Changing tanks

[horse_gambler]

Hello,

I'm looking at purchasing a new tank it will be a couple of gallons bigger then what I have (going from 44 to aprox. 46) biggest difference will be going from tall corner tank to a longer flat backed tank.

Now what I'm wondering is:
How difficult is it to move everything from one tank to another?
How do I move everything and can I use the water from the orignal tank?
Do i have to set up the new tank and cycle it on its own before moving stuff?

I have extra live sand so I figured I would wash it and put it in the tanks and move the sand from the other tank over will this work?

Also can I get away with out the sump and protein skimmer like I can with the 44gallon?

I know I need to get more Live rock but was wondering if anyone has used the fake coral inserts I've seen advertised in magazines and if so what are they like and where can they be purchase (or only online order?)

Can the transfer be done in a day or does it take awhile to change tanks?

Thank you,

oh and if there is anyone in the London Ont area that is willing to transfer my tank let me know

 

[horse_gambler]

Hello,

I'm looking at purchasing a new tank it will be a couple of gallons bigger then what I have (going from 44 to aprox. 46) biggest difference will be going from tall corner tank to a longer flat backed tank.

Now what I'm wondering is:
How difficult is it to move everything from one tank to another?
How do I move everything and can I use the water from the orignal tank?
Do i have to set up the new tank and cycle it on its own before moving stuff?

I have extra live sand so I figured I would wash it and put it in the tanks and move the sand from the other tank over will this work?

Also can I get away with out the sump and protein skimmer like I can with the 44gallon?

I know I need to get more Live rock but was wondering if anyone has used the fake coral inserts I've seen advertised in magazines and if so what are they like and where can they be purchase (or only online order?)

Can the transfer be done in a day or does it take awhile to change tanks?

Thank you,

oh and if there is anyone in the London Ont area that is willing to transfer my tank let me know

 

[reeffreak]

To be honest, ask yourself, will it be worth the work to move to a tank 2 gallons bigger, you risk all livestock when doing a transfer. Although you didn't mention how much livestock you have it's hard to say. If you have just live rock and sand then there's not to much to worry about.

When transferring over tanks you should try to use most of the old water as possible that's clean,  and make up around 20 gallons of new saltwater just incase you spill or lose some along the way. New sand would be best way to go and use existing live rock.

 

[reeffreak]

To be honest, ask yourself, will it be worth the work to move to a tank 2 gallons bigger, you risk all livestock when doing a transfer. Although you didn't mention how much livestock you have it's hard to say. If you have just live rock and sand then there's not to much to worry about.

When transferring over tanks you should try to use most of the old water as possible that's clean,  and make up around 20 gallons of new saltwater just incase you spill or lose some along the way. New sand would be best way to go and use existing live rock.

 

[reeffreak]

I think anyone on here will say to use a sump and skimmer. If you're keeping just softies and zoas or something you could get away with not using either, but this means you would have to stay on a strict maintenance schedule or things can get out of hand quickly.

 

[reeffreak]

I think anyone on here will say to use a sump and skimmer. If you're keeping just softies and zoas or something you could get away with not using either, but this means you would have to stay on a strict maintenance schedule or things can get out of hand quickly.

 

[dale]

ok this is just me talkin... first... yes it is difficult (depending how much stuff you have in your tank), you can just switch everything over but you will have a bit of a cycle so keep an eye on your numbers for the next week or so in case you need to do some necessary water changes, you will need lots of buckets or bins.., just put your corals in a bucket or bags then your live rock in buckets then your fish in buckets or bags, no not put your lr or corals or fish together..(they will damage each other) then siphon all the water you can into the containers you have,, then i would put your clean sand in the new tank followed by about 25% or so of old sand to seed the new,, then the lr then slowly pour water in ,,, try to defuse the water as to not stir up the sand too much,.,. top up the tank with new water and test your parameters, when the temp and salinity are where you want them, you can start acclimating your corals and fish back into the new aquarium.,the whole process should take a couple hours.,., most people would recommend a sump and skimmer on even a 5 gal tank, as would i,, but you can get along without one.. i do.... but a hang on the back skimmer and a phosphate reactor will increase your chances for success greatly,,some soft corals will survive, but your corals will not thrive without these things... as for the fake corals.,, i dont know anyone that has them,, i dont think anyone around here is into those,, you will prob get diff advice from diff people as there is more than 1 way to do things,, take it all in and come up with your own custom solution.. its half the fun... good luck and welcome to our humble home... Dale.

