Transferring to a new tank...

[noteworthy]

I'm setting up a 120 gallon tank right now. I've painted the background and trim, stained the stand and canopy and will transfer my lights to a new fixture for the bigger canopy sometime this week.

I need any tips or suggestions to minimize a cycle reoccurance.

I currently have a 55 gallon reef/fowlr setup going for about a year now. This tank also has about 60 lbs of live rock and 50 lbs of aragonite sand for a substrate.

Current inhabitants -
Yellow Tang
Six-line Wrasse
Maroon Clown
2 Gobies
Starfish
75 snails


I have sitting in another tote full of saltwater/heater/powerhead for the last week about 75 lbs of live rock that has been sitting outside in the sun/dead rock now. I need to scrub the sand out of the rock and clean them off with a sponge but I'm curious if there is anything I can do for the rock to be ready in a week to add with my current rock to the new tank.

I'm going to purchase about 120lbs of playsand from HD. I know it is silica based but it should not be too big of a problem. I will be mixing it with my aragonite sand for a 1:3 ratio.. approx.

I figure I can drain about 15-20 gallons of water out of my current tank into a rubbermaid tote and put my fish into that tote. with an airstone running.

Then I plan to pull out all my lr and sand. Put the sand in a bucket and the rock on some towels. Move out the tank and stand to the back bedroom and move my new stand/tank to where this tank is currently residing. Fill it up with water.... but here is the problem. My RODI unit only does 125 gallons a day. I need a really cheap container for water I guess... and stick a heater in there with a powerhead. ??? Then I figured I can add my salt to the tank with the water and mix it up in the main tank before setting in the sand. Then set the sand in by feeding it down through pvc to minimize the floating particles/cloudyness... Then set my liverock/deadrock then finally fish back into the tank.


Any suggestions?!?

I have a two canister filters to use. Fluval 204 and 304... plus three powerheads... two 700 gph pumps.. and a 300gph pump. Should I look into a pvc rack for my liverock?!?

 

[fishfreek]

The rock should have shown signs of ammonia and nitrite by now but if its been dry in the sun for a while there wont be anything to die off so its likly just nice looking base rock at this point.

This is what I would do.

Get a few rigid brand trashcans with no holes in the bottom. These are plastic trashcans that hold about 30 gal. You will need a few of these. Drain as much water out of your main tank as you can. Fill two of the trash cans to about 1/2 way. Put all your live rock in one of them. Put your fish in another. Now get a plastic tote that will hold 20 gal or so and scoop out your live sand. Note at this point there should be next to zero water in your old tank. Put the sand in this tote. Be aware this will be very heavy so drag it out of the way on a towel.

At this point your tank should be as empty as its going to get so move it out of the way and bring in the new one. Set it up with the tank and stand. Then reverse the process except put your new sand in first. THen add your old sand from the old tank. If the old sand smells of eggs and sulfer do not use it. The old sand should have a fishy/sea smell but it should not smell bad. If it smells bad and has dark black patches when removing it from the old tank there are dangerious gases and areas of anerobic activity that can cause issues. Once the old sand is in the tank add your new base rock. At this point start adding your water. The easest way to do this is to pump the water in using a pump. A medium sized mag will make this process faster. Add your old water first. Then put your fish in and then put your old live rock in. Continue to add new water till your close to full. Connect up any plumbing you need to do before filling the tank the rest of the way.

 

[fishfreek]

I need to add that doing it this way should result in next to zero recycle. Oh and the entire process should take 2-3 hours if properly prepaired and you have enough makeup water. If your tank is 55 gal assume you will have 45 gal worth of acutal water to remove. That will give you an est on how much fresh water to have made up and ready. To limit the shock factor this new water should be close to desired tank temp when adding to the tank.

 

[Salttanker]

I moved my stuff the same way as FF did. I bought a house about 3 miles away and everything was successful (90g to 120g). The only problem I had was Ammonia, which is because I didn't have aeration during the short trip causing some die off. Fortunately I didn't lose a single fish. Check all your parameters before you put your livestock in.

Just remember that that you are going from a 55g to a 120g, so you will need additional water prepared ahead of time.

My move wasn't much fun as I had to do it myself. I hope you will have someone helping you during this transition. :-(

Mike