Going to be moving in the next week or 2 for sure
Yesterday it happened.
It has been busy, and lots has happened. Previously all my corals were infected, removed and treated. I used this as the event to merge my q-tank corals back into the display tank.
Planning and prep for a 40 gallon tank move is pretty simple on paper. I over-complicated it to great results. Since my old stand needed modified BEFORE I could use it again on account of floor slope, I decided to build a new one. Since this is a man cave project, it is purely functional. It is nothing special at all.
The tank bottom sits at 48" from the floor, and is at perfect eye level for me to enjoy while standing. All 2x4 were cut by hand with a miter box. All holes were drilled with a pilot bit, and all pieces are glued to the adjoining one. he top deck was cut with an arm saw w/3/4" ply (with a fancy veneer). I have yet to even sand anything, and I doubt I will. The "tallness" of the stand made me fearful for a tip-over, so I made some pads, and anchored it right to the studs in the wall.
I made one more mod to the stand, which was to make a "shelf" on the bottom that could hold the filters. I used 2x3" boards inside the frame, then used 1/2" mdf to top it. I had to use 2x3" so I could level the bottom shelf because the bottom of the frame is not due to room slope.
I had to think back, but I recall using Six 2x4s and Two 2x3s, and have about half a piece of each.
I did quite a bit of pre-planning for this event. It went without incident as planned. I insisted on keeping every bit of water for re-use, so I had a lot of buckets. I had a huge cooler on wheels for the rock. I had a large tub for all the things that get wet that plug into a wall. Sorry there are no home movies or any of that, because it was pure busy. Livestock spent about 3 hours in buckets. Live rock and substrate was about an hour in a tub. The mantis shrimp was quite simple to catch. She just was a doof and stayed right in the 3" pvc tube. I put a net on one end and gently emptied the pipe into a bucket. I was terrified that she would put up some sort of fight/flight response.
I have seen very little signs of stress. The Mantis has been quite a bit more active, and I think that she is just checking out the "new" rock pile. Tank has some cloudiness tonight yet, but i am not surprised. I also don't like a few things about my rock work, and will be altering this weekend.
The ONLY thing I forgot was super glue. I have already taken some frags back from an urchin AND a burrow building mantis.
Currently the conditions are slightly cloudy and 78 degrees. Pictures look like crap of the inside of the tank...just looks hazy. I will certainly get some in the coming weekend.
However in the meantime, I found this nearing the end of her molt. It is the only piece that I grabbed from what she tossed from the tank....I did find both dactyls when I was clearing out the substrate....they are still in there somewheres.