Help Moving To New Tank

[jw1977]

I'm starting to setup my new 90g tank. Right now i've got a few new pieces of live rock that have sat in teh tank for about 10 days. I've also put the sand in and am waiting for the sand to settle. I think the next step is to start moving some live rock from my previous tank. My problem is I have a huge hair algae problem in my old tank. What's the best process to clean my old rocks and put them in the new tank. I was thinking I probably need two buckets of salt water. Most of the pieces have zoas on them. One bucket i could use to the put the rock in and scrape all the hair algae off. Once clean I could then rinse it in the other bucket before finally putting the rock in the new tank. does this sound okay? Will putting all this rock in cause a new cycle? Am I going about this correctly? Comments please.

 

[lil.guppy]

Do you have any Turbo Snails? If not those should do the trick! Put your rock in a tank or huge container with some Turbos and they will go to town.
Swishing the rock in fresh saltwater will help remove loose debree to give your new tank a fresh start. Taking a toothbrush to help loosen it up is a good idea too

 

[tlsohio]

Well, if you have hair algea in your old tank and it's on your rock, even if you do scrub it, chances are it may come back in the new tank. I believe that you probably have an algea problem due to high nitrates or phosphates in your tank, it's always best to try to solve the problem and not put a band aid on it. But if you want to try to clean off the rock a bit before putting it in your new set up, I think your bucket idea might work. Just make sure to try to keep the rock submerged when you scrub and rinse with so you don't hurt what ever critters might be on/in the rock, especially the zoos.
You might notice a cycle from moving the rock, but you should be cycling anyway due to putting sand in the tank. Just keep testing the water and watch the amonia, I think you'll see a rise. Good Luck

 

[tim514]

I had hair algae all over my rocks before upgrading to a bigger tank. I took water from the old tank, into multiple buckets, and scrubbed the rocks until i could no longer see what I was doing. Dunked the rocks into a more water from the old tank to rinse them off. I then put them into my new tank and have not had a hair algae attack since.
To prevent the hair algae outbreak in the future, you should invest in a good skimmer, and phosphate reactor.

 

[mony97]

I agree with tlsohio if the hair algae is a big problem not just a minor thing I don't know that I would want to chance it by moving the LR into the new tank and having it come back there.. Also with the second tank being new the tank has not had a chance to build up any sort of denitrification process and may fuel algae growth to solve the problem instead of building up good bacteria etc.
Best thing to do IMO is to either seal the rock in a container so no light can get in and hopefully kill it off that way or re-cure the rock, either way whatever may be living on the rock will mostly die.. Also if the hair algae is bad enough IME no critter will help much.
Just my .02