Tips on upgrading to bigger tank. Please!!

[AquamanE]

So Im going form a 65G to a 120G. The 120 is sitting in my garage as i wait for the skimmer, and do a little electrical work in the area where tank is going. Plumbing almost done.

The tank will be going to the exact place the 65 is at right now. Live stock will be the same, I should have enough LR since I have like 90 lbs now., ill prob add more later.

Ive read on RC peolple do daily water changes on old tank and keep water for new one to decrease stress, or all new water. and acclimate.

Should I just tear old one and keep things in rubbermaids for a few days while i set the other one up?

Does it all have to be done in one day? Would any of you dare move the 65 if ~80% of water is drained to move it a few feet, giving me more time to move?

Need suggestions please from those that have done this before, I should be ready in 1-2 weeks to do this.

BTW- Curent tank has LPS, SPS, and softies.

thanks, Eddie

 

[gasman059]

Eddie Ideally I will keep both running at the same time but sometimes that's impossible. So your new tank will cycle and so forth to reduce the stress on your critters.
that's what i would do.

 

[AquamanE]

You think I will have to re-cycle even though all LR and inoculated sand (new sand but with a cup or so of old) is going in new?

Yes impossible to keep both running unless i DARE move 65 to adjacent wall

 

[nicklepickle]

I didn't have the ability to have both tanks running at the same time either. When I did my upgrade I basically just tranferred everything from the old tank to the new tank except the sand. I used all new live sand with a few cups of the old. I never went through a cycle and everything made it fine. I used all or most of my old water as well, with new NSW to fill the rest of the tank.

I think the key to success here would be sufficient planning. Just make sure you have everything you need, and a lot of time. My upgrade took me 10hours to complete with three of us working non stop.

 

[varyhare]

Tagging along since I'm about to go through the same thing in a couple of months.

Nicklepickle,

What types of corals did you have at the time of the swap? Did you have an SPS Dominated or Mixed reef?

How low did you take the water until you moved the old tank and moved the new one into the same spot?

Good luck AquamanE sounds exciting and very stressful for both you and your inhabitants.

 

[nicklepickle]

SPS dominated reef, with a large wall hammer colony, and a few zoas and aplys. I drained the 55g tank into rubber maid containers and placed all the corals into one set, and the live rock in another set of containers.

I had all of the plumbing and lighting work done for the new tank. i made sure to measure all the space needed etc. Then once the old tank was drained I pushed the new one in its place. Then I layed the new sand and began the rock work. I started adding water by laying a bag on the sand and pouring the water onto it, this prevented a sand storm in the tank. I then started filling the sump and adding the bulk of the water. during this the others positioned the corals and transferred the fish. We started at 8:30am and ended at 10pm. so i guess it took more than 10 hours LOL.

 

[AquamanE]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13658324#post13658324 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by nicklepickle
I didn't have the ability to have both tanks running at the same time either. When I did my upgrade I basically just tranferred everything from the old tank to the new tank except the sand. I used all new live sand with a few cups of the old. I never went through a cycle and everything made it fine. I used all or most of my old water as well, with new NSW to fill the rest of the tank.

I think the key to success here would be sufficient planning. Just make sure you have everything you need, and a lot of time. My upgrade took me 10hours to complete with three of us working non stop.

Thank you.

I have a similar plan and will give myself a whole weekend to do it, (except for time to watch the Dolphins game).

Ive already been working on new tank, re plumbing, rewiring lights, cosmetic changes to new (used) stand to keep girlfriend happy etc... for 3 weeks!!

Electrical work i am doing is only to make sure all is not on one line in house system, in otherwords, feed electricity from more than one breaker to ease the load.

Im still a little stressed about gasmans recycling comments. He is a man of experience.

 

[Bret61081]

get the new tank and ready to go...if you are adding live rock, make sure it is cycled first. If you are using a new filter, if you can, add it to ur current tank now so it can get cycled when you do the move. When you are ready, just take all the fish and corals out, put them in a rubbermaid container with a powerhead and air bubbler. Save as much of the old water as u can, so u can slide the old tank out of where you want it. Get the new tank in place, add a bottle of turbo start, set up your rock structure and put the fish in! thats what I did 2 years ago when I went from a 55g to a 95g and never lost a thing. Its not as hard as it sounds....just stressful!! The turbo start is a must IMO to keep any Ammonia and Nitrite from spiking.

 

[djmicl]

I am planning to do the same. I am upgrading from a 55gal to 150 gallon tank. The Current tank has LPS, SPS, softies and of course fish.

I got a similar response from the LFS..... same method as nicklepickle and Bret61081. New live sand I guess is a must.
I did know about using some of the old sand. Why only a cup or two of the old sand? Why not more?

