Have to replace Tank.

[ram6519]

Ok, my middle support on the top of my tank has buckled and has cracked almost in half. I spoke with my LFS and they are going to replace my tank. I have a 55 gal with 50 - 55 lbs of LR, 90 lbs of LS, several corals and lots of inverts. How do you switch over a DSB and LR into a new tank without creating a huge Amm. spike and keep everything from dying?

 

[swissfish]

Sorry to hear that.
First I would lower the water level in your tank and brace the top with some kind a clamp to prevent further cracking.
Maybe the LFS will take care of your live stock for a couple of days until everything is up and running again.
A friend of mine just moved and he took down the tank and set it up at the same location the same day. He just kept 80% of the water and reused it. The rest of the water was replaced with filtered ocean water from the local Aquarium. As far as I know, everything survived.
Might also depend on how hardy your live stock is.

Good Luck

 

[Fluff]

I recently changed tanks and had no problems. I drained all my water into tubs, moved my fish and corals into the tubs. Put the rock into a separate one and some of the base rock in the new aquarium for the lr to rest on. Then moved the sand. Once the sand is in the new tank I laid down some saran wrap on the sand and set a shallow bowl on the sand bed. I poured the water into the bowl to keep it from moving the wrap and the wrap kept most of the sand in place. I only used half the water from the old tank and half new sw. The water was a little murky for a few hours but cleared up quickly. Then just placed my rock while re-acclimating my fish and corals. I let the corals and fish drip for 2 hrs and added them to the tank. It took a few hours.