moving to a 120 gallon tank

alleyesonme

alleyesonme

Member
well, i seem to have gotten serious about upgrading from a 55 to a 120. the parents are a little less excited, but they arent paying for it so they dont have to worry. heres what i figure-if i take EVERYTHIGN from my 55, and give/sell the 55, i will already have ALOT of live sand and about 20 pounds of semi live rock, not to mention about 45 gallons of seasoned water...this should cut down on the cycle period big time, right? meanwhile, i can maybe give my fish to my lfs for keeping while it cycles, that shouldnt be to long because i already have most of the denitrifying bacteria i need. to speed it up even more, the lfs sells a little container of (somehow) live denitrifying bacteria...i could use some of this to speed up the cycle even more, so that my fish would be as stressed as little as possible...has anyone done something like this? does it work? any hints/warnings? will an undergravel filter still work for something as big as a 120? its only going to be a FOWLR, and heres what i have now:
1 Majestic Angelfish
2 Bengaii Cardinals
2 Yellowtail Damsels
1 Domino Damsel, both the domino and yellowtails are going to be removed during the move
1 maroon clownfish
1 pink stripe pseudochromis, which im probably going to trade for a royal gramma during the move as well
1 coral banded shrimp
2 cleaner shrims
1 bubble tip anemone
2 feather dusters
1 brittle star
2 hermit crabs
id like to add a squarespot anthias, ALOT more cleanup crew, maybe a lunare wrasse? i dont know if 120 is enough space for that, 2 more cardinals, maybe 7 green chromis...is this way too much? i want to get the 48-24-24 tank, and so my lighting from my 55 should fit on the 120. id need a new stand, though. i know im missing alot, can you fill me in? thanks alot!
 
mr . salty

mr . salty

Active Member
You really should look into some other filter.The ugf will not be very effective in a 120. As you probably know,they are a high nitrate factory.And with as many fish as you are planning on keeping,YOU WILL HAVE PROBLEMS WITH NITRATES.You say you have alot of live sand,but you will need about 3-4" to be effective. Plus going from a 55 to a 120,you most likly WILL RECYCLE. I did the same(well almost)I went from a 40 to a 125,and it cycled for a month.Good luck,and look into a sump/wetdry filter setup...You will need the extra flow rate for that large tank that a ugf can not provide....
 
alleyesonme

alleyesonme

Member
ok, i didnt think about this. i dont have sand, i have crushed coral...and would like to switch over to sand. but, like i said, my CC has all its denitrifying bacteria established. also, i dont want my fish to be stuck in a tank at the lfs for a month, and i doubt he does either. what should i do? Mr. Salty, i have no idea how much i could put in a 120, that was just a guess. any help at this point would be appreciated? :confused:
 
mr . salty

mr . salty

Active Member
I would think you would need at least 60-80 lbs of sand. If you use NATURES OCEAN live sand(sold on this site)there will be no cycle.It also has all the needed bacteria. I used it when I switched to sand,and had no problems.
 
marine qa

marine qa

Member
I have nearly 100lbs of sand in my 46g. That reaches 4inc total. Half was Natures Ocean LS, half Southdown Playsand. I had almost no re-cycling, but I also had 30-40 lbs LR. The Southdown sand is only $4 for 50lbs, but the LS is $40 for 20lbs.
I would take Mr. Salty's advice on the UGF. I can't speak from experience but iv'e never heard anything good about them. You are going to need some serious filtration on a 120. Especially with that much life in the tank.
If your interested in projects, you could build your own sump in the 55.
 
broomer5

broomer5

Active Member
As usual ... good advice from Mr. Salty.
A 55 gallon sump with or without the wet dry is a wonderful idea too Marine QA.
Personally I like wet/dry filters.
You can adjust the amount of bio media as the tank matures, and if using LR/LS eventually remove the bio balls completely and makes for a great place to add carbon, trace elements, water changes and such.
Sumps are great !
my opinion
Good luck Alleyes, sounds fun.
Brian
 
perps

perps

Member
Just a tip: Lastt week i posted pictures of my fish tank (http://www.perplexer.com/salty/) two days later i ripped it apart and cleaned it out.. I removed the UGF.. Removed the CC and added LS.. I removed 40 gallons of water and placed them in 2 tenwty gallon tanks.. All the fish in 1 2o and the LR/Feather dusters in another.. I had it ripped down for TWO FULL DAYS! i hade the corals in a bucket with the light on! I emptied the tanks back into the 55 and added 10 gallons of of frsh water.. I had cycling for two days.. The nitrite and Amonia spiked and now there back to normal I will Post the pics .. This was very hard work to do but i think it's worth it!!
[ June 09, 2001: Message edited by: Perps ]
 
alleyesonme

alleyesonme

Member
thanks you guys, the part im most worried about is switching from crushed coral to dsb...i dont want to screw everythign up! :eek: :)
 
tanker newbie

tanker newbie

Member
i know it sounds like a big thing, but honestly i think itll be worth it, i look at my tank and am very happy with the substrate, live sand feels food, and besdies that just looks great to, my(extremly calm) blue devil damsel likes to take his tail and kick up the sand around his few areas of the tank
 
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