However, I am still nervous about any spikes that can occur from this transfer. But it was also suggested to add Cycle to reduce any kind of spike from happening. Has anyone else gone through this kind of upgrade?

AquamanE let us know how it goes with your upgrade. I should be ready to start mine in about 3 or 4 weeks. Good luck

Any other suggestion would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Rogger Castells]

Re: Tips on upgrading to bigger tank. Please!!

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13657621#post13657621 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by AquamanE

Does it all have to be done in one day? Would any of you dare move the 65 if ~80% of water is drained to move it a few feet, giving me more time to move?

Need suggestions please from those that have done this before, I should be ready in 1-2 weeks to do this.

BTW- Curent tank has LPS, SPS, and softies.

thanks, Eddie

Congratulations on your upgrade. No, you don't have to do it all in one day, unless you are using the same pumps and so on. Moving the 65 a few feet is a good idea, I have done it in the past, adding to draining 80% of water place a towel over the entire rock formation to prevent any avalanche.

 

[gasman059]

The turbo start = hogwash IMO.

I've never found any of this products to be nearly as effective or as useful as they claim to be, granted I've never used turbo start but other similar methods IMO take away from the real cycle and must of all from your wallet with only a placebo effect if nothing else, it just makes u feel better.

Perhaps Brett has more experience with the porduct.

 

[AquamanE]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13660724#post13660724 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by gasman059
The turbo start = hogwash IMO.

I've never found any of this products to be nearly as effective or as useful as they claim to be, granted I've never used turbo start but other similar methods IMO take away from the real cycle and must of all from your wallet with only a placebo effect if nothing else, it just makes u feel better.

Perhaps Brett has more experience with the porduct.

????

 

[gasman059]

LOL Eddie sorry no coffee yet!
I'm just not a big believer in any of this bacteria producing products.

 

[AquamanE]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13660842#post13660842 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by gasman059
LOL Eddie sorry no coffee yet!
I'm just not a big believer in any of this bacteria producing products.

No coffee here either when i read that.

I have no intentions of using bacteria products just my own LR, new sand with a few cups of the old. Again, having close to 1lbs per gallon of established LR should prevent me from re cycling IMHO.

 

[AquamanE]

Another thing that is starting to concern me is the noise from the main pump. It is an Iwaki MD 70RLT. The flow it puts out is awesome, but once in the living room im not sure if the noise will be acceptable. In the garage its unbearable. Any experiences out there with this pump.

Here are some pics:

120G (48x24x24), 40 gal breeder sump, soon to come MSX 200 Protein skimmer with Sicce pump (sorry, can afford a BK), circulation will be the 1500g from iwaki, and a Vortech propellar pump. Lighting 250W MH x 2 + 48"VHO x 4. Pump will feed GFO, chiller if needed (hopefully not), and maybe later Ca reactor.

 

[roblack]

When I started my new tanks, I just moved all my sand (some new) and all old liverock over to new tanks, and added old water, then livestock. LPS, SPS, and all fish were fine. All done within a few hours. No waiting for tank to cycle, it was set up "established". Tried to transfer filter media, and used the same refugium, so that helped.

 

[ReefWreak]

Whenever I move a large tank (only someone else's for now) I always suggest keeping a gallon bag of the old live sand, and the rest of the sand I always remove and rinse out with a hose. Once it's all rinsed and the water coming off of it is clean, I put it back in the tank, and re-seed it with the bag of old sand and the rock.

The only time I would ever consider moving a sandbed without cleaning out is when I did my old nanocube, where I didn't actually have to disturb the sand more than just shaking it up a bit. I wouldn't have kept the sand bed if it had to be dug up each time I moved it (I moved that tank successfully upwards of 5 or 6 times).

 

[gasman059]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13660901#post13660901 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by AquamanE
No coffee here either when i read that.

I have no intentions of using bacteria products just my own LR, new sand with a few cups of the old. Again, having close to 1lbs per gallon of established LR should prevent me from re cycling IMHO.

should b fine

 

[gasman059]

Iwakis r LOUD 4 sure.
Had them in the past they are pressure rated.

Perhaps u should consider a refflo they are the must quiet pumps I've used so far.

 

[AquamanE]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13661250#post13661250 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by gasman059
Iwakis r LOUD 4 sure.
Had them in the past they are pressure rated.

Perhaps u should consider a refflo they are the must quiet pumps I've used so far.

I wouldn't mind doing that but current bulkheads on tank and sump are 1"suction 3/4" out. Reefflo are 2",1.5" respectively. How could I make that happen. Is redrilling even an option. Not very comfortable with that.