Tank Move Advice

[adambom]

Hi Folks,

So I'm moving to a new home in about a month and it's time to start planning for the move. I'm going to be upgrading to a system with a sump. I'm leaning towards the Red Sea Reefer series - either the 250 (54 gal display) or the 350 (74 gal display).

My dilemma involves what to do with my live rock, which is infested with pests that I've never been able to get rid of despite my best efforts. I feel like maybe this is my chance to get rid of them. I'd love to replace my live rock with new dry rock because it's easier to aquascape and is totally pest-free. I'm intrigued at the idea of using a man made rock and marine pure for extra filtration in the sump like they do in this video (https://youtu.be/weuOniZN2Jo?t=17m16s), but I'm not decided yet. Obviously I'd cure the rock first to make sure it's got a biofilm, but I don't know how long it takes before the rock really matures.

On the other hand, after about a year my system is finally stable, and I'm really afraid of disturbing the balanced system that I've worked so hard to establish. It seems like a big risk in order to avoid aiptasia and some nuisance algae. There's also the issue of having to remove the corals, which have now encrusted onto the rock.

My current setup is a 55 gal with all HOB equipment and about 100 lb of live rock. 2 lb of rock per gallon in my existing setup is probably overkill, but I have a fairly high bioload and my nitrates are still in the 1-5 ppm range. I'm open to suggestions about how much rock to put in my new tank. It's a mixed reef with SPS, LPS, and Softies all doing well for the most part. I've got 2 clowns, 2 chromis, 2 engineer gobies (amazing fish by the way), 3 pyjama cardinals, and a lawnmower blenny.

I was hoping to get some advice from seasoned reefers or anyone who's gone through something similar. Should I replace my rock, and if so, how should I approach it?

P.S. If anyone is wondering, it's a local move, so no concerns here about transporting livestock

 

[ReefBum]

Hi Folks,

So I'm moving to a new home in about a month and it's time to start planning for the move. I'm going to be upgrading to a system with a sump. I'm leaning towards the Red Sea Reefer series - either the 250 (54 gal display) or the 350 (74 gal display).

My dilemma involves what to do with my live rock, which is infested with pests that I've never been able to get rid of despite my best efforts. I feel like maybe this is my chance to get rid of them. I'd love to replace my live rock with new dry rock because it's easier to aquascape and is totally pest-free. I'm intrigued at the idea of using a man made rock and marine pure for extra filtration in the sump like they do in this video (https://youtu.be/weuOniZN2Jo?t=17m16s), but I'm not decided yet. Obviously I'd cure the rock first to make sure it's got a biofilm, but I don't know how long it takes before the rock really matures.

On the other hand, after about a year my system is finally stable, and I'm really afraid of disturbing the balanced system that I've worked so hard to establish. It seems like a big risk in order to avoid aiptasia and some nuisance algae. There's also the issue of having to remove the corals, which have now encrusted onto the rock.

My current setup is a 55 gal with all HOB equipment and about 100 lb of live rock. 2 lb of rock per gallon in my existing setup is probably overkill, but I have a fairly high bioload and my nitrates are still in the 1-5 ppm range. I'm open to suggestions about how much rock to put in my new tank. It's a mixed reef with SPS, LPS, and Softies all doing well for the most part. I've got 2 clowns, 2 chromis, 2 engineer gobies (amazing fish by the way), 3 pyjama cardinals, and a lawnmower blenny.

I was hoping to get some advice from seasoned reefers or anyone who's gone through something similar. Should I replace my rock, and if so, how should I approach it?

P.S. If anyone is wondering, it's a local move, so no concerns here about transporting livestock

I recently started up a new tank with 100% dry rock since I did want to avoid the pests you mentioned, although it is not a 100% guarantee since they can hitch hike in on corals. It did take a few weeks to cycle before I added some fish but I waited a couple of months before adding some corals (LPS). Sounds like you have a good number of corals to transfer so if you went the dry rock route it would be wise to let it cycle for a while and build up a nice population of bacteria so it can handle your bio load. You could add some new corals to that rock that are not attached to your old rock to help the process after it cycles.

You mentioned your corals are attached to the rock so that is the wildcard. How encrusted are they? Can you remove them without having a lot of the old rock still attached? There is certainly a chance those pests could make it into the new tank. Another option to consider is buying new live rock and take the chance it doesn't have a lot of those hitchhikers. This would obviously allow you to do a much quicker transfer.

 

[Shawn O]

What kinds of pests are you talking about? If it's just critters you can reduce your feeding to just what the fish need to survive and set up some traps for the hungry critters.

 

[adambom]

What kinds of pests are you talking about? If it's just critters you can reduce your feeding to just what the fish need to survive and set up some traps for the hungry critters.

Aiptasia, bubble algae, and stubborn hair algae.

 

[chatyak]

dry rock seeded with microbelift special blend. ready in 48 hrs. rinse rock well and let it sit in mixing bin for a week at least to let p04 leach. Longer is better but since it's a "move"... this is an idea.