NPS Tank Upgrade

[MarineSniper]

Found a great deal on an Oceanic 115 gallon tank and I'm going to replace my 75g, nps tank with it. The main problem I have is the loss of a lot of the huge bio filtration I've built up in the 75. That tank gets about 2-3lbs of food a month and maintains a nitrate level of 5 and under, albeit, with weekly 20g water changes

I have to starve out an aiptasia explosion that occurred when my Berghia nudibranch population crashed this spring. I'll also be unlikely to keep my sand, due to that. I have my eye on some, real; non synthetic, white, White sand that I believe will really make the colors of my corals stand out but it will take months for it to get seeded to the point where my current substrate is. I have plenty of extra live rock to use while the tank cycles

I'm going to start moving suns and dendros into my 135, one colony every 3 days, to ease the increase in bio load. I'm thinking about using an overflow box to run the sump from the nps tank under my qt and housing my terrazoas and gorgonians in there. This will save a large portion of the bio in there and help keep my 135 from becoming a cesspool. A 5g water change, every 2 or 3 days, should keep the qt clean, I believe

I'm also in the middle of completing my other project, a 350g basement sump. One of the issues has been drilling through the wall behind the 75. With any luck, I can plumb the new tank into that and not have to spend a month transitioning corals back into it

Any input or suggestions would be appreciated! Upgrading an nps tank seems to be exceedingly more difficult than a standard reef, due to its ability to handle the large amounts of food that go into them. I added all those corals over the span of about a year, to build that ability up but, hopefully, I don't have to do the same, moving them back into it!

 

[Wave Ace]

Sounds a nice upgrade keep the info comming and pics

 

[MarineSniper]

Tank move should begin next week. Will be painting back of tank tomorrow. Most likely black. The 75 I have now has a blue back, came like that when I got it, and I hate it! Diffuses coloration of corals and fish. White would certainly be perfect for showing off colors but I imagine the tank, as a whole, would look like crap!

Dual corner overflows on the new tank. A very generous friend traded me a Tunze nano wavebox for some sun frags and 40 bucks, so my Sea Swirl thoughts are off the table. May still need a powerhead for the terrazoas and gorgs, as they both get ****ed without current blasting them but I'll gladly settle for one, vs the 6 I have in there now! The terras have a Koralia 1050, 4" away pointed directly at them, at about a 30° angle

Will post pics of progress once I begin! Slow mover, every time I settle on a plan, I come up with a better one

 

[MarineSniper]

Got the back taped off and painted the first coat tonight, when the temp dropped below 100°. Remembered a thought I've had, from time to time, on one of my shallow bed tanks: painting the bottom white. I'll be keeping another dsb in this one, 3 to 4" but still thinking of doing it. With the flow I keep in there, thin spots always appear, although it's deep enough that I don't get light seeping up from the fuge at night, like the other tank

Got both waveboxes in last week and picked up about 30# of shelf rock from a friend, who didn't need it.. Hopefully, the flow will keep waves in my sand, like the current setup does. I like that look

 

[Wave Ace]

Pictures ?

 

[MarineSniper]

A few pics. 2 year old destroyed my laptop and my phone always produces huge pictures through my hosting site, so I apologize for that

New tank, moved in today, from the garage. Water going in tomorrow after some cleaning


My, now overloaded, 20g qt


Wrestled my 30g sump out and am now running it behind the qt. It almost doubles my volume, maintains some established bio filtration, in addition to keeping that bio alive, for when I put it on the new tank. Also gives me the ability to run my skimmer and media reactor. Using a hob filter with Poly-Filter and Chemipure to keep the small environment clean


Moved a half dozen conchs into the refugium. They'll have to remain permanent denizens there; I'm not going to dig them out of there!

 

[MarineSniper]

Well, after a week lost; due to a leaky bulkhead, we have water and rock in. I have a bacterial additive, Aquabella, that I use, along with some dead cocktail shrimp in there, trying to initiate a cycle; to no snail, thus far. Too much live rock, I guess! I'll toss a few more in next week, if it can process that much out without spiking, I'm sure everything will be fine

Awaiting my sand, now. Went with 180# of the non synthetic pure white from Crystal Reef. It's extremely white and I'm doing a 4" bed, heavily loaded with conchs and other sand sifters to keep it healthy. One month in: crawling towards completion!

 

[Sharkey18]

How's it going?

 

[MARINECRITTERS]

Could you give us some update photos?

 

[MarineSniper]

Going well! Just fed the tank, in fact. I have an aggressive wrasse that would rather take mysid from the corals than eat what I squirt at it, to dissuade it so I've had to revert to night feeding until he goes into the trap that's in there now. Once he's relocated to the fuge, and the trap is out, I'll get a full tank shot. Suns are doing well:

 

[StephLionfish]

Beautiful sun