Upgrade/moving help

jacobsdad09

jacobsdad09

Member
Ok so I am in the process of buying a house and plan on moving my 28 gallon reef tank to a 55 gallon once I move..... I need some help as to how to do this seamlessly and not have a crash.... My thoughts were to set up the 55 with new sand and about 35 gallons of new water. Let run for about 2 weeks while taking water change water from my current tank and adding it to the 55. After that move my live rock and cycled Marco rock into the tank. Catch my live stock and move what is left for critters to the 55. First question, should I take my skimmer off the 28 and put it on the 55 once I set up the 55 even though there is no live stock? Second am I going to have a spike of anything by putting all the live rock in that would kill my coral or livestock? 3rd question, is it ok to start w the 35 gallons of tap water since Im not sure if my ro unit will be up and in before I upgrade? I will be going to ro after and I am currently use tapwater now for about 8 months(I know taboo but didn't want to install it in my inlaws house)
Any help would be great!
 
mr. limpid

mr. limpid

Active Member
Your plan sound good until you talk about using tap water. