Advice wanted. Tranfering to new tank, how?

[plc001]

All,

I wonder if you could give me some advice. I have a new empty 120g gallon ready with everything but the lights and protein skimmer. The current tank is a 90g mix with 4"dsb.

What I will like to do is move everything (but the sand) from the existing tank to the new tank with the least disruption as possible.

My plan is to:

1. Add new sand.
2. Move water from the existing tank to the new tank slowly, like 25g every other day.
3. Once the new tank is 3/4 full of aged water, move LR from old to new.
4. Then move lights, protein skimmer, coral and fish.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[o2zen]

Sounds like a good plan. This is the tank your going to install in the wall right?

Your using the dry sand that everyone grabbed some of recently right? Maybe seed the sand with your existing sand or grab one of those 20# bags of LIVE sand and seed the top of the dry sand with it.

 

[cbcostanza]

Just make sure your temperatures are the same in both tanks. I just lost all my corals because my temp was not the same. Good luck!!

Chris

 

[guntercb]

I am no expert, but I would add the new sand and than fill the tank up with fresh salt water. I would add a few pieces of LR and some live sand from the current tank. Wait a couple weeks and move some of the fish from your current system. Wait a few more weeks (actually testing for ammonia and nitrite would be good so you know when the nitrofication cycle is complete) than move all the rest of your live stock from your tank.

I would want the nitrofication bateria to be good and built up in the new tank before I started moving over much livestock.

Cheers,
Chris

 

[CMcNeil]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9513071#post9513071 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by guntercb
I am no expert, but I would add the new sand and than fill the tank up with fresh salt water. I would add a few pieces of LR and some live sand from the current tank. Wait a couple weeks and move some of the fish from your current system. Wait a few more weeks (actually testing for ammonia and nitrite would be good so you know when the nitrofication cycle is complete) than move all the rest of your live stock from your tank.

I would want the nitrofication bateria to be good and built up in the new tank before I started moving over much livestock.

Cheers,
Chris

that is what i did when i moved over to my new tank.i had little to no cycle,and had all my sps moved over in 3 weeks max.i didnt lose a coral in the move either.

 

[SoundsFishy2me2]

Your present water contitions are what the corals are use to, while all fresh new water and sand might be nice and clean the balance and trace elements will be off.. This is a great question and I'm sure someone knows will pipe in soon with the absolute best way, but I'd say it might be a good idea to use as much of the previous conditions (including temp) as you can. Pull water from the older tank for the new tank and replace the new water in the old tank to remix the next batch to come over... Using the old tanks top off sand might be a better call as well. (providing your old tank is in good shape.) You are transfering your old sump/filtration right? You might also want to do this over several days/week(s) as well dep. on what you have.. That's my thoughts.. Good luck with it!

 

[wardworld]

I could be wrong, but if you add ONLY "aged" water into your new tank, won't it be pretty useless after a while. In other words, I thought it was the LR that made the water "habitable" (so to speak). I'm not sure what you were thinking as a total timeline, but you may want to consider doing it all in one day - that's what I did moving from my 55 to my 120.
I put the sand in, then about 40 gallons of "old" water and the rest was new water. I let the skimmer and filter socks work for about an hour, then put the livestock in. It was cloudy for about 24 hours (getting gradually clearer and clearer).
The one thing I was told to watch out for was to NOT pull out all of you LR and put it in the new tank to "age." It could cause your "old" tank (w/ your creatures still in it) to undergo a cycle - don't know if it would, but I was told it might.
HTH

 

[college429]

I recently moved everything from my old 55 to my 180 gallon. I did not lose a single polyp. Here is how I did it:

1. Fill the new tank with your new sand and newly mixed salt water to near capacity. Try to get the Temp, Salinity, Alk and CA as close to the old tank as possible.

Once you do this you can transfer your entire tank in a matter of hours....here is how:

2. It set up two siphon hoses with pvc ball valves. One from the top of the new tank to the sump of the old tank and one from the top of the old tank to the sump of the new tank.

