Tank upgrade Process

[ssky]

History:
1. 45 gallon non drilled reef tank
2. 2 inch of live sand bed
3. 2 years old setup
4. 4 fishes. Currently only 2 (clown and a goby). Goby keeps the sand bed well oxigenated.
5. Few LPS corals
6. Filteration only throguh live rocks.
7. No dosing or reactors or anything.

I want to ...
1. Place the tank at the same spot where my old tank is.
2. Use as much old tank water as possible.
3. Use as much as old live sand as I can (I will need more new sand).

Tank Move Steps in order:
1. Remove 10 gallon water in a tub. Place all my corals in it. Fish will also go in it after they are caught.
2. Remove another 20 gallon in another container.
3. Move old tank away and place new tank in its place.
4. Put some new live sand in the new tank (1/2 inch or so) before the rocks can go in.
5. Wash/scrub rocks inleft over water inside the old tank.
6. Place the rocks in the new tank.
7. Put rest of the sand in the tank.
8. Put the 20 gallon old water back in new tank.
9. Make new water and add in.
10. Place fish and corals in the new tank.
11. Initially place heater in the tank and start the power heads. This is
because I have limited capacity to make and store RO water.
Over the next several days I will keep making more saltwater and
adding it.
12. Fill Sump and start the drain, overflow, return cycle.
13. Finish.

My questions:
1. Can I use the storage totes walmart sells to store old tank water temporarily (few hours to a day)?
2. How can I wash and reuse my old sand? or should I use old sand to begin with?
3. Any step or detail I may be missing?
4. Suggestions/comments on any step?

Thank you

 

[reefling]

Rinse the sand if you want. The main think I would say is discard the original 10g. Rubbermaid tubs are generally fine. Brute trashcans are better. Get 1 trashcan for your bulk of the water and base rock. I use a dust pan for old sand, no metal of course.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[thegrun]

1. Place the tank at the same spot where my old tank is. No Problem
2. Use as much old tank water as possible. Good idea, but as soon as the water starts to get murky with detritus stop using the old water. You should have a lot of premade preheated saltwater on hand before the move
3. Use as much as old live sand as I can (I will need more new sand). Bad idea, the old sand can contain enough detritus to start a new cycle, start with new DRY sand washed well before the tank swap to remove the fines (dust).

Tank Move Steps in order:
1. Remove 10 gallon water in a tub. Place all my corals in it. Fish will also go in it after they are caught. You will probably need a bigger container for this, a Brute trash can or an ice chest works well.
2. Remove another 20 gallon in another container. okay
3. Move old tank away and place new tank in its place. okay
4. Put some new live sand in the new tank (1/2 inch or so) before the rocks can go in. Washed dry sand, but rocks go in first, then sand. if you set your rocks on top of the sand they will shift over time and you may have a rock slide.
5. Wash/scrub rocks inleft over water inside the old tank. okay
6. Place the rocks in the new tank. okay
7. Put rest of the sand in the tank. okay
8. Put the 20 gallon old water back in new tank. okay
9. Make new water and add in. Have it made and heated before hand.
10. Place fish and corals in the new tank. okay
11. Initially place heater in the tank and start the power heads. This is
because I have limited capacity to make and store RO water.
Over the next several days I will keep making more saltwater and
adding it. If you must, but if you can find any way to have the new saltwater on hand you should!
12. Fill Sump and start the drain, overflow, return cycle.
13. Finish.

My questions:
1. Can I use the storage totes walmart sells to store old tank water temporarily (few hours to a day)? Yes, but a Brute trash can would be better
2. How can I wash and reuse my old sand? or should I use old sand to begin with? You can, but it takes a lot of time and effort AND a lot of saltwater!
3. Any step or detail I may be missing? Be sure to take a head count of the fish, they may hide in the rocks or sand
4. Suggestions/comments on any step?

 

[ssky]

About the sand. As I mentioned my tank is only 2 years old. Does that mean that sand is bad now (absorbed phosphates etc.) and cat be used?

Thanks

 

[AnnaCassandra]

I think the issue with reusing the sand is that unless you were regularly vacuuming the sand and stirring sections up, you will have a fair amount of detritus settled into your sand bed that will be released when you transfer it to the new tank and could cause an ammonia spike. If you want to reuse it, I would rinse it really well.

 

[ssky]

Thanks for the suggestions. But I already have a fairly large goby which keep the sand turning all day long. How about using the cheap 5 dollar plastic totes to store water and what not for a few hours while I am transferring the tanks?