moving from one tank to another

[Tj51]

I currently have a 42 gallon tank, with 10 gallon sump.

I just bought a 100 with 30 gallon sump. I'll be getting the tank on Wednesday but my clown laid eggs which are due to hatch Saturday, and I don't want to change the tanks until after that. I need a "blueprint" of the best way to move the stuff from the 42 to the 100. Unfortunately I can't have both running as I need the live rock from the 42. I know I will need to have 60+ gallons of water on hand, and I'm getting new sand (plus thinking of using my old sand also). So if not to much trouble, could someone give me the order in which they would handle this "move?" Thanks!

BTW I have an extremely light bioload.....2 average sized clowns, one foxface, one small secretive wrasse, a small scotter blenny and a large srbta. No SBS, just some torch hammer, leathers, and a bunch of zoas

Tj

 

[Lance]

When I helped my Dad move his 40 to his new 90 he made the extra water. Then we moved the rock and corals to tubs while we drained the tank. Also moved the all the fish and vert to a cotainer. I think we wased the sand but kept some to seed what he was putting in the tank and also rinsed the old stuff off. We cleaned out the old tank and moved it out of the way and put the new tank in its place. Put the sand down and started filling the tank with the new water having a plastic sheet on the sand to keep it from getting blown around to bad. Once the tank was partly full started placing the rock back in with the corals. Took us about 4 to 6 hours to move from one to the other. Hope this helps you in your planning somewhat. Also try and keep your new and old water as close as you can to the same tempture as to not get things to far out of wack.

Also have someone help you as it was not a job to be done by one person IMHO.

 

[Tj51]

@Lance6270 wrote:

thanks, exactly what I was looking for...btw what are you doing next weekend J/King

 

[Lance]

LOL.............going to Dad's :lol:

 

[zed102]

I just did this last weekend when I set up the 90 in the same place as the old tank. Here is how I did it.

1. Let additional rock cure in 40 gal rubbermaid tub.
2. Remove live stock and rock from old tank and place in rubbermaid tub along with the current tank water. I also added a heater, powerhead, light, and airstone.
3. Add rock to new tank.
4. Add old sand to new tank in big chunks disturbing it as least as possible.
5. Add some well rinsed sand on top to make up for the larger footprint.
6. Fill tank with new water trying also to reuse as much of the old tank water as possible without completely draining the tub that contained the livestock.
7. Turn on all equipment.
8. Add livestock back into tank.

This seemed to work really well for me since I had to have the new tank in the same place as the old one. I kept a close eye on everything this past week, and never saw a cycle. All fish and coral seem extremely happy.

 

[dixonallred]

Are you setting the tank up in the same place as the 42? If not, is there any equipment from the 42 that you plan to use on the 100? Reason I ask, if not, then I would set the 100 up and get it going with water and new sand. Do a water change on the 42 and add the old water and some of the sand from the 42 to the 100. Let it cycle and then move all of the rock and coral, adding only a fish or two to the 100 leaving the others in the 42. Slowly move the remaining fish over so you don't cause another cycle. Might be overkill but I always play it as safe as possible when it comes to my tanks.

 

[derek4real]

sending you a pm.

 

[Tj51]

@dixonallred wrote:

Not setting up in the same place, but I will need to use some of the 42's sand and of course all the live rock. As stated, my bioload is low...the clowns should be ok, and the wrasse, if there is a causality, it would be the foxface

 

[guitareefs]

Wow, what has the wife said

 

[ReefGod]

Congrats on the upgrade TJ!

 

[Tj51]

@ReefGod wrote:

tyty since my nem won't split he's making me (for scale, check out the overflow box, he's over 2x the size, takes up at least 1/4 of the tank)

alt="">

 

[Tj51]

out of all the great ideas I have been given, here's my plans, please correct me if they are flawed.

I'm getting the tank on Wed. but not setting it up until the following week, so.....
1. I'm getting 80 lbs of new sand and will put that in after Wed.
2. Will get big container (at least 32 gallons) and fill
3. I'll repeat this the following day putting water in new tank
5. On tank move day, I'll remove about 1/2 of the water from my old tank and put in new. I'll start removing live rock, very carefully to not "shake up" all the debris under the rock (and clean off bubble algae) and scoop and clean what sand I can from my old tank (best way to clean this since there will be debris from under the live rock?)
6. Move fish and corals
7. Take the remainder of the water from the old tank and place it in new tank, and top off the tank and sump
8. Move chaeto to new sump and set up protein skimmer and sump

Comments?

 

[raggedfinfirefish]

I would just set up the new tank and completely fill it with new salt water, add in your new rock and new sand, let it cycle then add in your old inhabitants. Then you know your putting them in a completely safe and cycled environment. Thats how i moved from my 58 to my 120 and had no casualties.

 

[Tj51]

@raggedfinfirefish wrote:

I wish I had the time as I know that's the correct way, but I need the $$$$ from the smaller tank to help pay the costs of the larger tank.

 

[kthomas]

Tony,

I wish i would be here to help, but I'm out of town for the the fourth or I would come by to help. If you do it the weekend after I can come help. Just let me know.

Be really careful when you do move the sand over. I had an issue a year ago on my tank where my old sump leaked (so I thought it was my sump, but actually it was a gasket on my ext skimmer) and moved the sand in the sump (4") into the new sump and it sent off a bacterial bloom. This eventually killed all my zoas in my main tank. IMO I would only use the top 2" of the sand to "seed" your tank.

 

[kthomas]

dbl post

 

[Tj51]

@kthomas wrote:

Thanks Kyle, will watch the sand. I am pretty much using new sand and it will sit in the tank for a few days before I move my sand over, so if there are any "issues" I should be able to catch them before the move. Right now, I have 2" SB or less, so I will use that to seed the tank. I have a small bio-load so hopefully everything will be ok. Thanks for the offer!

 

[David Gibson]

When were you going to need some help? You mentioned you were getting the tank on Wed but not setting it up until next week? Do you need help when the tank arrives to move it, or for the actual tank swap?

Let me know and I'll see what I can do.

 

[Tj51]

@Gramalkin wrote:

plans have changed, the person who was going to help can't so I don't know at this point how I'm going to get it here

 

[DaveG99]

I have switched tanks many times. I have never had a tank running for more than a year because of my problem with getting new tanks. What I do is set up the new tank with new sand and take half the live rock from the old tank and put it in there. Be sure to have a bucket of saltwater to dip the rock in getting the debris off of them. Let the new tank run with powerheads in it for about 1-2 days. After that add the rest of the rock and livestock. I normally dont get a cycle when I do this.