Tips on switching to a new tank

[greenstarfish00]

Hello,

I have a 115g cube w/ a 100g sump in my basement. Sump has one chamber w/ my skimmer and one w/ sand and macro, and one with rock and the return.

I'm getting a new 100g SC tank this week and I ahve the new stand about half way built. My current tank has been up for about 8 years and the last time I moved it from my old house to this house things didn't go well. This time I plan to basicaly pull everything out to buckets and maybe the sump get the old tank out slide the new tank in its place, connet the plumbing transfer the sand and then start pumping water up from the sump and start adding in more water until the tank is full.

Does anyone have tips for doing this more smothly or causing less stress on my corals and fish?

Thanks

 

[RobZilla04]

Although a pain staking process, the steps are actually fairly easy. The biggest mistake folks make is reusing the old sand. All of those trapped nutrients from years of not being disturbed get dumped into the new system and the shock (ammonia & nitrite) simply takes it's toll.

You can save and reuse as much of the old water as you'd like. Get as many buckets/containers/coolers to place your rock and livestock into. I used a big cooler for all livestock, most rocks, and included a heater and power head to keep everything happy during the manual labor.

Get plenty of extra salt water on hand for what you will lose/replace.

I like the option of reusing as much old water as possible so that the parameters (Alk, Cal, Mg, N, & P) are kept as close as possible to avoid shock to the coral. Figure you use 20% NSW that would be comparable to a normal water change. Changing out 75% or 100% could really shock things.

Use new & dry sand and you'll be good to go.

 

[greenstarfish00]

Ok if you use new sand wont u have to recycle the tank bc you have lost all of the required bacteria? How long do i have ro wait before i put eveything back in? Will my mandarin have enough food?

 

[RobZilla04]

You won't need to recycle because your rock and majority of water will still have sufficient live bacteria. The new sand will quickly fill with life and you won't see ammonia nor nitrites rise to measurable test kit levels during this process. Perfectly safe for all the livestock to go into the new tank the same day. Once the water clears up enough for you to see what you are doing just put it all back in.

You may want to "seed" the tank with some pods for your mandarin. It could take a little time for them to repopulate. A jump start never hurts.

 

[greenstarfish00]

Cool. Thanks Robzilla04. Its a good idea to pick up some pods. The mandarin has been in there for a couple years i would hate to do him in now. Any recommendations on sand? I originaly used crushed coral and its ok. It has allot of what looks like rubble in it and i would like a nicer sand this time around.

 

[RobZilla04]

Cool. Thanks Robzilla04. Its a good idea to pick up some pods. The mandarin has been in there for a couple years i would hate to do him in now. Any recommendations on sand? I originaly used crushed coral and its ok. It has allot of what looks like rubble in it and i would like a nicer sand this time around.

The most popular is CaribSea Special Grade. Has a good mixture of small, med, and just a few larger pieces. Nothing too big though.

Just keep in mind that smaller particles will blow around under high flow, so consider what livestock you'll have when making your decision.

 

[greenstarfish00]

That is why I asked bc ive seen some nice looking fine sand but i have a feeling it would be a pain later. I have too many big chunks in what i have now. Thanks