off just curious how anyone moves rock with coral epoxyed to the rock. You would just use more buckets and put the corals with rocks in buckets by themselves. Don't worry about airstones and airpumps, corals and fish are in bags for 24 hrs when being shipped, they will be fine while you move. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 As to the question of putting dwarf angels in reef tanks I have them in most of my tanks without problems but that doesn't mean it can't happen. Like any fish that's but in a reef you always have to be watching it's behaviour with it's tankmates and problems can develop months or years after a fish is introduced as it matures. As to the question of putting a dwarf angel in a 20 gallon I also don't think it's a good idea. Like Hydro I am impressed if you've had the scooter blennie awhile, they are in the same genus with the mandarins (don't ask me why one is called a blennie and the other gobies ) and have the same feeding issues. This may be a factor in deciding on which fish to get as most of the basslets (Grammas, Assessors, Psuedochromis) are going to be competitors for 'pods especially in a small tank. As for moving as long as the water does not get too warm or cold I would not expect significant problems moving if you can save most of the water and put stuff in seperate buckets. Obviously you don't want to stack corals on top of each other and the fish shouldn't have anything in the bucket with them that might shift and crush them during the drive. Whether or not you save the sand is up to you but I'd be inclined to replace it. Also expect an algae bloom a 2 - 4 weeks after moving. Good Luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mFrame Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 +1 to the advice. above. I also would not consider adding any fish until well after the move. There's enough stress and odds of a cycle in the tank once you set it back up. I'd wait for it to stabilize before you make any additions. Glad to have you in Austin! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scubasteve92 Posted February 1, 2012 Author Share Posted February 1, 2012 I feel more confident about the move now! and i was starting to think i should wait til im back down there to add anything. Thanks for all the good info! Will be using alot of this to make the move! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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