Tank Moving Nightmare

[fishygayle]

I just moved from Cartersville to Gainesville. Actually we had most of our stuff moved about a month ago, but waited to move the aquarium...we couldn't agree on location...anyway...for an aquarium that has been neglected for a month...it was doing quite well. There are no fish in it right now and I had a little hair algae starting to show up..and the sand isn't as white as it has been...but other than that...everybody was looking OK.

I emptied about half of the water and went to the local Cartersville fish store to buy 10 gallons of Saltwater...you know who you are!!!! I got to Gainesville...reaquascaped......the peppermint shrimp got caught between a rock and a hardplace... may he rest in peace...but I got everything looking pretty cool... I put the water in ... everything looked good...my condi anemone was open...bubble coral open... hermits and snails out and about....:thumbs: ....I went to lunch and came back to check on the tank..everything was closed up tight! I pulled out all of my test kits...everything was pretty much in range...I had purchased a new hydrometer and the needle was all over the place...up,down, up, down...kinda like when the kids go to bed early...ooops...that's another subject....Basically I figured piece of crap hydromter....

The last thing I did was dig out my old hydrometer to check salinity...guess what...the water I bought from the LFS...Wasn't salty!!!! I had been chatting with a guy on Myspace that told me all of my local options for SWFS...I packed the kids up and went looking for a FS...(the Salt hasn't been moved yet)...Well, the first 3 were closed..aaagggghhh..finally found one open....he tried to sell me a 5 gallon bucket of salt for my 25 gallon aquarium...explaining how I was going to have to slowly replace the water...bullsh*t....I got a tank crashing right in front of my eyes!!!!

I did the unthinkable!!! poured about 1/4 cup of marine salt at a time into the back of the aquarium where the intakes are for my pump...waited a few minutes...checked salinity....I did this for about an hour...

Guess what...the next morning...yellow polyps opened, condi anemone open, queen conch checking out her new digs, bubble just a bubbling...everybody looks happy:yay: ....

note to self...check salinity of any water I buy from now on!!!

 

[victor626nj]

wow your lucky happy reefing

 

[raisingtwo2006]

YEA! I'm glad everything survived for you 'cept the scrimpy... When we moved up in Colorado... (we were still VERY new to the hobby) I poured water into the tank that wasn't salty either. And being the genius that I am, poured salt into the tank...There was no livestock in yet... And you're thinking, that's not SO bad. BUT THEN-- I poured our inverts right in on that huge fuzzy looking salt pond!!! I didn't stir the water, or anything. I had to watch our three stars dissolve in front of my eyes!! It was awful!