Tank upgrade tips?

[Nuuze]

Hi all,

I may be possibly upgrading my tank to a larger on and need some tips for about 20-25 SPS and a few LPS/softies. What can I do to not stress them as much? Thing is, I need to get the sand and live rock out of my current tank to the new one. I will be going from a 58G to 80G. Any tips will be greatly appreciated!

 

[fishdoc11]

Save as much old water as you can in containers during the switchover with some type of water movement(airstones or powerheads) and heaters if needed. Keep your livestock in those while you change over. Clean your rock by swishing in some dirty water the best you can. Don't reuse any but the very top layer of your old sandbed. A shop vac comes in real handy for getting the old sand out. Have several more gallons of new well mixed water on hand than you think you will need.
hth, Chris

 

[NuclearReefs]

Dont carry the sand over,, PERIOD!......

If you do you will open yourself to a very high Nitrate spike.... sand in the very bottom will have bacteria that will instanly start dieing off once the oxygen levels start dropping. your live rock will be enough to sustain your biological..

If you must go with sand in the new tank I would start fresh and add just a little from your tank and let it run for a little while.. otherwise you will not be a happy camper...

If moved way to many tanks and seen this be an issue with nitrates and PO4 spikes.

Nathan

 

[Nuuze]

The two tanks will be about 10 feet from each other if that helps. Most of the SPS are frags so can I put them in a big tub with the existing tank water with powerheads? Rinse my existing rocks in a seperate container of salt water. Would this bee a good time to dip corals in case any bad things are on them? What about dipping rocks? I will have plenty of RO/DI and mixed saltwater ready. But what about the sand? I can't use all of it? There's about a 2-3 inch sand bed at the moment...

 

[Nuuze]

Should I add new sand then? Should it be the dry bag or wet bag of sugar sized ones? Can I store my existing sand in a tub with skimmer running and slowly add it back or do I toss it?

Also, should any of the old tank water be added to the new tank or just the holding tub?

 

[ycnibrc]

don't put corals and fish together in a same bucket. When coral stress they release alot of toxin which will make your fish ill or die within hour. And if you can keep your old tank then convert that to a refugium with all of your old sand and put in new sand for your new tank. That way you don't disturb your old sand bed and get more water volume for your system to make your system more stable...

Good luck

 

[NuclearReefs]

I'd personally get new bagged live sand and let it settle out.. you can add a scopp of the old but i wouldnt push that limit very much at all.. , You'd be surprised at how much die off you will have with the current system in a sand bed once you move stuff..

 

[Nuuze]

Okay, so do I save as much of the old water to add to the new tank minus what I will use for the coral and fish tubs?

Add new sugar sized bagged agro-live sand.

There's no use for old sand?

The old tank will be a bit too big to fit as a sump.

How long before I start adding lovestock to the new tank to be safe?

 

[Wiskey]

The old sand is only good for your driveway when it starts getting icey.

I agree 300% replace the sand, take a scoop of the very top layer of your old sand to seed the new. I also would not waist money on live sand, it's loaded from the get go, just get the sugar size dry sand and let the scoop from the old bed colonize it.

I usually wait until the sand settles to add the coral back.

Whiskey

 

[Wiskey]

Oh, I should say that I watch the coral very close for a while after I add them and if I see any sign of trouble I get them out.

Remember when you move a colony into a new tank all of a suden the flow is very different, and I found that to be the biggest problem.

Whiskey

 

[Nuuze]

Will do with the old sand. Looks like most of it will be going into my lawn this winter to soften up the soil.

I'll definitely watch the flow and increase it if necessary.

How often should I be testing the water params afterwards? Every day or hours? Constant pH and temp will be on my Aqua jr.

 

[fishdoc11]

FWIW I use my old sand to make reef plugs once it's well rinsed.

 

[RichConley]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8410238#post8410238 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Nuuze
The two tanks will be about 10 feet from each other if that helps. Most of the SPS are frags so can I put them in a big tub with the existing tank water with powerheads? Rinse my existing rocks in a seperate container of salt water. Would this bee a good time to dip corals in case any bad things are on them? What about dipping rocks? I will have plenty of RO/DI and mixed saltwater ready. But what about the sand? I can't use all of it? There's about a 2-3 inch sand bed at the moment...

Honestly, set the new tank up, get it running, work out all the kinks, etc, and then deal with moving. If I ever upgrade again, thats the way I'm doing it. That way you're moving corals from an established tank, to an established tank.

 

[Serioussnaps]

dont reuse old sand....that is just asking for trouble down the road....for no reason should you reuse the sand

i would vaccuum out deitrus in a 5g bucket...let it sit til it settles to the bottom....then dump the water back in tank....keep doing this till you have piles of deitrus in buckets...keep the water but rid the deititrus

MOVING IS ALWAYS A GOOD TIME FOR GOOD CLEANING...WHY NOT ITS GONNA BE A PAIN IN THE *** ANYWAYS

 

[CeeGee]

I would be concerned about alkalinity in the newly mixed water that is added to the new tank. From what I have read alk dips and spikes can kill all your acros very quickly if it is too big of a change.

I was thinking that it might be a good idea when I move to a larger tank to start doing frequent small water changes every day or two and instead of dumping the old water just pour it into the new tank. I am not sure if this would be a good idea or not. Anyone have any input on this?

 

[REEF-DADDY]

I agree with Rich as long as you not putting the new tank in the same spot, get th new one up and running until things are stabile then move live stock over. I thought I had a perfect plan with my 125 to 280 upgrade, but Murphy bit me in the butt about 3 times within the first month.

 

[Nuuze]

Since I am going from a 58G to a 80G, I'm gonna try to make it like a big maintenance/water change. That's about 20-30'ish gallons I'm hoping to add of new water. I will set the new tank up with new sand. Start removing corals from the old tank to tubs, fish in a seperate tub. Remove rocks into seperated tubs of fresh saltwater for a rinse. Then with a pump in the old tank, pump all the water to the new tank with a filter sock at the end to catch all the deitrus in. Put all the rocks in new tank and top off what is needed. Start testing water parameters... Once everything seems to be settling down, start adding lovestock back. What do you all think?

 

[Nuuze]

But I will need all of the live rock for the new tank and most of the harware like pumps, heating, controlling, etc. Since I will be taking the rock out and disturbing the sand wouldn't that start changing things also?

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8413591#post8413591 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by REEF-DADDY
I agree with Rich as long as you not putting the new tank in the same spot, get th new one up and running until things are stabile then move live stock over. I thought I had a perfect plan with my 125 to 280 upgrade, but Murphy bit me in the butt about 3 times within the first month.

 

[raddogz]

Like everyone has said make sure you have enough of well mixed water to swish the rocks (specifically the ones that sit directly on the sand-bed). These bottom rocks will accumulate a lot of "stuff" and you don't want to transferring this gunk into clean tank.

 

[jjmcat]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8413110#post8413110 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by RichConley
Honestly, set the new tank up, get it running, work out all the kinks, etc, and then deal with moving. If I ever upgrade again, thats the way I'm doing it. That way you're moving corals from an established tank, to an established tank.

I totaly agree.I did the same thing and just got done last night in fact.The 58 looks funny standing next to the 110.