Best Option For Migrating To New Tank?

[Heywooood]

Hi all,
I'm on the edge of pulling the plug on an IM Fusion 30L and Nanobox Quad setup, so I have to consider my options with regard to the contents of my current cube. I will selectively frag off most of the corals, but for the rock and substrate I want to start fresh. I can seed the new tank with purple rock from the cube, and can partially migrate some of the substrate to liven it up, but what should I expect with the new rock? My previous experience with putting new rock in an existing system is that it goes green, gets furry, the snails love it, and I assume over time it will purple up, is that correct? This was live rock that went through muriatic acid, so it was dead and rinsed. Is it normal for dead rock to "green over" before growing coraline?
Any other advice for starting up the new tank while the old one is still running? I just don't want to bring over all of the issues from my current system, just pick and choose what makes sense.
Thanks.

As an aside, I'll be posting a 29G Biocube with Maxspect Razor Nano 16K in the near future .

 

[saltyair]

yes it is normal for green up before coraline

I would suggest just getting a bit of coaline from someone or adding a little iodine

If starting a new tank - don't use your old sand - start over let the tank cycle then add some live rock.

coraline algae loves nutrients and will sap alk,cal and mag.

 

[AdInfinitum]

I don't know what pests you are escaping from in your old system, but if there is some clean rock definitely grab a chunk and scrape flakes of coralline off to seed the new rock or get some from someone else. Seeding with flakes will speed up the process substantially. And especially if you are cycling fishless crank the mag way up it will discourage green algae and speed up the good growth. Coralline consumes mag even faster than SPS.

 

[curiousphil]

It sounds like you have a good plan of seeding with a piece or two of your existing purple rock, and a scoop of sand. The rock will help cycle your tank faster since it is already established with bacteria, the corraline on it will help to spread spores to the other new rocks, and a scoop of sand will help to re-establish the microfauna that you had growing in the old substrate (brittle stars, bristlworms, tiny snails, pods, etc).

 

[Heywooood]

Thanks everyone. The main things I'd like to leave behind are sponges, which are mostly black and taking over, and micro-aiptasia, which I'm currently using epoxy to bury. I was going to use Joe's Juice, but I had epoxy here and figured why not. The main rock is actually a really cool shape, so I may clean it once I'm done with it, muriatic acid bath to start it all over and use in the new setup.
Sounds like seeding and selective sand migration will boost the bacterial population and keeping mag elevated will assist...appreciate the advice.

 

[AdInfinitum]

Just curious...when you say micro aiptaisa are they just small ones that haven't grown yet or do you have colonial hydroids or something like that?

 

[Heywooood]

Looks like micro-aiptasia is just a name I made up
I always wondered why these seemed so much smaller than aiptasia images, thanks for giving me the real name!

 

[theyangman]

I didn't see any aiptasia in your tank when I was there. In fact I thought your tank looked pretty good!

 

[Heywooood]

Thanks Tony.
They are tiny and really visible under UV when they glow green. I've hit them with boiling water and lemon juice, which seems to deal with it but more just pop up. I'm inclined to believe they are hydroids of some kind, maybe harmless but I don't want them to take over.
The black sponge is more annoying.

 

[curiousphil]

Thanks Tony.
They are tiny and really visible under UV when they glow green. I've hit them with boiling water and lemon juice, which seems to deal with it but more just pop up. I'm inclined to believe they are hydroids of some kind, maybe harmless but I don't want them to take over.
The black sponge is more annoying.

Sounds like the same hydroids I have, they glow green too and seem to be in small colonies or patches.