Marine question

[snotdroolanddirtybums]

We are buying a second hand marine tank that comes with fish. When we transport everything will the fish be able to go straight back in? Does anybody have any experience on this?

The only way you could put the fish straight back in is if the same water they had been living in was used.
So as that is unlikely they will need to be kept in their current water/tank until the new tank is set up.

Being that you only have one tank this is going to prove difficult.

The water quality and balance in a marine tank is critical, even in a simple tropical tank it can take weeks to set up. You will therefore need to introduce quite a lot of chemicals, etc to get the tank up to speed quickly.
I would have a word with your local marine fish supplier/shop - no point asking at a normal fish shop as they wont have marine expertise and pets at home is usually just full of teenagers.
As them what the fastest way is to bring the tank up to speed and also what could be done with the fish in the meantime (they may offer to store them for you whilst your tank matures if you are buying some stuff off them).

Good luck, I hope you have had fish before as starting with Marine is complicated/expensive

What filtration method are they using, live rock (Berlin method) or bio filter media? If they are using live rock then cycling is slightly different to a normal tropical tank.

Do you know what the fish are? I am always wary of people selling their whole set up, some people do it to off-load tankbusters (ie fish that get enormous) onto unsuspecting buyers.

Thanks for the replies. There is live rock, a damsel, a tang and a couple of clowns. We were planning on transporting the water they are currently in. When the sand is reintroduced though I'm worried about the length of time it will take to settle.

Is it coral sand? The grains are quite big and should settle quickly. Marine fish are delicate though, you could do like sherbetpips suggested and contact a local marine specialist. A lot of aquatic stores offer a boarding service, or may know someone that can do it privately.

I've done this on a few occasions so can offer some advice if it's not too late. Best way is to get plenty of water containers and see if you can get some fish bags and polystyrene fish transport boxes from your local fish shop. Put all the live rock in boxes without any water, it'll be ok for a few hours. Bag up the fish as they would be bagged when you buy them, pref one fish per bag, and put the bags in one of the poly boxes. Save as much water as is possible, at least 3/4 of it and have some new water mixing or waiting at home to top up once everything's back in safely. Scoop the sand into buckets. Make sure you completely empty the tank.
Once you're home and the tank is in situ with all of the equipment, put the sand back in as a layer over the bottom before the water. Add the rock then pour the water in using the plate/small bucket in the tank technique so not to disturb in too much. Start up all of the equipment and check everything's working and let the water reach the right temperature then float the bagged fish in the tank. Leave all of the lights off.
The fish will be fine for several hours provided they've been bagged up with enough air and are kept warm and in the dark for as long as possible. The tank should clear fairly quickly, then the fish can be released. Add any new water slowly after the fish are out, making sure it's the same temp and salinity as the existing water and try not to add any of the fishes transport water to the tank.
Don't feed the fish for a couple of days and monitor water quality. It's sometimes wise to have some more new salt water mixing ready just in case an emergency water change is needed.
Have never had any casualties doing it this way and have moved reef tanks.
Sorry for the long reply, I'm assuming you're new to marines so apologise if you knew most of the above. I don't mean to sound patronising but I'm quite passionate about fishies and do enjoy prattling on about them :)

Yay, another fish geek! I could tell from your name Thanks for posting, I'm strictly freshwater, being too lazy poor for marine.

I am truly a fish geek although am limited to 2 tanks in the house by DH and they're both freshwater at the mo. Converting one to marine again soon though :)

I used to have a 5 foot reef tank but had to dismantle it when DD came along as needed the space and didn't really have the time to look after it properly. DH refuses to go anywhere near the tanks.

Ooh, what have you got? I used to have 5 tanks (2 of them nursery tanks) but now I'm down to one little 12 gallon tank :( it's cycling at the moment and DD1 has decided she wants a paradise fish.

Feel like we're hijacking this thread a bit.
My tank has Harlequins, Rummy nose tetras, a couple of ancient corys, a bristlenose plec and a solitary angelfish. It's a 120l cube and will be converted to marine very soon. The current occupants will be moved to DS's tank which currently houses 2 female siamese fighters and a few neons. The Angel will be going to the lfs as he's a pain.

Hi everyone, wondering if I could get some advice please. Got a new sand dwelling anemone yesterday. First one in our tank. Tank is 8 months mature. Brought it home, added to the tank in the usual way (leave in the bag to acclimatise temp and then open the bag and allow the water to mix before removing from the bag). Looked very happy initially, opened up and puffed out very quickly. Carried out usual weekly 10% water change. Tested water and parameters were all stable and where expected. After 24hrs the anemone is looking very bad and unhappy. Not sure what to do. Anemone was not cheap. Worried it is dying and going to cause problems with the rest of the tank.