30g build

[Jmkb02]

Aloha everybody. So I'm planning on upgrading my 30 long to a 55g within a month or two. I'm just curious as to what is the best way to go about getting this done. Cycling/transferring stock etc. so I'm just looking for a few pointers while I do my own research on the subject. my current stock: 2 Clowns (might be down to 1 Clown. I havent seen one since last night...I'm hoping he'll show up when I get home today ) 1 Blue/Green Chromis (had 2 of them, one died mysteriously about 2 months ago, after taking everything into consideration I think it was microbubbles) 1 Lemonpeel angel 1 Bicolor angel 2 feather dusters 1 brittle starfish 1 Hawaiian Red Lobster 1 Strawberry crab 1 Pencil Urchin 1 Cleaner Shrimp assorted hermits and snails

There are quite a few threads on transferring tanks, but you will go through a "mini" cycle while everything stabilizes. I added my rock to my tank before I transferred and it helped tremendously. I had a few diatoms but nothing else.

 

[DIZZLE808]

right on. from what I read some say they had a mini cycle others say they have not. I guess is a 50/50 chance.
As far as transferring sand... I can't really find a difinitive answer. some say transfer all the sand others say don't use any of it while others say take only one cup of sand and use that to seed the new sand... opinions??

 

[Jmkb02]

right on. from what I read some say they had a mini cycle others say they have not. I guess is a 50/50 chance. As far as transferring sand... I can't really find a difinitive answer. some say transfer all the sand others say don't use any of it while others say take only one cup of sand and use that to seed the new sand... opinions??

Either way your gonna be doing water changes. I kept all my sand and added new sand on top. My tank went through a mini cycle with my first upgrade but barely anything going to my 180. It's worth it IMO to keep the existing sand, just try not to add all the loose diatrus if you can.

 

[DIZZLE808]

Time for the upgrade

So I picked up this 55 gallon off of craigslist for $60 yesterday. Got it home and started cleaning it. It's in pretty good shape overall...the guy I bought it from said it was just sitting in his garage so his wife made him sell it. But for 60 bucks I'm happy with it.

I'm hoping that I can start the transfer today after I get off work but I'm not sure I'll have the time to do it. Also realized that my 30g is too big to go inside the stand... I was kinda bummed cause I wanted to turn that into a sump. oh well.

question... the frame around the top of the tank... can I take that off or should I leave it on?
I'm sure I'll have more questions as I go...any and all input is welcomed and appreciated... superstoked for the upgrade!!!

 

[DIZZLE808]

Upgrade

made the swicth from my 30g to the 55g last night. everything went smooth thankfully. So I'll just be watching my water params to make sure I catch a mini cycle..if it happens. I'll post pics when I get off work.

 

[DIZZLE808]

Here's the 55 all filled up. Tested the water this morning... Ammo & trites @ 0, trates <20. So no sign of a mini cycle as of yet.

 

[DIZZLE808]

What to do after disaster strikes?

ok… So I had a mean case of what I believe to have been marine velvet wipe out all of my fish in the 55 gallon. Kole tang went first which was surprising because he showed no signs of being sick. He had been in the tank for about 3 weeks. This happened on September 22nd. the very next day the lemon peel had strange brown marks on him that went away after two days. everything seemed to be going back to normal, no signs of sickness anywhere and everyone was eating and swimming like normal. September 29th… lost 1 clown and 1 chromis. The clown was covered in some kind of slime (velvet). Both of which showed zero signs of sickness until the day they died. September 30th… lost lemon peel and b&w clown… again no signs until they died…except for the lemon peel of course which showed the week prior. needless to say I was bit blindsided as to how fast it all went. After the crash I was pretty bummed and missed a few cleanings and water changes and sadly ended up losing my two feather dusters as well.

By the middle of october I got everything back on schedule… lights, cleanings, pwc's. What i have left is my skunk cleaner shrimp, banded coral shrimp and a few hermits. Tank has been sitting fallow since October first and will continue to do so until January. I would've started to add fish again in December but I'm going on a trip to the east coast for about 3 weeks so I figured I'd wait just a little longer. I added a raw shrimp a few weeks ago to keep the ammonia source which the hermits loved lol

Playing russian roulette I learned the hard way, and I'm pretty sure I won't be the last one to do so unfortunately. But I have, without a doubt, learned my lesson. QT QT QT QT!!!! My empty 30 gallon will serve as my QT from now on and I most definitely will not be making that mistake again.