Replacing Live Rock and Sand

[rds85]

So currently i have a 75 gallon sps tank. This tank was an upgraded tank and has been doing great. Good growth in all SPS. The issue is after going through all the growing pains of learning the secrets to a successful SPS tank, I need to replace my current live rock and sand. My sand has some sections that hardened together to form sections that are like cement. My live rock has had some hitch hikers and macro algae that I cannot get rid of. It has been driving me crazy. I recently have purchased new BRS pukani dry rock. I plan on building my aquascape outside the tank and use epoxy to hold them together with coral glue. My question is what is the best way to go about switching over the live rock. I plan on using a rubbermaid to cure my live rock. I also have some bacteria products to help with cycle as well. I plan on developing a holding tank when its time to switch over to house my current animals. Then purchase some live sand and after throughly cleaning the tank. Place in the new sand the display and then the cured new rock and wait to finish the cycle before adding my animals back in. I plan on keeping my sump the same and just keeping that alive by circulating a pump through the sump.

I would love recommendations and opinions on the best way to go about this. Thanks again

 

[Shanet]

Sounds like your onto it. If your sump is big enough and it has live rock in it you could house your fish in it while waiting for the tank to cycle.
The Coral could be put in a small Rubbermaid with some LR as well. When the tank has fully cycled all you have to do is reconnect the sump, relocate the fish and slowly remove the unwanted LR (I would leave it in the sump, more the better). This is how I did it for my 150g.

 

[alton]

A Couple things, if you have hitch hikers and algae in your tank, they are also in your sump. If you are going through all this trouble start new with water and filtration also. Setup a temporary tank using your Rubbermaid tub like you mentioned. Second, place rock on the glass and fill in sand around it. If you ever decide to get a sand dweller you will have issues with the rock settling when there is no sand to support it, plus I believe rock on top of sand creates dead spots underneath(but that's just me)

 

[dkeller_nc]

I'm afraid you're hosed as far as the pests go. Because your corals have lots of nooks and crannies, it's really impossible to avoid transferring pests like algae spores and/or aiptasia or other animals.

This is true even if you set up a completely new tank with all dry rock and sand, cycle it, then transfer the corals over. It -might- be possible to set up a duplicate tank, cycle it with bottled bacteria, then quarantine the corals one by one in a small tank with high intensity lighting, skimming, etc... so that you can closely examine each one, remove algae and/or animal pests like aiptasia, put it back in the QT and observe it for another couple of weeks to determine if you've eradicated the undesirables. Then you could transfer that coral to your new DT, and start on the next one.

Even then, the probability of not introducing one or several of these pests into your new tank is quite low.

That's why most folks simply take care of environmental issues that might be accelerating pest growth (such as high nutrients fueling algae), and fight the undesirables in-place.

This is also why avoiding pest species is not one of the advantages of setting up a tank with all dry rock, though it's often cited as one.