new 125 gal

[lmforbis]

I took the plunge and ordered a 125 gallon reef ready aquarium yesterday. I have the structure of the stand built but won't finish it off until I take delivery on the tank next weekend just in case I have to make some modifications. I plan to move my existing tank into another room next week along with all its contents. The new tank will go into the same location as the old one so the old one has to be moved ahead of time. My hope is, this will give me time to get the new tank plumbed and going while stressing the fish the least amount. I want to use the sand from the old tank along with an equal amount of new sand. Should I wash the old sand prior to putting it in the new tank or just put it in? I want to get the tank plumbed, the stand skinned and get everything moved into the new tank within a week or two. I only have 4 small fish, a few LPS, a lot of snails, hermits and shrimps, and about 60 pounds of live rock. I will be using the same refugium (maybe not long term but in the beginning) and power heads (plus a couple more) in the new system. What can I expect to happen as far as the water quality goes in the new tank when I move all the existing components into it?

 

[Bryce E]

How big is your old tank? As far as "rinsing" your old sand. I wouldn't bother with it unless it is a very old and very deep and dirty bed. Even then I'd attention to clean it in the old tank by stirring it up to remove detritus. But if it seems fairly clean then I wouldn't bother with it. It will house so much beneficial bacteria and other life to kick start your new system and seed your new sand with. Everyone is different but if it were me I'd even use the old water as well as mixing the new additional water and move everything over in one shot. I think this would reduce the chance of a mini cycle in your new tank and basically make you good to go right away. Use as much from the old system as you can it will make for a better transition.

 

[lmforbis]

Thanks. My old tank is 55 gal. The sand bed is not deep and only about 6 months old.

 

[Bryce E]

Yeah then I wouldn't worry about it or do anything... use it all. And add more sand for the new tank. Congrats on the upgrade!

 

[pegasus]

Congrats on the new 125! You're gonna love it!!! As Bryce said, use everything out of the old tank. While it's not necessary to use the old water, it'll help keep your parameters closer to what the fish are accustomed to, and will make acclimating them much easier. Just save enough to keep the fish and corals in while you transfer everything over. If you're adding live sand in the new tank, the biosystem will basically be in place as soon as you put it and your old sand in. Try to add the old sand in small patches around the tank, and this will help spread the goodies in your sand into the new sand faster and more evenly. Since we all know that this tank will have a lot more fish and corals in the future, you should also think about doubling the amount of rock. You can use dry rock for this purpose and save a few dollars. It's as simple as stacking it on top of your live rocks, sit back, and wait for the magic to happen. For decent, natural filtration, 1 lb of rock and 1 lb of sand per gallon is the minimum recommendation. I prefer to have a little more than the minimum, but that's just me...

 

[mandy111]

hi, congrats on the new upgrade. I differ slightly to other opinions with regards to the move. I have moved a 240 gallon and a 400 gallon.

1. if your going to use old sand, wash rinse and wash again. The amount of trapped phosphates and nitrates will blow your mind(even at 6 months of age) . I have upgraded twice now, once with old sand rinsed quickly to save time,,, nothing but leaching nutrients for month and months. Second upgrade, brand new sand bed, slight diatom outbreak (only to be expected) on sand only and 5 days later gone. No nutrient leaching at all, once silicate was gone so was problems.

2. If you have the luxury of having both tanks up at same time, fill the new one, over a the next week or so, swap water between the two. so 30gallons out old into new and out new back into old, by the end of the 7 days you will have exactly the same parameters in each, and fish/corals have had the week to adjust to everything. Works a treat, If this is not possible, just remember that water only carries about 10% of the bacteria. so new water is fine. Once you moved rocks and stirred sand bed the old water will be worse than any new water. Just match saliinity, temp and alk. as close as you can. And just like when buying a fish acclimatize it to new conditions.

3. I would as already suggested add some more rock, base or live, i would get it asap and put in into the current sump to get it seeding now, even a week can make a difference. If you are patient and wait a little longer then even better. I would also grab a kilo of Seachem matrix (for sump ) and seachem stability and use this on the new tank once you've moved everything over. If you don't want to add more rock and just have the extra swim room then the Matrix will work a treat.

4. make sure you keep a very close eye on ammonia, nitrite and nitrate, for about 14-21 days, you will mostly likely have a short mini cycle no matter how quickly and carefully you do things. have a bottle of Seachem prime on hand just in case.

