I've moved to an apartment and my tank is still at my old home. The problem is the landlord won't let me bring my tank because it's too big, so I had to buy a new one( JBJ 28 gallon nano). My current tank has a kenya tree coral, green hairy mushroom, favia, bubble tip anemone, clean up crew, and a tomato clownfish that's hosting in the anemone. I was wondering if I could just bring 10 gallons of my tank water and make 18 more gallons of new water because I don't have much space in the car. Will all my livestock be ok if I set up the tank and put them in the same day? I don't much time to drive to my old house...
help me???!
- Thread starter reefp
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lmsmith
New member
When I move tanks, I use less than 10% old water. Most of it is new water. The vast majority of bacteria is on your rock and substrate. Such a tiny amount is free floating that it really doesn't seem like there's a point. I don't know why you'd move gross old water. You acclimatize everything as usual and keep the rock covered with water to reduce die off. Keep a close eye on your levels for a couple of weeks.
Sea water needs to age , do not use freshly made sea water .GET A BRUTE GARBAGE PAIL AND MAKE THE NEW WATER IN THE PAIL AND AGE IT FOR A FEW DAYS. Make sure to match the temperature and salinity to the old tank water. the rock , sand and more importanly the sump will have enough bacteria to prevent new tank syndrome.You an also add bacteria such as fritz zyme although I dont think you will need to.
Having just moved to an apartment in early November and moving my entire setup(JBJ 28) I only used about 5 gallons of old water that came in the buckets with the live rock. The rest I made a few days before the actual move. There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with adding in mostly new saltwater as long as you match the salinity. Also keep in mind that you will not be adding a full 28 gallons as your live rock will take up a good amount of space.
lmsmith
New member
That was a lot of yelling! Not sure what you mean by the sump - the sump is just a container that increases your total volume. I'd doubt he'd move the whole thing as is.
I wouldn't recommend using bacteria in a bottle. There's no point if you're moving established LR and work to reduce the dieoff.
If your tank has sand, I would be very, very careful about moving the sand. I'd probably actually add it once the tank has settled again, or I'd add new sand.
+1 on allowing the saltwater to age to some degree. Many years ago (when I was starting out and had little patience) I killed damsels on accident by placing them in very freshly made salt water...but I disagree that you need 90% of the water to come from your old tank. You can use a higher percentage "new" water than that...but make sure it was made up a couple days prior to use. IMHO
potterjon
New member
I don't know about the "aging" thing personally. Just make sure it is mixed up well and it should be fine, I move my 150 gallon and I don't see any reason why you wouldn't consider it an opportunity for a very large water change. Your water doesn't really have that much in it as lmsmith stated. The bacteria have feet and attach to things like your rock and sand, pumps,etc., there aren't that many floating around in the water.