 

[dale]

ok this is just me talkin... first... yes it is difficult (depending how much stuff you have in your tank), you can just switch everything over but you will have a bit of a cycle so keep an eye on your numbers for the next week or so in case you need to do some necessary water changes, you will need lots of buckets or bins.., just put your corals in a bucket or bags then your live rock in buckets then your fish in buckets or bags, no not put your lr or corals or fish together..(they will damage each other) then siphon all the water you can into the containers you have,, then i would put your clean sand in the new tank followed by about 25% or so of old sand to seed the new,, then the lr then slowly pour water in ,,, try to defuse the water as to not stir up the sand too much,.,. top up the tank with new water and test your parameters, when the temp and salinity are where you want them, you can start acclimating your corals and fish back into the new aquarium.,the whole process should take a couple hours.,., most people would recommend a sump and skimmer on even a 5 gal tank, as would i,, but you can get along without one.. i do.... but a hang on the back skimmer and a phosphate reactor will increase your chances for success greatly,,some soft corals will survive, but your corals will not thrive without these things... as for the fake corals.,, i dont know anyone that has them,, i dont think anyone around here is into those,, you will prob get diff advice from diff people as there is more than 1 way to do things,, take it all in and come up with your own custom solution.. its half the fun... good luck and welcome to our humble home... Dale.

 

[horse_gambler]

Thank you for the responses,

Yes it is worth changing tanks as it will be going from a 44 tall corner tank in which I can't put some of the fish i would like to get as there isn't enough swim space to a 46 long which gives me the swim space required along with making it easier for me to do maintance on the tank.

I have a Fish and live rock only tank not ready to plunge into corals.

I know I'll need more Live rock for the new tank will that effect the changing of the tank I know when I added the one new rock into my tank I didn't have to worry about anything but I'm hoping to add a few new rocks as I currently only have 3 due to the space on the bottom of the tank so I'm not sure if that will be a problem.

Thanks

 

[horse_gambler]

Thank you for the responses,

Yes it is worth changing tanks as it will be going from a 44 tall corner tank in which I can't put some of the fish i would like to get as there isn't enough swim space to a 46 long which gives me the swim space required along with making it easier for me to do maintance on the tank.

I have a Fish and live rock only tank not ready to plunge into corals.

I know I'll need more Live rock for the new tank will that effect the changing of the tank I know when I added the one new rock into my tank I didn't have to worry about anything but I'm hoping to add a few new rocks as I currently only have 3 due to the space on the bottom of the tank so I'm not sure if that will be a problem.

Thanks

 

[unibob]

Get some dry rock from sealife central. Whatever rock you have how, just add this stuff on top of it.

 

[unibob]

Get some dry rock from sealife central. Whatever rock you have how, just add this stuff on top of it.

 

[yveterinarian]

+1 to the dry rock from Sealife.  This is great rock and gives lots of crevasses for the bacteria.  There is no risk of causing a cycle with dry rock and you can take your time placing it until you get the aquascape you want before you start moving your other rock over.  With only a few pieces of rock and fish you should have no problem changing over your tank in a couple of hours.  I just switched all of my tanks around and the reef tank took me a few days because I wanted to let the sand settle before I added my rock with coral on it.  My seahorse tank only took an hour and there was no cycle on any of the tanks I moved around (4 in total).  I did, however, add some Stability (a live bacteria culture) to help replace any bacteria I may have lost in the move.
You are best to get new sand because of all the detritus that collects in the old sand but if you are not thinking new sand then rinse, rinse, rinse your old sand before you transfer it and add some Stability or similar product to re-seed the bacteria.  One of my new tanks has new sand, one I washed the old sand, one is bare bottom and one freshwater and like I said I had no cycle on any.
Good luck with the move and post pictures when you are done - we all love pictures! 

 

[yveterinarian]

+1 to the dry rock from Sealife.  This is great rock and gives lots of crevasses for the bacteria.  There is no risk of causing a cycle with dry rock and you can take your time placing it until you get the aquascape you want before you start moving your other rock over.  With only a few pieces of rock and fish you should have no problem changing over your tank in a couple of hours.  I just switched all of my tanks around and the reef tank took me a few days because I wanted to let the sand settle before I added my rock with coral on it.  My seahorse tank only took an hour and there was no cycle on any of the tanks I moved around (4 in total).  I did, however, add some Stability (a live bacteria culture) to help replace any bacteria I may have lost in the move.
You are best to get new sand because of all the detritus that collects in the old sand but if you are not thinking new sand then rinse, rinse, rinse your old sand before you transfer it and add some Stability or similar product to re-seed the bacteria.  One of my new tanks has new sand, one I washed the old sand, one is bare bottom and one freshwater and like I said I had no cycle on any.
Good luck with the move and post pictures when you are done - we all love pictures!