3. Start both siphons and adjust the ball valves to try to match the flow of each one. Watch the levels in both tanks very carefully, as you will never be able to exactly match the flow in each, so one tank will start to fill faster than the other. Simply adjust the ball valves periodically to keep a tank from overflowing. This starts to mix the two tanks and acclimate your coral to the mix of new and old water. Do this for several hours to ensure the waters are completely mixed and therefore of the same water parameters. At the same time your coral has acclimated to the new water parameters.

4. After a few hours...Move everything over. No waitng.

This worked for me like a charm.

 

[o2zen]

My only other thought would be this - say your moving from a 65 to a 120. The 120 will need about twice the LR as the 65. How do you add the new LR without it causing a big cycle?

Do you pick up well established LR from another tank or do you let your new tank cycle then make the move.

 

[CMcNeil]

i moved up from a 37 to a 90.i added some rock from another tank.i had some cycle,but nothing big.i noticed the cycle(if you want to call it that) about 1 week after the transfer.i put in 1 sps as a test and let it go for a week,after i was satisfied the tank was good for my corals,i moved all my corals(including all 4 of my clams).

 

[college429]

If you must have live rock, buy live rock that is already cured. FAOIS has it.
I generally only add dry base rock, it becomes live within a short period of time in your tank anyway.

 

[plc001]

Thank you all.

Thank you all.

College, I like your idea.

 

[poknsnok]

Re: Thank you all.

Re: Thank you all.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9524101#post9524101 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by plc001
College, I like your idea.

except when the new tank is going where the old tank is.. " Fall 07 beer and 18 hrs of tank swithching at my house".. I keep telling my wife it will be fun..

 

[mwwhite]

omg Joe! 18hours... Sounds like your planning to do it all at once!.... wow... are you worried about a cycle? How big will it be?

We also planning an upgrade - will be ready in about 6 weeks so Mike and I are trying to figure out how we are going to do it because it has to go where the current one is... We're not even upgrading as big as yours is now!! We are going with "only" a 150. lol

By the way -- the green monti is doing fantastic and is just beautiful! I posted a pix for you a while back - not sure you saw it...

ps: We changed our screen name when we became a premium member. BTW to anyone reading it is WELL worth the money -- we use the search function constantly now looking for info....

 

[NICERICAN4YOU25]

I THINK U HAVE A GOOD IDEA BUT LIKE SOME PPK HAVE SAID REPALCE THE WATER U TOOK OUT OF UR OLD TANK WIT NICE FRESH SALTWATER AS TRANSFER MORE WATER UR TAKING THAT GOOD WATER WITH IT TOO. I DID THAT WHEN I WENT FROM MY 210 TO MY 545 TANK I USED ALL THE 210 GALS AND THE REST WAS NEW SALTWATER, HAD A SMALL CYCLE BUT EVERTHING SURVIVE. JUST MY 2 CENTS

 

[poknsnok]

Glad its doing good guys.. I didnt see the pick. Im not getting alerts anymore for some reason.

it is going to be a 240, and all in one day is a risk but I either find a "livestock sitter" or do it marathon style... keep going till I finish or die trying..

Plan is to acquire all the stuff and "dry plumb" the tank and mock set up everything across from where the existing tank is now.. once Im satisfied I have everything ready to go I will start the draining process at the crack of dawn, filling coolers and 5 brutes. I figure I can get all that done in 2-4 hrs. We (ill be looking for volunteers to help drink beer) will then move old out of the way and I hope to have a buyer for it by then: and move new into place.. at that time Ill glue.. ill have backup plumbing at the ready. I dont really have any other choice... Beer will numb the pain

 

[o2zen]

How did the tank move go for you? I am about to move my 29g into my 90g and wanted to know what you ended up doing. Also is this the in-wall setup you were talking about when I was over at your house picking up frags a few months ago?

 

[plc001]

Yes, this is the 90 to 120 in-wall but it did not happen yet. Unfortunately my wife got into a car accident and it change our plans.

I will be doing it like College recommended since the two tanks can are set up pretty close to each other.

 

[o2zen]

OMG I am sorry to hear about your wife. How is she? If you need any help with the setup just ask as your right around the corner from me.

 

[plc001]

Thanks, she is fine. She had a mild concussion. Its more the hassle working with the Ins Co, Car Rental, Attorney...

On my tank I added the sand. What a dust storm, I guess I did not rinse enough.