Tank moving questions and help!

[Xxxtremewv]

Hey Guys. I had a few questions in regards to moving/upgrading a tank and wondering some thoughts from you if you can. I have been at this a little over a year, so I am not a complete newb, but not exactly experienced either hah.

I am currently in a 70g tank and am finally moving to a new house with more room, so I am going to be upgrading. I am kind of leaning toward a 125g set up with a 30g sump I found on craigslist. I am only moving a few blocks away, so its very close by. The new set up has everything I will need minus my lights. The current tank has about 80-90 lb of live rock in it, with an assortment of fish and LPS, and does NOT have a sump, so Id guess 60-65g worth of water to work with. So basically going from 65g to something like 135 or 140g I guess?

I am only going to have a few weeks it sound like between moves, so my main question is (because Im getting a lot of mixed opinions from people around here) if I get the 125 in the house and set up, then just move all the water I can from my current tank to the new one all in one day, will that tank cycle? Thats a pretty big addition of water quantity. What is my best bet here? Should I add some water to it (say 50g or 55g?) and some rock and sand from current tank and toss a powerhead in and let it cycle? Or just get the tank and everything in place, then gets totes and buckets and move all water and all that and rock I can all in one day and get the fish and corals straight in?

Im all open to suggestions and would appreciate the help. Im not sure what the easiest route will be here. Starting out, I am going to be needing the rock from current tank to build the rockwork in the new tank, so can I do it all in one day? Andwhat kind of issues could I expect to hit doing this?

 

[thegrun]

It would be very helpful if you were able to test the water in the system you are buying for nitrates and phosphates. If the new tank is high in either but particularly phosphates reusing the rock from that system could present algae issues that will take a lot of work and expense to correct and you would probably be better starting with new dry rock and cycling it. If however the new system that you purchase is in fact low in phosphate and nitrates, assuming you keep the rock wet during the move you should not have a cycle at all if you reuse the rock. I would not reuse the sand from either system. It will have trapped quite a bit of detritus, enough to cause a new cycle. Instead purchase new dry sand, wash it well outside with a garden hose in a 5 gallon bucket until the water runs clear to remove the fines (dust). Reuse as much clean water from the old system as you can to reduce the shock of different water chemistry to the livestock, but once the water you remove from the old systems starts to get murky don't use that water. Have plenty of pre-made, aerated, heated water on hand to make up for the unusable water from the system you move. If you follow those steps you can move all your livestock, fish and corals into the newly set up tank the same day. You should have some Amquel or any of the other ammonia neutralizing products on hand in case there is a spike in ammonia, but I've been through several tank moves without issue following this methodology.

 

[Xxxtremewv]

I may not have clarified enough, but I will not be using any water or rock or substrate out of the system I am buying. The guy said I could take what i need, but I had planned on getting it completely torn down and clean everything up and all that, and just get my water into rubbermaid totes along with livestock, give the rocks a quick brushing and rinsing in tank water, and adding it all into the new tank along with the rest of the SW I'll get from the store. I dont plan on using any of the rock or sand out of the other guys display.

 

[Xxxtremewv]

I guess basically I am trying to figure out if I get the other set put up and cleaned up and on the day of the move, use totes and buckets and all that and go straight ba and forth, along with the new large amount if water. Will I be ok doin this? Cycle wise?

 

[joesig]

So basically you want to set up a new system with nothing in it and move all your stuff into it? If thats the case you should be fine as long as you match the new water chemistry to your old one. Same salinity, ph, temp.
I have mixed the water between a new and a old tank before with two small pumps before. Then just moved everything. Kind of like drip acclimation but on a large scale and the tanks were close together.


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[Xxxtremewv]

Yeah thats basically what im plannjng to do! May buy some dry rock to go in with it, but thatll give me a good start. Just wasnt sure with all that extra water volume being added in what would happen. Thanks!