+1 demanatee
I have upgraded two tanks over the years with the help of my local reef friends and I agree with demanatee with some additions.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
dmanatee http:///forum/thread/381762/help-me-upgrade-my-tank#post_3327321
I am no expert but I did the following for a move to a new aquarium
1.Get yourself some good buckets/ large plastic tubs. +1
2. Drain the water into about two tubs of water, pulling the rocks out when you can and place them in the tubs along with the fish.+1, I'd take the fish out after all the rock is removed and put it in a container of its own.
3. Once your down to just the sand scoop it out and put it into a bucket making sure its wet. (I waited on this step till I found all my little snails hiding in the sand) This is the best time to be searching for your goby. i would leave in about 3 inches of water till you find him +1
4. Have some new sand already in the bottom of your new aquarium and new saltwater waiting in a container. +1, I also saved water from water changes on my other tanks to fill my larger new tank. I stored it in a large garbage can with a power head and when I was ready to use it, I added a heater to make my saved water the same as the DT temp.
5. Add the original sand in with the new sand.
6. Start adding 1/2 the original water (tub or bucket 2 and some of your new water) I like using the plate method to prevent the dust cloud. +1, I like to use a small bucket, submerged, helps to disperse water, more so than the plate.
7. At this point you should have about half of the original water in the aquarium. Now depending on how the tank is settling add all your filters and what not and get them going. if the tank is clear then you can probably start adding the live rock. (I am slightly paranoid about things so I do a water test before I proceed). When I did my upgrades I didn't have many fish, so I moved them to my QT, until my tank cleared and all readings were fine. I added rock right away, any dust that landed on it, I just blew off with a turkey baister.
8. Once everything is good and stable (either drip acclimate the fish to their new environment (preferred) or add the fish and their water to the tank. Then top off with new water.
This method is slightly varied and you might want to wait for some experts, but this method worked for me.
best of luck.
+1, Quote: allenk
The key is to be able to get everything back into the tank as soon as possible and to have the environment between the two tanks not be much of a shock for the occupants. With my move, that was especially important because obviously I needed a lot more water in addition to the 50 gallons or so I could salvage from the 55. What I did was saved water from my water changes. I put that "dirty" water into a new, clean rubber trashcan. I added some freshly mixed RO/DI saltwater into the trash can as well. I collected about 40-50 gallons of water this way. The theory was to create a batch of water that was as close to the parameters of what was already in the tank so that when I put everything into the new tank, there would not be much of a shock.
I did not wash my sand. If you do wish to wash it, I think you would need to wash it with saltwater. However, if you do, you may be washing away a good deal of the good bacteria that is in the sand that will be needed to avoid a spike in ammonia and nitrites. +1, I did not wash the sand on either of my tank upgrades, I also think that you would wash away alot of the beneficial bacteria. After the particulats settle you can always vacuum them off the top of the sand bed, which is what I did.
You are only going to get a spike of ammonia or nitrites if you dramatically reduce the bacteria that was in the tank before, or if you leave your rock and/or sand out and you get die off. I should note that my sand bed was not that deep. Perhaps there may be a difference if you have a much deeper sandbed that you are moving. Mine, at the deepest area was maybe 2-3 inches. Most of the 55 had perhaps an inch. +1
By the way, after I filled my tank, the water was cloudy. So, used an external filter with polyester matting as a filter media to polish the water. It was crystal clear in a matter of hours. My inhabitants show no signs of stress whatsoever from the move. +1, I used a Marineland Magnum 350 with the polishing filter and it worked great.
If you keep your rocks and sand wet, they bacteria will continue to do its job to eat up the ammonia and nitrates and convert them into nitrates.
After both of my tank upgrades, I only noticed a slight raise in ammonia barely noticable, but thought I'd mention it. Within about a week all perameters were perfect. And fish were added a couple weeks later after everything stablized and was recorded by testing. I believe, that because everything was ready to be moved quickly and all was done within a few hours, there was little to no die off and the only disturbance was the sand bed. I wish you the best of luck.
