Tank Transfer ?

[SteveZ15]

Im gonna switch tanks soon. I am not sure if I am gonna set up the second and let it run for a while and then transfer or just swap everything. I want to change the sand and add more live rock. How can I safely do this with minimal affect on the live stock. Im not sure if I have enough in the breaker to handle both tanks at once. IM going from a 40 to a 65 but I am also adding a bigger sump so the total water volume is gonna be around 90 gals or so. I have mostly caps montis and digis and a few other sps. Can I use live sand and add the live rock one piece here and there over time to avoid a cycle? I want to have this planed out good

 

[DA23]

I went from a 50 gal to a 90gal and did a transfer with all my live stock and live rock, i did a few water changes and save the water in a clean garbage can and kept it moving with a powerhead and heater for a few weeks, you can put new live sand it wont affect anything, after a few weeks i added man made rock from apurplereef and things are going great. Hope this helps.

 

[Branespikin]

I just transferred my 46 to a 75 gallon about a week or so ago. I put my rocks and livestock (BTA, Long Tenticle Anenome, some mushrooms, kenya trees, and palys) in a plastic storage container with heater and power head. I bought new dead sand Caribsea aragonite reef grade sand washed it real good and put it in my new tank. You shoulb put a few mounds of your old sand to seed your new sand. Covered it with plastic sheathing and slowly transferred most of my water from old tank into the new one. Remove the plastic slowly so you dont stir up sand. I put two heaters and powerhead inside and also hooked up my canister filter. I then filled up remainder of tank with Rodi water with same parameters (salinity and Ph). I waited for tAnk to heat up and then transferred rock and livestock. So here i am a week later everything is looking good my anenomes are wandering around a bit because on new environment and equipment gyre 150.
After a few days i did get a diatom bloom guess from new sand the silica inside it but i added a dozen turbo snails and hermits also got a diamondback goby and they are grazing away on it. Also my gyre 150 is giving good flow and is clearing up the tank quite well. I did add special blend in my tank to add bacteria just to speed up any mini cycle i may be having. Please beware if you add this to your tank it reaks to high heavens. My apt still stinks a week later. All in all i am pleased with the new tank and will be adding more corals in about a week or so for my tank to settle down a bit and check my parameters are right.
Also i am i newbie in the hobby just started a few months ago so if it worked for me it should work for you. I got alot of good advice from fellow members here on MF. Alot of good people here.

Good luck. :beer:

 

[BKLYNREEF123]

I transfered a 46 gallon to a 65 with a larger sump. I used new live sand with
BRS dry tonga (i cured it for a few weeks in a tote with a pump and heater) then added it to the display. I made all new water and let it run for a few days before transferring everything. I put most of the live rock from my 46 into the sump. I would not worry so much about keeping the water from the previous system. Most of the bacteria is on the rocks and sand anyway. I think using new live sand is alot easier than trying to re use your old sand. If you are worried about tripping the breaker I would suggest running a temporary extension cord from a different circuit in the house.

 

[SteveZ15]

I don't I'll have a problem now . its gonna take longer to get the rest of the equipment I need . I wanted to do this sooner the tank and lumber is sitting in my hallway. Half my house is a construction site so half the circuits are off . I should have a new dedicated circuit going to the tank room by then. I will just transfer maybe I'll get lucky and get a cheap used fixture maybe I'll get a led on the 40 and keep LPs in there . thanks at least I have a good idea of how I'm gonna transfer. Its gonna be a few weeks to get the skimmer I want .I don't want to get something different and rush like I did with the first tank. Hopefully I can get the stand built and some wires up from the basement this weekend.

 

[BKLYNREEF123]

I would not even think about transferring anything until you have everything you need, or you are bound to have problems. Make sure you put in a GFCI outlet for the tank when running the new electric.

 

[salpet]

TAKE YOUR TIME in doing this sps are very delicate organisms make sure to save as much water as you can and make sure all your parameters are equal when you introduce them in the new set up and yes your tank will cycle again and you will loose some sps

 

[Branespikin]

Yes please take your time. I rushed first time around and wasted a ton of money and was not happy with my setup. Ended up upgrading and replacing everything. My wife was at her breaking point with me. Did everything over but still somewhat rushed it( because of the wife) and am much happier still would have done things a bit different. Im still setting up my tank just got it up 3 weeks now.