Getting everything together for the move to Texas - Page 2

Konadog · #26 03/02/2006, 08:10 AM

Thanks for the update Marc. I'm glad to hear he made it without further incident. What a trip!

melev · #27 03/02/2006, 02:07 PM

Time for more ugly updates.

Brent woke me up at 12:30pm to tell me that his acrylic tank is broken as well. The entire seam of the bottom panel is separated on the front and sides, only the back seam is still holding.

The livestock did suffer during the accident, and two heaters broke. The water was cold. Many of his corals shifted on top of each other, so lots of white tips. The fish are all fine. He's now looking for a new tank to replace this one. He's going to set up his frag tank to see what can be salvaged, and tomorrow his internet connection will be up so he can get help from his online friends, as well as our club members.

He's in shock, and I can't believe all of this went so wrong with so much good planning.

Konadog · #28 03/02/2006, 04:43 PM

Marc, I just spoke with him a few hours ago and it sound like that dip he hit in the road did more damage than he ever expected!

Now I wish I had my tank set up before he left to put frags in. At least he would have had a place to get some of his corals back.

melev · #29 03/02/2006, 04:51 PM

I called one LFS to get a price on an Oceanic tank. Seems Brent wants to get a glass tank now. I called another LFS near him to see if they had room to hold some of his livestock, but they didn't.

Konadog · #30 03/02/2006, 05:28 PM

Well, he can always connect my frag tank up and use the coolers as sumps until the good sump is repaired.

The bad thing is he has until Sunday to get the fish stuff done, then his wife and kids will be coming and he'll not have time to do anything after that for some time. He'll be busy putting the house together!

melev · #31 03/02/2006, 07:24 PM

I just spent the past couple of hours fixing that sump, and trust me I was sweating that. I sure didn't want to ruin that beautiful piece of work SoCal Creations made. I had to take of 2 1/8" off one end to remove the cracked area entirely, and just finished gluing the new end piece on. I took a bunch of pictures of the process to put in the DIY forum in case anyone ever wants to try this on their own damaged sump one day.

Konadog · #32 03/02/2006, 08:26 PM

Cool!

Thanks Marc, I'm glad that Brent moved to a place with such great people, I'm sure he will fit right in with you guys!

melev · #33 03/03/2006, 12:21 AM

How I repaired the sump:

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...93#post6869493

Konadog · #34 03/03/2006, 01:20 AM

Thanks for the pictures Marc, did you get any of the tank.

We may just have to wait until tomorrow when Brent gets the internet going at the new house.

PS, I hope you were able to learn a thing or two from the SoCal sump

melev · #35 03/03/2006, 01:24 AM

It's a thing of beauty. I sure didn't want to ruin it. I'd love to know what they use to bond the pieces, because the seams look SOOOO good.

I never saw the tank. He called me today to tell me what happened, and thinks that it might have broken as the wet-wooden base dried out / shrunk. He's guessing it pulled the tank apart, but who knows - it might have been the Dukes of Hazzard move.

Konadog · #36 03/03/2006, 01:28 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by melev
...but who knows - it might have been the Dukes of Hazzard move.

I see the Sanford & Son truck jumping over Boss Hog!

Man, Brent's going to kill us when he's back online!

melev · #37 03/03/2006, 01:32 AM

melev · #38 03/03/2006, 06:42 AM

The sump is getting rained upon. That is not how I wanted to water test it today.

Konadog · #39 03/03/2006, 09:11 AM

It's raining here also. Brent picked the best time to leave, between two storms.

thetedinator · #40 03/04/2006, 12:49 AM

Damn, Damn, Damn

Sorry to "hear" all of this.

melev · #41 03/04/2006, 01:06 AM

Brent stopped by tonight to pick up his repaired sump, and left some SPS with me in hopes that they may survive. I've already contacted Servo to come in the morning to pick up the larger pieces to put in his 400w in-wall BB reef tank. We're going to try to keep them alive until Brent is back in business.

I updated the sump repair thread and hope he'll post images of it set up in his stand in the near future. His internet connection is up, but he's been bogged down with all this stuff, and hasn't had time to post himself.

I'm doing what I can to help. He's already planning to order a new tank that is 96 x 48 x 24 for an inwall set up.

loserkidz · #42 03/04/2006, 01:44 AM

I am posting some pics of the packaging and prep-work that was involved in the move, I tried and thought that had addressed and eliminated as many variables to help make the transistion to go smoothly. But unfortunately I was wrong and have have basically given up for a while and focus on my family and helping them adjust to the move across the country. I must first thank all the people that helped me pack up and try their best to help me have a successful move. Ken(Konadog),John(John37) are a few that helped from start to finish. We couldn't have done it with the guide of Ken with his meticulous nit-picking that ultimately got all of my equipment here(except for the mishap of the Hitch)her in one piece, there wasn't a inch of space that wasn't used on a 16' trailer. John came over early to help me pack up the corals and livestock and I must appologize to him about my little rugrats using him as a jungle gym. What doesn't kill us only makes us stronger, and I thank God for keeping me and my father safe.
Corals and material goods are replaceable, Yes it hurts and sickens me to loose livestock and have a huge Flat-bak hex shaped paper weight in my garge, but I will arise just as I have done in the past and will try to replicate as close as I can a mini ocean for my family and friends to enjoy. And lastly I have to give Marc(melev) his props, I have read threads and post by this Texan on the boards and he is the real deal my friends. I thought I had skills but he truly puts me to shame. I give him a tank that was built by the professional Gurus over at Socal creations, that I literaly crashed a truck into and he was able to breathe life back into a tank that had lost it's lustre and soul. I am sadden to loose all of my friends that I have met and shared the love for this hobby with. But am glad to someone that is truly a master of acrylic and a nut for anything saltwater like myself. I look forward to meeting the others of DFWMAS and will always remember the memories shared with my real home.... SoCal!!!!
I will post updates when I start to rebuild all over, and by the way my fish all lived, and will be livbing in my revamped sump.
Take care,
Brent Higa

loserkidz · #43 03/04/2006, 01:46 AM

loserkidz · #44 03/04/2006, 01:47 AM

Konadog · #45 03/04/2006, 05:10 AM

Brent my friend, your back!

I am truly sorry for everything you went thru on your trip, I can't believe what happened. After you called me about the trailer mishap, I was glad to here that you and your father were fine. I hope your wife, kids, and yourself settle into your new (very large) house and can find the time to start back up the way you want. You had better stay in touch with your So. Cal. roots!

Be sure to give your father my #, or me his, so I can take the things you left behind to him so one day you may be able to take them home with you.

PS, "his meticulous nit-picking" well, we almost got it all on. I'll let that comment slide

koiandcoral · #46 03/06/2006, 03:34 PM

Brent

Sorry to hear about the frustrations. You have plenty of friends in So Cal that will be happy to send you frag packs to get things up and running.