How to break down and rebuild an 8 year old tank?

[JohnM99]

I have been running an 85 g reef tank with LR and DSB for almost 8 years, and for a variety of reasons, I am going to take it down and rebuild it. I have a separate basement fish room with a 45g fuge and 20g sump - going to add another tank around 100g, plus change the 20g sump to a much larger one, change skimmer, electronics, plumbing etc.

Questions on what to do with existing tank contents, and why.

I plan to keep my fish, SPS and anemones in a 45 g tank temporarily - and probably move the LR to a large temporary sump/fuge - my question is what to do with the sand, and the fuge contents. The fuge currently has a very deep sand bed with Miracle Mud - up to 8" deep, chaeto and LR. Going to have a lower DSB and maybe a turf scrubber on the new setup.

Would be interested in advice on what to do with the DSB, and any other suggestions from people with experience breaking down and rebuilding a long standing tank. Would you keep the sand as is? Wash it and put it back? Keep a bit to seed new sand? Start all over? Move the sand from the tank to the new fuge, and put new sand in the tank?

Many thanks.
John

 

[Jeremy Blaze]

I would keep a bit, and reseed new sand with.

 

[on the spot]

I'd keep the fuge as is, clean the rocks, and depending on how nasty they have become may consider either cooking them, or an acid wash. The sand, eh, wash or new, depending on how it looks. If I could leave the sand in the tank and just stir it up to clean out the goop I might go that way. Are you happy with what you have for sand aesthetically?

 

[JohnM99]

I have a 6" deep sand bed, and next time I plan to "sink" my tank about 5" into the stand, and have a 30" high tanks vs. 24 - but with this I would be displaying about 24-25".

Don't know if you have found the same thing, but the sand surface has gone quite hard - not at all like loose sand anymore. I know the rate of Ca++ dissolving is slow at tank pH, but over years, I wondered if I might be better off with some new sand. (I also have a Calc reactor).

The sand is chock full of critters, with tunnels etc everywhere but the face of it showing at the bottom of the tank isn't particularly attractive.

 

[jimsplace]

I would probably change out the sand bed, if it is 8 yrs old, it has probably lost most of its buffering ability. You could reseed the new sand with some of the old. As on-the-spot said, you might want to do some serious cleaning of your rockwork. I don't know if I would acid bath unless your having P04 problems. Maybe just a good high pressure rinse. You will be suprised how much junk accumulates.

 

[JohnM99]

Not having any water quality problems really, but I can imaging the live rock has a lot of junk trapped in it - although one would hope that the little critters in the rock would cycle it.

I think I will just use the existing sand for seeding, and get mainly new sand.

I am wondering how happy my anemones will be during the move - about 6 orange bubble tips in a blob of about 18x15 inches. I assume they will shrink up and I can move them rock and all. I will try not to let air get in them.

Half the fun is planning all the parts/connections/options - kind of like travel.

 

[wildman926]

I would only rinse everything in fresh sw, and call it a day. You will go through a "mini" cycle, but not as serious of one if you do what others have suggested.

I also would remove the majority of sand, and make is a shallow sand bed, 1" thick or less. It would keep from crashing the tank, although you have avoided it on the past.

Got any pics?

 

[fq600]

You planning on keeping the DSB for the sump? I'm thinking about going DSB for sump too but not sure about its negatives in the long run...

Sorry to hijack your post.

 

[JohnM99]

No worries, thinking the same question. I think I will put part of the sand from my current main tank into the new refugium to seed it, and also seed a DSB in my secondary display. Thinking of just 1" or so of sand to max display space.

Not really sure what is down there in that black unknown area....

To Wildman926 - sorry I don't have any current pics - one of the reasons for breaking down the tank was I had an overheating incident from a fan failure and lost much of my SPS collection..... might try a few pics of the good parts still there.

 

[atreis]

I would only rinse everything in fresh sw, and call it a day. You will go through a "mini" cycle, but not as serious of one if you do what others have suggested.

I also would remove the majority of sand, and make is a shallow sand bed, 1" thick or less. It would keep from crashing the tank, although you have avoided it on the past.

Got any pics?

x2

The more you change, the worse your cycle will be, and the greater chance you'll have of having issues with your more sensitive animals.