Upgrading tank advices.

[btieu]

Hi, I will be transfering my 72G to my 150G soon. This is not a long tank, just wide and deep. What is the best efficient way to do it?

Mixing salt water...should I put the salt in the tank then water? Then transfer the water from the old tank to the new one?

Live sand...I got some extra sand that's been sitting in the bucket. Should I wash it and combine with the sand from the old tank?

About the sump...I got a 55G tank sump on the bottom. Its all plumb but there is no baffle. It does have 2 sock filter (something like that) Do I need to add some baffle or can I just put the skimmer inside and let it run as is?

Last...will a Koralia 8 be enough to move the water current or do I need another one?

Thank you all for reading and any advices are appreciate. [smilie=smile.gif]

 

[Double M]

I'm, by no means, an expert, so take my advice with the appropriate grain of reef crystal, but...

1) Some people have said that it is better to add a quantity of salt to water rather than add water to salt due to concentration density as the first part of the water mixes with the salt creating a high concentration...this makes sense to me, but I don't think it is that big of a deal. I think if you do it this way, then adding your aged water after the fact makes the most sense.

2) If you want your live sand to continue to be live and add the beneficial bacteria and micro flora and fauna, I'd consider washing it with some old tank water, just to loosen up the particles and allow really gross detritus to be washed away...it totally depends on how old the sand is and whether it has been recently enough disturbed to release any potentially toxic materials. If it is old and mostly dead anyway, I'd just wash it very, very thoroughly, but not expect any of the "live" benefits to remain.

3) I think you really need baffles in the sump if you're going to run a skimmer, because consistent water level for the skimmer is extremely important for effective skimming and if you have no baffles, your water level will drop with evaporation, thus impacting skimming efficiency and you'll need to adjust it every time it evaporates and/or every time you topoff.

4) One K8 pump will provide a ton of movement in your tank, but most people use 2 or more smaller pumps to create more random turbulence or a high/low zone of flow for suspending detritus in the water column longer to allow it to get into the sump/skimmer/refugium area. With very creative positioning, you could, possibly get one K8 to create a bit of a gyre effect throughout the tank, but the area closest to the pump will get massively blasted and may inhibit or downright destroy growth on some corals. In any event, I certainly wouldn't put another K8 in a tank that size, but others might have a different view.

Hope that helps

 

[Wes]

1 - salt normally wont mix right if it is added first, do water then salt and i would mix it in a seperate container first

2 - wash both the new sand and the old sand currently in the old tank. before doing so take a couple scoops of it to seed your new tank

3 - completely agree with double m but you also have to consider that the output from skimmers often has tons of bubbles and you do not want that getting back into your tank

4 - spot on from double m

 

[Guest]

if it were me i would buy all new sand and just seed it from couple cups of the old sand.

 

[zed102]

When I moved my tanks I put all the live stock in a rubbermaid container, added all of the old sand and rock to the new tank (I used a lorge scooper to move the sand to try and minimize the disturbance), then I added the new sand on top, added fresh salt water, let it settle for a day, and finally put all of the livestock back in. This seemed to work well.

To create water movement, I prefer to add a powerhead on either side so that I can point them toward each other and creat more random currents.

 

[Dylan]

@zed102 wrote:

Don't forget the heater!

 

[btieu]

Thanks all for the great advice guys!!
The heater will go in the sump. [smilie=smile.gif]

 

[btieu]

@Wes wrote:

BTW...can you explain to me why we don't want bubbles back into the tank? I mean...is it harmful?
Or is it cause it will float above the water and makes it look ugly? [smilie=smile.gif]