switching tanks

[NateHanson]

Hi folks,

I've got a 65g tank aquascaped and ready to go, so I need to decide how best to efficiently, but safely, move the fish and corals from my 30 to the 65. Maybe some sort of mixing water from the two tanks? Or how about just getting the salinity and temp the same, and move things directly over. Would that be ok?

Weigh in quickly. I might just get restless and start shuffling stuff around.

Thanks,
Nate

 

[Armando]

Throw everything really high, switch tanks quickly, and let everything fall in place!

 

[Armando]

Now what would I really do - match temp, salinity. Then if possible, I would circulate water between two tanks slowly for a while before transfering stuff. If not possible I would acclimate the more sensitive animals and just transfer the other ones.

 

[reefnroll]

Hey Nate -

If I were doing what you're doing, I'd do my best to match the temp and salinity... then go for it (using ~ 5-10 minute acclimation times for fish). I don't know how many SPS you have, but I'd be careful about calcium and alk too, if you have a ton of those.

Good luck.

bec

 

[Ray]

I would match up everything you can and use some of the water as well.
I lost alot when I moved from the 75 to the 120 (no fish just corals)

 

[reefnroll]

Hey Nate -

How long has the water in the new tank been circulating? Is it all relatively newly mixed water... NSW... or a combination of the old tank and newly mixed water? Ray and Armando are right... mixing some of the old with the new is the best idea... but they should still be matched before mixing in at least salinity and temp so that nothing shifts too much.

b

 

[MarkO]

I just went through it moving my 90 into a 150 (1 mile away).
A few things I learned.....
1. move anything glass up and out of the way or you will surely break something
2. you can never have too many coolers, containers and/or trash barrels.
3. Move the live sand out of the first tank last and into the second tank first. Let it settle before adding rock and corals.
4. Move your fish into a temporary tank/barrel with a heater and powerhead. Then slowly acclimate them to the final tank. Take plenty of time. I rushed mine and my larger fish had a difficult time.... swimming into rock and the sides of the tank. Not pretty.

 

[3mrhythm]

yeah .. if you get the water the same its going to be like doing a 50% water change.. tanks can handle that...

 

[NateHanson]

The 65 has been running with sand salt-water and about 20 pounds of rock for about 4 days. The refugium has been fully stocked and running during that time too.

Based on all of your helpful advice I think I'll follow this plan:
Match sg, temp, Ca and Alk
Put 10 gallons from the 30 into the 65.
Move everything straight in, giving the expensive fish a 10 minute acclimation.

How's that sound?

Ok, now who wants to help me fill the extra space in the larger tank (I'm afraid it's going to look a lot emptier than the 30 for a while )

Nate

 

[Armando]

who wants to help me fill the extra space in the larger tank

I believe Ray has a treasure chest he can give to you

 

[NateHanson]

Here's a pic of the aquascaping. I'm happy with the right side. Probably rearrange the left side a bit before mounting corals.

The right will be all SPS, and the left will be softies, zoas, shrooms, etc, around the bottom, with some more SPS on the top. Not sure where the bubbling castle will go.

Nate

 

[nunofs]

Having just seen Nate's tank in person (thanks again for the sand, Nate!) I can say that the rock work on his new tank is really unique, the photo doesn't do it justice... the right hand side "pillar" is especially nice, with a great "overhang" on top, but the whole thing is a great rockscape work.

Nuno

 

[nunofs]

Btw, speaking of changing tanks, I went through the same process on Saturday and I tried to get pH, salinity, temperature, calcium and alk as close as possible and then just moved everything over with no aclimating in between... stragely enough, the only thing that appears to be suffering is the xenia, which is all droopy and much darker than before...

Nuno

 

[reefnroll]

Hey Nate -

Nice aquascaping... real drama there, with nice space on the sand still.

Given the fact that you've only had that set-up going for 4 days, and that looks like brand spakin new sand, I'd suggest a 15-20 gallon shift from the 30 to the 65 and you've got a deal... plus a couple of scoops of live sand from the old tank into the new- to seed the sandbed. If everything else matches up closely, you'll probably see very few issues, if any at all.

You doing all of this tonight?

b

 

[starrfish]

Don't you have to let the new tank cycle before you move the fish over??

 

[NateHanson]

Thanks for the compliments Nuno. Good to see you again.

Bec, I'll move a bunch of the water from the 30 into the 65 to be on the safe side. The sandbed was seeded with LS from my previous refugium, and a new batch of snails last week.

I'm feeling too tired to do all this and move the lights tonight. I'll wait until tomorrow evening for the big move. When I'm not so tired I'll be more likely to be diligent with water testing.

Daire, since the rock is completely cycled (did it in a tub in the garage), and the sand is brand-spankin new (aside from a pound or two of sand from the old tank), I figured that there wasn't much to cycle (ie, die and rot). I figured I'd give it a few days to stabilize a little, and then jump right in (assuming everything tests well).

Do you all think I can add all 5 fish straight in, or should I stagger them by a few days? About 30 pounds rock from the old tank is in the new tank, plus 40 pounds of new rock.

Nate

 

[MarkO]

I added 30#'s of LS from my old tank to the new one about a week before I made the big move. It took about 8 hrs to complete the big move this past Saturday and the only regret I have was putting all the fish into the new tank too fast. I should have taken more time because the pH and temp were slightly off. But so far so good. All 9 fish, 2 shrimp, serpent star, cucumber, snails and other inverts are fine. Only my leather looks a bit sluggish. All other corals are fine.

 

[dedfish]

Nate, now's the perfect time to test your water bridge idea! Go fo it! Build a bridge and left your fish swim over!

 

[NateHanson]

No, you don't understand my whole motivation here dedfish. I want someone else to try the Fishighway, so I don't have to make a mess of my own house

Nate

 

[dz6t]

I moved two 20 gallon tank into a 55 gallon :

1. Filled the new tank half with newly mixed saltwater
2. Transfer the heaters to the new tank
3. Filled the tank with old water from the two old tanks
4. Transfer the corals and rocks and found out how big the brittle star got when it drops out.
5. Catch the fish and throw them into the new tank
Done.