Critique my tank transfer plan

[StaySalty]

Hey guys, planning to transfer everything from my estabished 92 corner to a 120 reef ready I bought. This is my first transfer so I'm not sure if I have the right game plan in mind. I would love to hear any opinions, thoughts, suggestions, etc.

1.) Lay down NEW sand bed (approx 2 inches) in 120. Transfer 1 or 2 cups of sand from 92 to 120.

2.) Transfer approx. 20-40 gallons of tank water from 92 to 120.

3.) Remove live base rock/rock with no corals, from 92 and place into 120.

4.) transfer rocks with corals and coral frags from 92 to 120

5.) Transfer as much water as possible from 92 to 120. Leave enough for fish.

6.) Capture fish in 92 and transfer to 120.

7.) Top off with new salt water

8.) Setup skimmer, powerheads, heater, leave lights off for 24 hours.


My main concern is starting a cycle in the 120 by leaving the rock out of water or just stirring up so much crap. I'm trying not to have this happen.

Another thing I was worried about is potential cloudiness between steps 2 and 3 when I add water from the 92 to the 120. Any tips on how to reduce cloudiness?

EDIT: forgot to mention the tanks are 3 ft away from each other

 

[SGT_York]

I would certainly run both tanks simultaneously for a few weeks, give the 120 some time to cycle in and gradually transfer items from one tank to another. If the 120 does spike ammonia you'd still have the corner tank running.

 

[StaySalty]

I would certainly run both tanks simultaneously for a few weeks, give the 120 some time to cycle in and gradually transfer items from one tank to another. If the 120 does spike ammonia you'd still have the corner tank running.

Ahh dang. The thing is if it was up to me, I would just run both tanks and slowly acclimate everything to the new tank. The problem is im kind of on a time limit as to when the 120 is supposed to be up and running and the old tank taken down.

In your opinion, do u think there is a good chance that the 120 will indeed cycle with my plan?

 

[CoralBeauty13]

I would run skimmer and carbon a full night before moving fish. That may clear up cloudiness, get a good clean flow moving around the tanks with a single powerhead ,and be sure to get a good rinse of the new sand in old tank water before moving it in , that should help keep some bio going. Running all the mechanics prior to moving fish could save some headaches. I would leave the fish a powerhead(s) and heater, and get your other tank running first to replicate the old as much as possible.

Pretty much same story here with you, same fish,new/old sand ,water, and corals in my move.

When we bought a tank, 35 miles from home, a 180gl with a 55gl sump. Everything was taken down the night before move. The original owner did a large favor as he loved the tank and life that it had, yes we bought the whole thing, fish corals and all.

Three days before the move , after he stirred the sand, blew off the rocks, and scraped the coraline , he did a 30% water change , then he let the skimmer run wet for several hours.

First he made an extra 30gls of saltwater , two separate trash cans with 15gl each. After testing temp and levels he put in 10gls of old tank water in each can and let sit for an hour. He also took about 20gls of tank water in a large container and dipped/shook the rock into it before placing in the other cans, thats helped knock off some dirt and clingy critters that stick to the bottom of rocks, kept them pretty clean...really .

Next he moved rocks and corals into the cans and saved the fish for last, those he kept in a QT tank he had with original tank water for the next day move, all the while running a powerhead and heater in each can. In the main tank , he ran the powerheads pointed towards the sand to stir it up more and let it skim all night. In the morning, that nice clean clear water went into two more cans.

Meanwhile, I brought over to him some new live sand that I was going to put into the tank as he had very little. He washed the new sand in some original tank water that he sat aside, until it ran clean. We then added 1/3 of his old sand as it had lots of life in it, after a good rinse, it was ready to go. He cleaned that tank top to bottom, it looked as if it had never been used when we went to pick it up...Very nice man indeed.

A couple of men with muscle and a moving truck and we were on our way.

When we got home we set up the tank with sand first. While doing that we had heaters/powerheads running in the cans with all the live stock and corals. With the four trash cans of water we started to fill, very slowly. We ran the water in one back corner so minimal splash and disturbance of the sand. We used a pump to do that. We then put all the rock in and placed corals where we wanted them. A bit of cloudy, not much but running the pump with a sock on it let the water fill smoothly and slow.


Once all the water from the cans were used, we were at a good 90gl total. All the water we brought from his house was in the tank. Did a test in 30 minutes to check and a small spike in ammonia, but ran carbon, and kept powerheads and heater running.

We let one fish at a time go back into the tank. If it acted weird we would take it out , but everything seemed fine. After all fish were in, we let them rest for a day to check how everyone was doing, as it was a long day and stressful for them. Then we started making saltwater, 135gls in all , we filled the tank 20gls a day until it was full, took about a week to fill, but a lot less stress to the fish and corals.

It took from 6:00am until 2:30 am to get it all straight. Happy to say, all but one fish made it,( 9 of them) poor thing was crushed by a rock during transportation, Sorry little guy ):

Sorry couldn't make this shorter, but it was a successful move although it took a while, we got it done, and I couldn't have picked a better hobby, well a less expensive one maybe, but, anywho, time and patience will get you where you need to be.

Good luck in the transport. Sounds like you're ready to go. Just remember " Nothing good happens fast" ! Post pics when done !!!!

 

[CoralBeauty13]

Ps. Be sure to keep a heater in the new tank while setting up, it will take a while. Good luck man !

 

[StaySalty]

Ps. Be sure to keep a heater in the new tank while setting up, it will take a while. Good luck man !

