Tank reset

[Chlorinated]

Hi,

I will be moving soon, and that means moving my tank. It has been running for 4 years, had its ups and dawns, but fairly stable.

For the move i was debating starting fresh...ish. i have a few corals i love and have no desire to part with, but several that i am ok if they go.

My thoughts were selling off most of the coral and rock. Then, when i move, do new dry sand, new live rock, and transfer my 2 clows and the select corals i wish to keep.

My concern is the biofilter. I think...think...that if i put in 15-20lbs of established live rock (its an IM 20 gal), that the biofilter in the rock alone will be enough to sustain the 2 fish and assorted snails/hermits untill things even out.

I wanted to know everyone's thoughts on if you feel this will work, or if i am asking for trouble. I could keep the rock and sand, but the sand is old, some 6 years old from before my upgrade, and new rock will give me an opportunity to rescape as im not a fan of several of the larger pieces in the tank currently.

Thanks!

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[aresangel]

If they are not out of the water for too long it should be good. Are you setting up the new tank while the old is running?


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[Chlorinated]

It will be the same tank, just starting fresh with new rock and sand. The plan would be to buy the rock the day before and keep it in a bucket of water with a powerhead for circulation. Break down tank day of move...hopefully most of the corals are gone by then. Then, once the tank is at the new place use the new live rock to scape, new dry sand, all new water, and then move corals over. Seems like a big task honestly, but i think if i can match parameters close enough and have the new water heated in buckets i should be ok. But this is why I am asking.

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[aresangel]

I would think it is ok. I have moved a 25 gallon tank back and forth to school several times. Same water same sand. Kept the tank with a inch of water over the sand for the drive, threw rock, corals, and fish in buckets and re set it up an hour later. Mine should have spiked every time but didn’t. So I would assume New live rock = less chance of die off. New water etc should be good. As long as the live rock is large enough to handle the biowaste from the fish I would think you are good. The only question would be if your current tank has nitrates and phosphates that the new one wouldn’t have or a major change in alkalinity. If your parameters are close to fresh saltwater mix you should be fine. Otherwise I would expect the corals to retract and hide for a couple days.


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[Chlorinated]

Yes,the plan would be to have water as close as possible to what it is now, have rock alive in circulating water. My buggest fear was the rock not being abke to sustain the bioload from the fish. Since the tank will be mostly dry for a couple hrs, i will probably loose most if not all of my beneficial bacteria on the gass, plus everything in the sand. I think i am going to go for it though. Wish me luck!

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[Chris A.]

I wouldn’t worry too much about it as long as you have some bio filtration. Don’t feed your fish for a day before and after the transfer, that’ll help with less ammonia being created. I’m a huge fan of bio digest from prodibio. It’s a live bacteria that’ll boost your bacteria. ( I think I gotta start charging them for advertisement lol )