Good luck with the move, it is quite stressful.......if I can be of any help please don't hesitate to ask.

Thanks

 

[1guydude]

I have to agree with Mandy on the sand.
Rinse in a bucket with the hose. All the detritus will rise as u poke around the sand with the hose...

Imo as long as u don't add too much new rock or live rock and the seed sand like a cpl cups... U shouldnt see much of a cycle or diatoms. Edit. Lol ull prob get diatoms from the silicates cleaning the sand with hose. Doih
Hths
D

 

[lmforbis]

I have the new tank in place and plumbed but the sump won't be set up until I move the fish. Today it is full of tap water to check for leaks. Everything is dry. I'll drain it tomorrow before I start adding the salt water. Is there any reason I can't fill it and move some of the rocks from the old tank and let it go with no filtration for a week or so, just power heads to move the water around? I don't want to move the sump until I get the rock in place the way I want it and am ready to move the fish.

 

[pegasus]

I have the new tank in place and plumbed but the sump won't be set up until I move the fish. Today it is full of tap water to check for leaks. Everything is dry. I'll drain it tomorrow before I start adding the salt water. Is there any reason I can't fill it and move some of the rocks from the old tank and let it go with no filtration for a week or so, just power heads to move the water around? I don't want to move the sump until I get the rock in place the way I want it and am ready to move the fish.

As long as you have flow, it should be fine with rocks and sand only. Just be sure to check for ammonia for the first few days, if any is detected, wait for it to fall, then check for nitrite. Once it falls, check for nitrate. If nitrate is elevated, do about 50% water change, and your fish should be ready to be transferred over. It's a good idea to acclimate them as if they were new fish, since there will probably be some differences in water parameters.

If no ammonia is ever detected, then there won't be any nitrite or nitrate. Can't have one without the other... lol! If ammonia isn't detected, give it a week or two and test for it anyway... just to be safe.

 

[lmforbis]

Tank is fully set up and everything has been moved into it. I have some rock ordered from Bulk Reef Supply I just have to drive over to their warehouse tomorrow and pick it up. Now I'm starting to think about fish.
I want to get a tang, two if possible, just not sure what type would be realistic in a 125 gal. I don't want a yellow. Do I have enough space for a powder brown or powder blue to live happily? I'd really like a naso but I suspect they get too big. The others possibility would be a kole or tomini.
Currently I have a pajama cardnal, a watchman gobi, and a flasher wrasse. I am going to get a maroon clown and maybe a royal gramma as well. Since they all have to be quarantined for a few weeks and I have two cycled empty tanks it seems like a reasonable time to get more fish.

 

[jay0705]

Snake just got a few nice tangs. I liked his Caribbean. For you tho blue, brown, kole, scopas,ect you can almost go w any but the biggest. I like the clown but again they get big. Just watch body shape, if possible go w diff body shapes

 

[lmforbis]

I hear the clown tangs can get really aggressive when the get older. They are pretty though. We have one really good LFS about 40 miles from my house. I'm going to take a look at what they have on Saturday.

 

[bang guy]

If it was my tank I'd only take the top 1/2" of the old sand bed. This is assuming it's a healthy live sand bed with the appropriate critters keeping it alive.

 

[lmforbis]

Almost there. I still need to put the doors and trim on the stand, the crown molding on the hood and finish the return plumbing. Right now it is just a temp return until my new pump comes tomorrow.
This is how it started.

Here it is 90% finished. Just need fish and rocks. The fish I ordered arrived DOA so I need to start over with that.

 

[lmforbis]

Tank and stand are finally done. I just need more fish. I bought a Tomini tang and fire fish. The tang is finally starting to swim around but still a bit shy. The Firefish hangs in the middle of the tank in the middle of the water column. He's really the only fish I consistently see.

 

[jay0705]

It can take tangs a bit to adjust

 

[lmforbis]

He's getting much bolder and eating well. The first couple days I hardly saw him. It's been a week since I transferred him to the display and so far so good.

 

[jay0705]

Very good. Just him and the fire so far?

 

[lmforbis]

No I have a small McCloskers flasher wrasse, a watchman gobi and a pajama cardinal that were in the old tank. They just don't move around a lot. The wrasse swims around but usually around and through the rocks not in the open.

 

[lmforbis]

I also have small maroon a clown in QT for another month.