Thanks and will do! Glad to hear your transfer went smoothly. Makes me feel better since this transfer is a bit smaller in scope. I think it was a good idea to have the rock cleaned up a bit and a water change before the move. I'm gonna do that as well now.

I recently upgrade from a 90 to a 120.

I made ~70 gallons of fresh saltwater before hand. I drained the 90 into every container I had available (QT, extra buckets, etc). I moved the rock, coral and fish into the extra containers with heaters and powerheads.

I moved the 90 out of the way and moved the 120 into it's place. I then add the sand from the 90 along with more new sand. I then setup the rock in the 120. It was so cloudy I had no idea what the rock work looked like so I left it and went to bed.

The next day I made the rocks look nice and tested for a cycle. Ammonia and Nitrite were 0 so I add my coral and fish into the new tank. I never had a cycle and everything survived the move.

Unfortunately I'm not in a position to have both the 92 and 120 running at the same time. Plus I plan on using as much water from the 92 to the 120 as possible. But I do like the idea of laying down the sand and transferring the rocks with no corals on them to the 120 and just letting it settle for a day though.

I have a spare 40 breeder laying around. Can I transfer my fish and corals to the 40 breeder with a powerhead and heater while I wait to test my 120 after 24 hours?

 

[thegrun]

If you plan on adding more rock, I would cycle the new rock prior to the transfer. You can cycle the rock in a separate container like a Brute trash can. Try to reuse as much clean water from the old system as possible to lessen the shock of new water chemistry on your livestock. Once the water from the old tank starts to get murky from stirred up detritus, don't reuse that water. Have plenty of new premade and preheated saltwater on hand to make up for the lost water. I would plan on pre-making 50% of your display tank's volume and have it ready for use. You want to place the rock down BEFORE you add sand, otherwise the sand will eventually shift and you risk having a rock slide. Start by transferring 1/3 of the water from the existing tank and then transfer the rock from the old system to one of the buckets. Continue filling buckets first with water, then rock until you have removed all the rock. Try to minimize the amount of time the rock is out of the water. If aquascaping the rock takes you awhile, pour some of the saltwater from the old set-up on the rock to keep it wet. After the rock is set fill the tank with all the old water and whatever new water is necessary. Then start circulating the water, get the heaters running and the rest of the equipment. Once the temperature matches the old tank's temperature you can catch and transfer the fish. Once all the rock has been removed, the fish should be easy to catch. Some fish will burrow into the sand to hide so if you come up short on your fish count you may need to sift through the sand to find the missing fish. Tank moves take much longer than one would first suspect. Plan on a very long day. Best of luck and keep us posted with your results!

 

[ReefKeep66]

Your getting some good advice. I recently transfered everything from my 20g to my new 75g rimless. Luckily I was able to let the 75 fully cycle before I transferred everything.

 

[StaySalty]

You want to place the rock down BEFORE you add sand, otherwise the sand will eventually shift and you risk having a rock slide. Start by transferring 1/3 of the water from the existing tank and then transfer the rock from the old system to one of the buckets. Continue filling buckets first with water, then rock until you have removed all the rock. Try to minimize the amount of time the rock is out of the water. If aquascaping the rock takes you awhile, pour some of the saltwater from the old set-up on the rock to keep it wet.

This is the part I kept thinking about. I know that adding the rock before the sand bed is the best option for stability. But I have no experience in aquascaping a traditional rectangular tank and I'm not even sure what look I really want honestly. So if I were to the rock first, I feel like it would be pointless since I'm probably going to be messing around with the scape after everything has been running for a few days. And of course, the reason I'm worried about taking my time with aquascaping is because of the potential die off.

I was thinking of adding 2 sections of egg crate to where I think most of the rock will be. If sand goes over the egg crate, would it improve stability of the aquascape at all? Or does the rock have to go right on top of the egg crate for it to make a difference?

 

[thegrun]

You really want the rock to be in firm contact with the egg crate or the bottom of the tank. You almost certainly will end up with the rock shifting if you put the sand down first. You can however twist the rock around to get it to push the sand away and make contact with the bottom, but I would advise simply waiting a week until you are sure you like the aquascape before adding the sand.

 

[StaySalty]

You really want the rock to be in firm contact with the egg crate or the bottom of the tank. You almost certainly will end up with the rock shifting if you put the sand down first. You can however twist the rock around to get it to push the sand away and make contact with the bottom, but I would advise simply waiting a week until you are sure you like the aquascape before adding the sand.

Will keep this mind. Thank you grun! And thank you everybody else for the input, picked up some really good tips here.

 

[tommyboynj]

Unless your going to be adding to the bio load immediately, you,don't need to add new rock right away. I transferred a 75 to a 93 cube. I had no way to hold live stock and the transfer had to be done in one day. I also had to plumb the tank and reused old equipment the same day. Here how I did it:

Make a much salt water a humanly possible. I made 100 gallons. I didn't need it but its insurance. Also make some excess rodi.

Several days before separate all your existing coral from the rock work. Keep then in the old tank.

Day of the move. Pump in a 1/3rd new water into the new tank. Move live rock over from old system. Pump water from old tank to new. Pump new water in. Move essential equipment over. Don't worry about it being pretty. You need flow and a heater.

Rough scape the new tank. Move fish over.

Add sand and create a freaking snow storm

Move coral over.

Drink a beer and then move the rest of your equipment over.

You just need to plan it out. I had to use all my old equipment on my cube. It took all day. I lost one sps colony. But the tank overall was fine.

Once you get things moved over the first day, then you could add more rock slowly. If you need any further insight, pm me and we can talk.