Stusdesktop
New member
So I took the plunge and just purchased a complete 40 gallon setup, the good is that it has some livestock, the bad is that it has livestock.
Couple of quick questions, transfer all of the livestock, live rock, coral into a 10 gallon (using existing water) and see what survives for a couple of weeks as I set the 40 back up ? Livestock is a single fish, couple of crabs (unknown types as yet), small coral polyps and possibly a brittle starfish.
Salvage as much of the existing water as possible and do a straight transfer from buckets/containers right back into the 40?
The existing live rock and back wall of the tank are well covered in coralline and the tank has been running "as is" for about the last year. Water quality looks good although there are areas of hair algae. My thought is adding base rock and dry sand would minimize the cycle as I could use the existing sand/rock to seed the new.
Option 1 is the most appealing to me right now. The 40 is very light on substrate and live rock and adding another 30lbs of sand and 40lbs of rock to the system, adding the existing live rock back in and letting it cycle/mature for a couple of weeks before reintroducing the lone fish and possibly the crabs.
Once the 40 is set up and running the long term goal is to convert the 10 gallon into a sump/refuge and move the heater/skimmer etc down into the stand. Add a solid clean up crew over the next 6 - 8 weeks and get control of any algae blooms. Let the tank settle and make sure we're happy with the layout and that whatever is alive in the tank stay's that way and then after vacation this year look at introducing another fish or two.
All comments, suggestions and advice welcomed.
Couple of quick questions, transfer all of the livestock, live rock, coral into a 10 gallon (using existing water) and see what survives for a couple of weeks as I set the 40 back up ? Livestock is a single fish, couple of crabs (unknown types as yet), small coral polyps and possibly a brittle starfish.
Salvage as much of the existing water as possible and do a straight transfer from buckets/containers right back into the 40?
The existing live rock and back wall of the tank are well covered in coralline and the tank has been running "as is" for about the last year. Water quality looks good although there are areas of hair algae. My thought is adding base rock and dry sand would minimize the cycle as I could use the existing sand/rock to seed the new.
Option 1 is the most appealing to me right now. The 40 is very light on substrate and live rock and adding another 30lbs of sand and 40lbs of rock to the system, adding the existing live rock back in and letting it cycle/mature for a couple of weeks before reintroducing the lone fish and possibly the crabs.
Once the 40 is set up and running the long term goal is to convert the 10 gallon into a sump/refuge and move the heater/skimmer etc down into the stand. Add a solid clean up crew over the next 6 - 8 weeks and get control of any algae blooms. Let the tank settle and make sure we're happy with the layout and that whatever is alive in the tank stay's that way and then after vacation this year look at introducing another fish or two.
All comments, suggestions and advice welcomed.
