Reef Tank Up-Grade Help!

[openwaters]

Hi I currently have a 36 gallon bow front reef tank and want to upgrade to a 55 gallon tank, but I have a small problem I really dont know how to go about doing it with out causing a cycle. And if that was not enough I know I have the Ick in my tank now because out of the four fish I have the female clown very now and then will show signs if I play in the tank to much

. I dont want to bring this to the new tank so what do I do?

thanks for the help and advice.....
Also seeing how I am fairly new here and have never posted pics of the tank, here are some pics the 1st 4 are at about 2 month, pic number 5 is of bob and I will post current tank shots in a few.

 

[acrylic51]

I would transfer over as much of the water and such as you can, and before adding the fish to the new tank, why not quarantine them......

 

[xcali1985]

+1 Remove all the sand and leave a piece of LR. In the tank thats it. Then leave the new tank without fish for about 4-6 weeks. While the fish are still in the other tank, type hyposalinity. or even a copper treatment. 36 Gallon is a decent sized tank. I personally would go get a cheap 10 gallon and do it in there.

 

[openwaters]

thats a good idea but wont disturbing every thing every thing in the 36 throw it into a cycle any way and wont the bio load change dramaticly after leaving one pice of rock in the tank with four fish? also if done this way what about the corals?
thanks for baring with me I am the type that likes step by step instrucktions

 

[meowzer]

Yes and no....I would get new sand, and use a cup of your established sand.....then as stated above.....leave the fish only in hte other tank and do hypo......this way your new tank with new sand and your "old" live rock will also be w/o the fish...the ich can not live w.o a fish host.....do this for 6 weeks.....and you should be good to go

 

[fitbmxdude989]

hey idk if my thread is still out there or not but i did a thread on changing for a 10 gal to a 55 gal, that might help you some

 

[openwaters]

Meowzer what do i do with the old sand then sound like a wast if not using it again? bmx dude I will look for your old post... when you did yours what did yours how did you go about doing it? meowzer didnt you recently upgrade as well....got an do's and dont's

 

[meowzer]

NOOOOO...I have not upgraded, a lot of upgrade threads suggest using new sand though...

 

[spanko]

You will need to treat for and eradicate the Ich problem before moving anything, including water, to the new tank IMO.

 

[fitbmxdude989]

when i went about changing my tank over i didnt have an ich problem, but what i did was i bought new sand and added about two scoops of sand from my old tank to it, then i added some of my water to the new tank water, then over a couple days i moved what rock i had in the 10 into the 55 (now my planning was off due to a holiday so i had to wait for about three days for the rock on my 55 gal) but when the rock got there i added that, from there i watched my levels and when everything was ok i reacclimated the fish to the 55( just to be sure) then i took the sand from the 10 and rewashed it, and now that tank is a starfish tank

 

[flower]

Just chiming in, until you are rid of ich, don't use water, rock sand or anything else from the infected tank. Quarantine the fish and treat them for ich...either hypo or copper whatever method you choose...the original tank let sit without any fish in it for 8 weeks...THEN do your upgrade. If you buy new rock, put it in a tub with a power head and let it cure while you wait to setup the 55g.
This way you can start fresh without a killer parasite just waiting to kill your fish…then any new fish in the future..Quarantine . It’s a bit more hassle but well worth it in the end. Oh and congratulations on the 55g upgrade!

 

[fitbmxdude989]

also if your running carbon you can run metronidazole, it wont kill inverts, and does a really good job at ridding ich, mix that with food high in garlic and they should be ok, or at least it worked wonders on me before i got multipul tanks set up

 

[jstdv8]

if you are planning on treating the fish for ich I wouldnt suggest using copper if you are using the 36 bowfront for the Qt tank as the copper might leach into the silicone and then the tank would be worthless for future reef usage.
Personally I would transfer everything out of the 36 into the 55 including all of your sand, water, rock ect. When doing the transfer put the current sand into a 5 gallon pail with water over the top. when you take it out use anything that allows you to take out sand but leave the water. I've done this 4 times now after a disaster of leaving the snad and water in a tank to get sloshed around during move. No issues at all with this method.
As far as the ich, you could treat the fish with hyposalinty in a seprate tank (your 36g or other) and leave the 55g fishless for 6 weeks while you treat the fish for the same period of time. The cycle should be broken after 6 weeks for any ich introduced into the 55g and your fish should be ich free from treatment and ready to be added to the 55 with no future ich.
QT everything you get after you get it all squared away to prevent any future issues.

