Swapping tanks

[Nu2SW]

I was curious About Going from a 50 to a 55, Do I need to let the other tank cycle. Or can I swap everything over into the new tank. The reason why is for the extra height for adding more rocks into the tank.

Should I runalot of carbon and skim alot, because of the DSB which is about 4 inches, its been set up since march so not to much stuff in the sand I hope..

How would I go about that...

 

[Justin74]

Thats a good question.Id cure the new tank and any new equipment that will see water in fresh water for a couple days, then drain it when your ready to begin. I think the biggest potential problem is if theres a sandbed envolved. If you have a fairly "clean" 1 inch or less you might be able to safely transition to the new tank followed by some fresh carbon;assuming your using all existing rock,sand and water. The 5 gallon difference can be your dilution to any pollution. You may want to do the sand and rock first and run it at least a few hours so the dust will settle, the longer the better.

If you have a deep bed and want to use it then youll be grounded for a week or two before you should safely put your rock, corals, and fish in. Almost like starting new, but much faster due to an already established tank, and substrate.

Depends on what you got and what you want the new tank to be. But theres a few things for you to consider.

-Justin

 

[Justin74]

Reading it over it does sound like you just want everything you got in the new tank, so this can be very risky.Since March?Ya, theres alot of stuff in there The deepest couple of inches are gonna be packed with about 4 months worth of detritus and trapped amonia and nitrites. The top 2 inches are gonna have all your pods,worms and denitrifying bacteria.

When me and Minh moved builderguy's tank he had a great approach and was dealing with a tank more than twice that so it was a very crucial topic as he had alot at stake. Vacuum up the top layer first and label that container.Then suck up the bottom layer and label as well. Put the layers in the same order in the new tank. The more layers the better. There was some stress to the tank but I would contribute that to the fact that we were moving the contents of a 120 to a new residence miles away on a scorching hot day to boot. But I still feel for the circumstances that was a great idea and the best method especially for you seeing how itll all be done within the same house.

-Justin

 

[Nu2SW]

I want to use all my sand and rock and same water and equipment...I was thinking of transferring over about 15 gallons from the main tank. Take my refug and take most the water out of that, another 15 and then add 10 gallons of freshly made RO water. take the rocks out and corals and put in a tub and then get the fish out and put in same tub. Then I will take all the sand out and put it into the new tank, let it settle down and run a filter thru it to help take the sand particles out. Im just not sure how long the fish should stay out of the tank....

 

[Nu2SW]

hmmm ok I was also thinking of getting some more sand "IF anyone has any to spare like 10lbs" and add it in... So I could do that idea, seems smart... pull it out and put it back in like it was. I was think if i got new sand, put the bottom sand back in and then put new sand on top of that say like 2 inch's or so and then put my top sand back ontop the new sand... Would that cause issues for the pods and such with not enough food, or would they be fine with feedings and left overs.

thanks for the info justin....

 

[yoboyjdizz]

You should be fine.. You could do it in one day, your basically just moving them to a new tank with everything the same. I would use half the water from your old tank and make new saltwater to fill up the rest. Think of it as a big water change. I would do the transfer as quickly as possible...When i move my tank from one room to the other i put rock in tubs already had new saltwater made put fish in 1 gallon ziplock bags, empy tank cleaned it out then moved it and then put old water back then in then rocks then new saltwater then the fish...took about 30 mins tops if that. Didnt have a loss but didnt have corals.

 

[yoboyjdizz]

The reason i put the fish in ziplock bags was cause i didnt have and extra tub. If i were you i would recomend that with an heater and powerhead.

 

[Nu2SW]

well Ill be keeping my 50 and using this as a backup/cycle tank for LR...

I have to reseal the tank with caulking and I noticed that There was a hole, from like a B-B gun shot in the glass which has been plugged.

Atleast I got it for free. But I really wanted the extra height of a 55 :-(

 

[Justin74]

Wouldnt recommend putting new sand on top as it will basically cover your real live sand. When replacing sand or adding more you should do it in sections. And let the natural process integrate with the new sand on its own.Theres been alot of threads that or more in depth on this but Im not quick with finding links

-Justin

 

[yoboyjdizz]

my fault as i wasent reading carefully...i would get new sand and just keep a cup or two of your old sand to seed it...I don't see any new big cycling going on if your keeping all your liverock. If you add more rock later on do it slow. Is the tank going in the same spot as the old one or in a new spot? If its in a new spot should be very easy transition just set it all up then transfer everything over without the need of tubs and e.t.c