How dumb is this? Making the best of a bad situation

guserto4 · 10/23/2013, 06:40 AM

I'm trying to figure out how bad an idea this setup is...

I bought a house but am doing renovations (blowing out part of the roof for a new dormer, new flooring everywhere, etc.) so I can't have a tank inside yet. I have been living at my dads the last year after moving back from CA. His house is sold and I have a few weeks to finish moving out. All my stuff is in my garage and I am going to couch surf with friends until I can move in to my place. None of my friends have a tank to put my SW stuff in so I had to get inventive...

I put a little more than 100lbs of LR plus inverts and a brittle star in a small brute with power head and heater, and in a separate system put livestock, which now amounts to 9 chromis (perc pair and tang didn't fair well with all this transition

) into 29 gallon with power head, heater auto feeder and HOB filter and a little bit of LR and wrapped it with insulation. I added a bucket with filter sock fed by pump for solids that gravity feeds back to the 29g. All this is in a detached, unheated garage. It's hitting 30 degrees at night but so far everything "seems" to be okay.

I'm wondering if I should get a space heater just to help keep the temp up in the garage, but I'm not likely to get to check on this situation more than every few days (which will be for water changes and general checkup). My big concerns, beyond health and happiness of the chromis and other livestock, are evaporation, fire and the 29g breaking a seal because of the temp differences.

I have a great home for these guys, a 100g tank complete with and proper filtration and LEDs and a spot picked out for the tank once I move in, but that is 1-2 months away.

How screwed am I, and what precautions should I take to attempt to avoid disaster?

I've been keeping SW a few years and know how bad this temporary situation is, so please be kind

rtparty · 10/23/2013, 08:54 AM

Find a local store to keep everything or a local reefer.

If you can't, I say sell it all off and start fresh.

Snaredrum · 10/23/2013, 08:57 AM

I agree. Sell to LFS for store credit so u can go shopping when the new system is up and running.

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10/23/2013, 06:40 AM	#1
guserto4 Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Denver Posts: 352	How dumb is this? Making the best of a bad situation I'm trying to figure out how bad an idea this setup is... I bought a house but am doing renovations (blowing out part of the roof for a new dormer, new flooring everywhere, etc.) so I can't have a tank inside yet. I have been living at my dads the last year after moving back from CA. His house is sold and I have a few weeks to finish moving out. All my stuff is in my garage and I am going to couch surf with friends until I can move in to my place. None of my friends have a tank to put my SW stuff in so I had to get inventive... I put a little more than 100lbs of LR plus inverts and a brittle star in a small brute with power head and heater, and in a separate system put livestock, which now amounts to 9 chromis (perc pair and tang didn't fair well with all this transition ) into 29 gallon with power head, heater auto feeder and HOB filter and a little bit of LR and wrapped it with insulation. I added a bucket with filter sock fed by pump for solids that gravity feeds back to the 29g. All this is in a detached, unheated garage. It's hitting 30 degrees at night but so far everything "seems" to be okay. I'm wondering if I should get a space heater just to help keep the temp up in the garage, but I'm not likely to get to check on this situation more than every few days (which will be for water changes and general checkup). My big concerns, beyond health and happiness of the chromis and other livestock, are evaporation, fire and the 29g breaking a seal because of the temp differences. I have a great home for these guys, a 100g tank complete with and proper filtration and LEDs and a spot picked out for the tank once I move in, but that is 1-2 months away. How screwed am I, and what precautions should I take to attempt to avoid disaster? I've been keeping SW a few years and know how bad this temporary situation is, so please be kind __________________ Just trying to get it right Current Tank Info: Under construction: 123g 80x24x16 display & 35g 24x24x16 frag

10/23/2013, 08:54 AM	#2
rtparty Raise The Reef! Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Utah Posts: 7,404	Find a local store to keep everything or a local reefer. If you can't, I say sell it all off and start fresh. __________________ Ryan Click on my user name and check out my homepage! Current Tank Info: 50g Cadlights/Giesemann Spectra (250w Radium, 2 ATI Blue Plus, 2 ATI Actinic)/2 x Vortech MP10wQD/Skimz SN123/Eheim Compact 3000+

10/23/2013, 08:57 AM	#3
Snaredrum Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Mitchell, IL. Posts: 55	I agree. Sell to LFS for store credit so u can go shopping when the new system is up and running. Send from a Samsung 4S using Tapatalk