New tank setup: need lots of advice!

[neuroslicer]

I'm ready to do something I've never done before, and that's transfer an entire tank. Going from a 65 to a 125 gallon. (will soon have a 65 gallon set up for sale). I have lots of very large SPS that I don't want to put at risk, so I'm asking for advice.

In the new tank I will go with a deep sand bed, which will be new, although I will transfer some of the old sand to seed the new sand bed. I'll probably make an effort at harvesting out some of the infauna from the old sand bed too. I have base rock that has been cured to add to the rock in the 65 gallon tank. My main question:

Since all the rock (old and new) is cured, would it be too much stress to just move everything into the new tank at once? Or should I have both tanks up and running and move things over more gradually? I know that would probably be best, but it would be much more difficult.

Let me know your experiences in transferring tanks. I KNOW I am not the only one who finally couldn't resist the temptation to expand!
thanks.
Neuro

 

[sperry]

My 12gal cracked and I had to move everything at once to my 20gal. The 20 had just been set up with new sand and cycled rock. I added the rock and some sand from my 12gal along with everything else. The new tank still cycled as far as diatoms, then cyno and now getting some green algaes. The cyno was a pain because it kept covering the corals. I am sure I exagerated the cyno by having to feed the fish and other inverts along with keeping the normal light cycle for the corals. In hind sight it would have been better to let the new tank age through the normal blooms and then add corals and fish.

 

[scarson61]

Any others with some sage like advice, I am about to move the 75 into the 155 and wonder the same thing. I had even considered plumping the 75 alongside the 155 (using one common sump) to see if that would be a good way to slowly make the transition.

 

[crpeck]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11377956#post11377956 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by scarson61
I had even considered plumping the 75 alongside the 155 (using one common sump) to see if that would be a good way to slowly make the transition.

Wow ...

plumping a tank .....

Does that make the 75 get big as the 155?

:lol:

 

[SNAKEMANVET]

I am following this as well, except it will be a 20L moving in to a 120.

 

[Cabin3tGuy]

I have personally had to do 100% water changes b4 on more than one occasion due to tanks breaking ... the least amount of stress on the inhabitants possible is what your going for there ... when you get to ready to plumb Jay I want to help ... I'm getting pretty good at it and I love the practice ... I help you transfer your stuff out of the 65 as long as you plan do it on a Sat or Sun ...

On a side note our Grey cockatiel (Maynard) is starting to get to small for his cage and he is getting really irritable ... I was wondering if you had some advice on where I should shop for cages

 

[sperry]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11378992#post11378992 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Cabin3tGuy
On a side note our Grey cockatiel (Maynard) is starting to get to small for his cage

How are you causing him to shrink?

 

[Cabin3tGuy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11379173#post11379173 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sperry
How are you causing him to shrink?

You got me good on that one Scott :blown: .. lol

I meant to say his cage is getting to small for him

 

[joeycadre]

when i went from my 45 to 90 i just put all the rock and corals into holding tanks, rubber maid, with some power heads. i used water from the 45 for this. then used the rest of the45's water to start filling the 90. filled the 90 and added sand. let everything settle for 2 or 3 days then moved all the stuff out of the holding tanks.

i didn't lose anything at all.

 

[bshumake]

Either way you're going to have a small-ish cycle start up again. I say with all the precured rock this should be minimal. Move everything over, run carbon and decrease the photoperiod for a couple weeks. This should relieve a lot of the blooms.

 

[Rendos]

Taking the advice Dave gave me when I moved my tanks from Jackson to Memphis...use new sand, and new water.

Most beneficial bacteria are on surface area of rocks...not in the water. Don't add anything new for a while, but since you are upsizing the tank and not downsizing, you should be fine. Run carbon heavily for the first month or two and change it often. Reducing the photoperiod as Barrett pointed out is also a good idea IMO.

Good luck!

 

[Doris M]

When I went from a 45 to a 75 I used some new live sand but all my old sand most of my water plus new water. I didnt wait, I put all my fish and coral in right then. I never had any problems. Maybe I was just lucky.

 

[bshumake]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11383342#post11383342 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bshumake
Move everything over,

That is everything BUT THE SAND! Toss the sand or you'll kill everything.

 

[keaton]

I moved a 125 from 8 hours away to memphis for a friend of mine using the same sand in the setup and loss no corals....... but im sure it probally is less stress on everything if you use new sand.

thanks for all the info, i too will soon be moving a 55 into a 125.

 

[mempho reefer]

DON'T use the old sand. By moving it you will be releasing all the impurities in the anaerobic layer into the water column. Those toxins will cause a major problems with some of your corals. It will also trigger a major cycle. Use a new sand bed. It will take it about 90 to 120 days to establish so nitrAte levels will be high during that period. So, you'll need to do weekly water changes of 10 to 20%. I speak from expericence. Good luck with the new tank.
~mempho

 

[joeycadre]

i did use new sand, that aragomax live sand stuff. yeah. using old sand is a bad idea. once you smell it after you stir it up will let you know. rotten eggs. blah.

 

[Siffy]

I'd get the new tank's equipment completely setup. Add sand and wait for the dust storm to settle/filter. After that, I'm a big fan of acclimating an entire tank at once rather than corals individually or in small groups. I'd setup the 2 tanks to use the same sump, leaving the existing system normal and supplying the new tank with a VERY small pump or one throttled way down. If it were me, I'd use my 3gph dosing pump for several days to a week, then up to a 50gph or so pump for a couple days, then to the return pump I plan to use for a day. It may be overkill, but 75% water changes worry me.

When ready to move the fish, corals and live rock, I'd turn off the return pump to the old system (to prevent excess nutrients that will be stirred up from traveling to the new system). First, I'd catch any fish I could and place them in a holding rubbermaid (filled with water from the new tank, small heater & powerhead, etc) or the sump (if it's large enough). Then, I'd do a short iodine dip on all the corals and shake all the rock pretty good before transferring them to the new tank. Then I'd add the fish to the new tank, and finally, drain the sump (save the water), move it to the new stand, and put the saved water back in it.

If you have a new sump in the new tank's stand, it's a lil easier. Leave it empty (and not plumbed) until you're ready to move your rock over to the new tank. The overflow from that should mostly fill it if not completely.

The last tank move I did wasn't like that. We acclimated and dipped many small batches of corals, and the whole time I kept thinking "this is just too much work". Acclimating the tank will save you a lot of work and time. Just watch for your sump overflowing when transferring the rock to the new tank.

As for the sand, there's many opinions on it. It depends on the situation. Some beds are seemingly waiting to explode and others are clean and healthy and would be good to add to the new tank. It's your call. But it's probably not worth the risk. Any anaerobic zones will be destroyed when it's stirred and aerobic bacteria zones in sand appear in much shorter time than in live rock (days instead of weeks culture time).