Mr. Ugly
Past President
How about DBTC all the corals to the school tank? School kids can continue to DBTC, so there’s a better chance of getting corals back after 3 years. Good activity for the kids to learn about propping and PIF too.
anyone willing to take my tank for 3 years?
- Thread starter George D
- Start date
How about DBTC all the corals to the school tank? School kids can continue to DBTC, so there’s a better chance of getting corals back after 3 years. Good activity for the kids to learn about propping and PIF too.
the school i am moving too actually has a large marine bio program in fact that is the main reason im going there. they focus on cold-water marine aquaculture but they do have a mixed reef. i am going to contact them and see if i could set up a tank there or move my corals to their pre-existing reef.
yes that sounds cool it might be fun to set up a frag tank at the school im going to in one of the bio classes but obviously ill have to talk to one of the teachers. i think corals are a great thing for people to learn about our ocean and understand marine eco systems and their different parts. learning about aquariums has taught me a lot about corals and the ocean and i think that providing students with access to one is a great way for them to learn. i mean once i got started i couldn't stop and im still learning new things everyday!
Flagg37
Guest
A sage would be someone with wisdom and experience. In this case he’s saying to follow what others have said and simply sell off or donate your livestock.
Kensington Reefer
Supporting Member
Sell it all except for the tank
sfsuphysics
Supporting Member
If you're trying to post pictures directly to the website, yeah that's been broken a while I believe. If you're wanting to show a picture, post it on some 3rd part picture hosting site and use [ img ] tags to post said pictures, or just post the link.
Maybe give a breakdown of the fish and coral that you have? Selling it all seems like the consensus but if we knew what you were trying to keep (or sell) we could give a little more specific advice, i.e. "you're not going to get much from that" or "yeah, that's a nice piece, selling might be possible"
Maybe give a breakdown of the fish and coral that you have? Selling it all seems like the consensus but if we knew what you were trying to keep (or sell) we could give a little more specific advice, i.e. "you're not going to get much from that" or "yeah, that's a nice piece, selling might be possible"
i just dont know if ill get the money back that i spent. i recently purchased 2 kessils and spent over $800 and they will probably resell for 600-700. it just seems waste full to sell something brand new. im wondering if there is a local aquarium service that guarantees survival?
there is a list right under the first post
Flagg37
Guest
If you’re looking to get back everything you spent then you’ll be hard pressed. Would you buy something used for the same price you could buy it new? I think you’re just going to have to accept that you’re going to run a loss. The only question is how much of a loss.
No one will voluntarily take your stuff and guarantee no losses. You’d have to pay that person (if they are even out there). If you’re paying them then you’re losing money.
If you donate the livestock to the school that @Coral reefer maintains then there’s no guarantee but at least it’s free.
You don’t need to sell your gear but if you don’t it just depreciates. You can still use it when you get back though.
No one will voluntarily take your stuff and guarantee no losses. You’d have to pay that person (if they are even out there). If you’re paying them then you’re losing money.
If you donate the livestock to the school that @Coral reefer maintains then there’s no guarantee but at least it’s free.
You don’t need to sell your gear but if you don’t it just depreciates. You can still use it when you get back though.
bluprntguy
Guest
Also agree with sell. Now. There's a significant chance that when you are ready to re-start, that tank won't fit in your new place, or you'll want something better/bigger. There will be newer lights, and a better wavemaker. I'd sell everything now and get what you can while it still has some value. In three years it's going to be significantly more difficult to sell the four year old equipment that's been in storage. When you are ready to get back in, buy what you want/need then.
sfsuphysics
Supporting Member
Gotcha, don't know why I didn't see the list. But just looking at it.
You're not going to get anywhere close to your investment on the fish, the clowns MAY get some back if they're fancy designer clowns, but even those depreciate in price as more are bred and out there.
The corals, setosa, birdsnest, galxiea, candy cane, are fairly common, other things... well it's all in the color, i.e. regular torch = meh, gold torch = very nice. Not to say you couldn't sell them just being honest here, but unless there are some really phenomenal pieces in there I would see a very hard time getting anywhere close to $2k back. If you do decide to sell the livestock, which IMO still is your best bet, if you want to get top dollar it's going to take effort in you and time.
First unless the Kessil's are new in box, you probably not going to get $300-350 each for them, maybe if they're the newist 360X version and you used them for a couple weeks only, if they're the older 360WE, then those go for $350 new. Second, there's no reason to sell them, you can shut everything down after selling the livestock, then simply clean up the equipment, get it dry, and store it until you get back. Sure there will be newer (possibly better) equipment out there, but whatever if your Kessil's are near new, they'll still be near new and still work. I just think that's a better direction than trying to find someone who'll take care of everything with the promise that you'll pay for upkeep, keeping a tank going is not an easy thing to do as you know.\
Oh and you won't get back all the money you spent for the equipment side of things, that fact is guaranteed. As said, why would someone buy used, even if you used it for only a week, when they can get new at the same cost, full warranties and know unknowns like "accidentally dropped it getting out the car" etc.
jccaclimber
Supporting Member
JVU's advice in post 13 is spot on. I've seen this story play out before. Your best bet IMO if you can't bring this to school is:
1) Decide what livestock you are really attached to. The right answer BTW is "none of it", because you're only setting yourself up for heartbreak.
2) Transfer fish and non-fragables (clams, scoly's, etc.) you are really attached to into the system of a very trusted friend, then accept that if you didn't grow up with this friend for the last 15 years you've just added a huge strain to your friendship. They'll be nervous about things happening to your fish for 3 years. At the end of those 3 years if anything is still alive your friend will be attached to them as well, and fish can be a pain to catch.