 

[openwaters]

agreed with the QT every from now on. what about corals being QT? because of there light requirments? Also how can I keep a QT tank cycle because I seem to be buying things all the time? So here is the plan for the up grade
1. Remove all rock sand and water from the 36gal. and put into the 55gal with new added sand, cured live rock, and water
2. While doing number 1 move the all fish, corals, and inverts into into buckets with old 36gal tank water
3. move all heaters, power heads, current skimmer, and hook up carbon and gfo reactor temporary till sump is up and runing at a later date
4. once the 55gal tank is how I like it add corals and inverts into the 55gal
5. Now on the 36gal. fill with new water and leave current HOB filter on it put spare heater in and get tank to temp
6. Add fish back to the 36gal. and begin hypo treatment
7. leave 55 gal. fish less for 6 week and pray for no cycle
8. observe fish in QT and do water changes daily till 6 weeks is done then add fish to 55gal tank
hows that look for a plan? Also would I be better off to put four fish in a 10 gallon and doing hypo there cheaper W/C's?

 

[flower]

Originally Posted by openwaters
http:///forum/post/3285622
agreed with the QT every from now on. what about corals being QT? because of there light requirments? Also how can I keep a QT tank cycle because I seem to be buying things all the time? So here is the plan for the up grade
1. Remove all rock sand and water from the 36gal. and put into the 55gal with new added sand, cured live rock, and water
2. While doing number 1 move the all fish, corals, and inverts into into buckets with old 36gal tank water
3. move all heaters, power heads, current skimmer, and hook up carbon and gfo reactor temporary till sump is up and runing at a later date
4. once the 55gal tank is how I like it add corals and inverts into the 55gal
5. Now on the 36gal. fill with new water and leave current HOB filter on it put spare heater in and get tank to temp
6. Add fish back to the 36gal. and begin hypo treatment
7. leave 55 gal. fish less for 6 week and pray for no cycle
8. observe fish in QT and do water changes daily till 6 weeks is done then add fish to 55gal tank
hows that look for a plan? Also would I be better off to put four fish in a 10 gallon and doing hypo there cheaper W/C's?

In the new 55g, you can add the inverts and coral...by being fishless for 6 to 8 weeks you will be good to go with no more ich in the system. Neither inverts nor coral can get ich. The QT everything statements were meant for NEW additions later. By adding the established live rock and sand right into the 55g along with water from the original tank, plus your inverts and coral...you should not have a cycle, all you did was create a big water change.
The only thing you have to concern yourself with to get rid of ich, are the fish. Once they are healthy and the tank is fishless for the 6 to 8 weeks you will be ich free. ANYTHING you add after that should be placed in the QT. This also forces you to only add any new critters very slow since the QT is a small tank.
If you ever use copper to medicate any sick fish you quarantine…you may need a separate tank for inverts or coral if you want to quarantine them. The only reason to quarantine an invert or coral is make sure the water from the other tank has no ich to transfer to yours. I personally don’t quarantine inverts or corals.

I order from SWF and I think they have all coral and inverts seperate from fish...each type of critter has their own place all to themselves.

 

[jstdv8]

It's not so much the water you're concerned with since the free swimming ich only last about 2-3 days, its more about the ich cycsts that drop from the fish. They are sticky and invisible and they last for 28 days or so before exploding and releasing all the free swimming ich. with corals and inverts you don't know if they might have little ich cysts stuck to them when you add them to your DT which is why its good to QT everything.
If your inverts and corals came from a place that has a seperate fishless system for these things then you would be safe. But most LFS's have a system that all dumps into one huge sump and recycles abck intot he seperate tanks. It may look like the corals are seperated from the fish from the front, but most times they are all conected to the same water.
If you knew for a fact they were seperate and you only bought from one place you should be good to go.

 

[openwaters]

so I think I am going to chang my plans and get a 75gal and use the 55 as a sump/refug. Now I know I and going to have to build my own stand for this to work. The 75 wont be drilled because I have a HOB over flow and I like more room in the tank. so got any tips on the stand?

 

[openwaters]

would it be ok to QT 4 fish in a 10gal. tank or is that to much fish for a 10 gal.?