Aquarium transfer

saltygirl2422

New Member
Hi all, I'm new to this site, I need some expert advice. I have a 75 gallon fowlr that has been up and running for a month and a half. I'm buying a 125 gallon RR tank (little xmas present to self). My question is do I transfer all the live sand from my old tank to the new one? or is that going to throw up ammonia etc? I have read that some people use about half the water from the old tank and all the live sand. Also, how long do I have to let the new tank cycle if I use my sand and liverock? Thanks!
 

unleashed

Active Member
well your going to a larger system so you should use all of the water possible from your existing tank along with all the substrate this will lesson your new tank from doing a major cycle that extra 50 gal of water should dilute any ammonia's or nitrates you may have in the current tank.. but by moving it all you will be keeping a large volume of beneficial bacteria ..I highly suggest running a carbon filter until the water runs clear before adding the fish to the new system.. it took me one day to transfer the stock from a 120 and a 100 and a 90 gal to my 300... due to volume of water being moved I added about 60 gal of fresh sw. I placed fish in buckets(coolers work too) corals in coolers and buckets all had power heads running to keep air circulation going until i was ready to add the fish..I also dosed with melafix to reduce stress(the carbons will remove this later)place your LR corals etc how you want them let it run for a couple hrs with carbons then add fish... to reduce clouding or sand storms I use a bowl at the bottom of the tank on the sand and add water into the bowl..easiest way to transfer the water I have found is to use a powerhead with a hose attached to it from one tank to another(long siphon hose is ideal for this ) hope this helps...
btw acclimation for the fish wasnt needed due to the fact it was the original water being used
 

saltygirl2422

New Member
Thanks for all the info! Maybe it won't be as stressful as I thought. Getting that bad boy through the door is the first problem. It is a custom made 125 with 3/4 inch glass, the tank alone weighs 450 pounds. My hubby is going to be cussing me for a long time!
 

rotarymagic

Active Member
Definitely put the rock into a rubbermaid tub with powerheads and livestock into tubs or buckets with powerheads... these tubs/buckets should be filled with water from the tank..
then scoop all the sand out while keeping it underwater over to the 125 and put it in the tank and add the rest of your new sand to it while mixing it in, it is important to note that you should only keep about 1-2inches of water above the sand in the new tank so that it settles quickly.. after it has settled, put a dinner plate on top of the sand so that you can start filling it with some new tank water very slowly just to bring up the water column height to about 7 inches. Then transport all live rock over and add the water that was in the liverock tub.. be very careful as to not stir the sand up too much. After this has been done and the additional new established liverock has been added (Do not buy uncured or newly cured rock as you may start another cycle in the tank) and the tank has run with powerheads for at least 24hours, you can add the fish (provided the tank isn't showing ammonia or nitrites) and the rest of the water... if you need to fill the tank with anymore new tank water, do so at this time...
I hope this helps.. most deaths occur if livestock is added immediately to a tank with a stirred up established sandbed so letting the sand settle back down is VERY important as well as keeping the liverock and sand under water at all times.
 

unleashed

Active Member
Originally Posted by saltygirl2422
http:///forum/post/2862079
Thanks for all the info! Maybe it won't be as stressful as I thought. Getting that bad boy through the door is the first problem. It is a custom made 125 with 3/4 inch glass, the tank alone weighs 450 pounds. My hubby is going to be cussing me for a long time!
lol dont worry 125 isnt as bad to haul as you think mine hs traveled with me for the past 8 yrs (4 moves) plus i used to rearrange my tanks continuously like they were reg furniture lol(that drove hubby mad lol
... out of 8 tanks i had set up the only one that never got moved was my 300.. what a beast that was getting in and out of my house
 
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