3) Plan to re-build in 3 years. You can grow a pretty nice colony of almost anything from a frag in 1 year if you really know what you're doing. This means you only need 1 frag of each species of coral, and need to determine the most efficient way to come out of 3 years with that frag. If it is something readily available online or locally the answer is to try to sell enough of it now that you can simply buy a frag later. Doesn't matter what you get for it so long as the sale price now exceeds the replacement cost then. Anything left over throw out in to a DBTC to as many people as you can, and accept that you'll still end up replacing some pieces.
4) If your parents are willing to store it for you and you think you're going to move back to the area wash the sand and rocks, then throw them in buckets in a closet somewhere. If the tank is in really nice shape, and you could store it for free, post it for sale at an optimistic but still realistic price. If it's not in fantastic shape and you're ok with this then store it after you clear out the livestock. Do not expect it to be in as nice condition as it is now if someone borrows it for 3 years. You may well end up moving to a different part of the country after school. Moving dry rock is easy and works in any tank/space. Moving tanks is less easy and they don't fit in any space.
5) Clean with fresh water then dry out anything that won't lose value to you due to age. This generally includes return pumps, sumps, refractometer, etc.
6) Decide if you're the sort of person who is still using a Gen 1 Radion and a 10 year old skimmer because you already have it and it still works, or the person who values the latest and greatest. If you're *certain* you're good with old stuff then post it for an optimistic price, and accept that you'll keep and re-use it if it doesn't sell. If you want the new stuff sell now, because selling later or letting it rot in a box forever is an even greater loss.
7) As a reminder, anyone capable of keeping most of your livestock alive already has as many tanks as they can afford/maintain/fit in their house/get approved by their spouse. That means they'll want money, which you've ruled out. I'd guess off hand somewhere around $1000/year plus moving cost, no guarantee on anything of value, and they might expect fragging rights as well.
8) As an example, almost exactly 2 years ago I was talked in to housing a large portion of coral while a friend moved. He said 3 months, and that he only wanted frags back. I figured it would be 6, and that he'd end up with the colonies, but I would get to keep frags. It took him more than a year to sell his old house and move to a new one, then his wife who he thinks is otherwise perfect decided no more tanks inside the house. Then the HOA wouldn't let him build a structure in the back yard to put one there. Now work is keeping him so busy he isn't sure he even has time for it, I'm trying to move across the country, and I still have his coral in my tank. BTW, he had a 360 gallon system, so we aren't talking a small quantity of coral here.
1) Decide what livestock you are really attached to. The right answer BTW is "none of it", because you're only setting yourself up for heartbreak.
2) Transfer fish and non-fragables (clams, scoly's, etc.) you are really attached to into the system of a very trusted friend, then accept that if you didn't grow up with this friend for the last 15 years you've just added a huge strain to your friendship. They'll be nervous about things happening to your fish for 3 years. At the end of those 3 years if anything is still alive your friend will be attached to them as well, and fish can be a pain to catch.
3) Plan to re-build in 3 years. You can grow a pretty nice colony of almost anything from a frag in 1 year if you really know what you're doing. This means you only need 1 frag of each species of coral, and need to determine the most efficient way to come out of 3 years with that frag. If it is something readily available online or locally the answer is to try to sell enough of it now that you can simply buy a frag later. Doesn't matter what you get for it so long as the sale price now exceeds the replacement cost then. Anything left over throw out in to a DBTC to as many people as you can, and accept that you'll still end up replacing some pieces.
4) If your parents are willing to store it for you and you think you're going to move back to the area wash the sand and rocks, then throw them in buckets in a closet somewhere. If the tank is in really nice shape, and you could store it for free, post it for sale at an optimistic but still realistic price. If it's not in fantastic shape and you're ok with this then store it after you clear out the livestock. Do not expect it to be in as nice condition as it is now if someone borrows it for 3 years. You may well end up moving to a different part of the country after school. Moving dry rock is easy and works in any tank/space. Moving tanks is less easy and they don't fit in any space.
5) Clean with fresh water then dry out anything that won't lose value to you due to age. This generally includes return pumps, sumps, refractometer, etc.
6) Decide if you're the sort of person who is still using a Gen 1 Radion and a 10 year old skimmer because you already have it and it still works, or the person who values the latest and greatest. If you're *certain* you're good with old stuff then post it for an optimistic price, and accept that you'll keep and re-use it if it doesn't sell. If you want the new stuff sell now, because selling later or letting it rot in a box forever is an even greater loss.
7) As a reminder, anyone capable of keeping most of your livestock alive already has as many tanks as they can afford/maintain/fit in their house/get approved by their spouse. That means they'll want money, which you've ruled out. I'd guess off hand somewhere around $1000/year plus moving cost, no guarantee on anything of value, and they might expect fragging rights as well.
8) As an example, almost exactly 2 years ago I was talked in to housing a large portion of coral while a friend moved. He said 3 months, and that he only wanted frags back. I figured it would be 6, and that he'd end up with the colonies, but I would get to keep frags. It took him more than a year to sell his old house and move to a new one, then his wife who he thinks is otherwise perfect decided no more tanks inside the house. Then the HOA wouldn't let him build a structure in the back yard to put one there. Now work is keeping him so busy he isn't sure he even has time for it, I'm trying to move across the country, and I still have his coral in my tank. BTW, he had a 360 gallon system, so we aren't talking a small quantity of coral here.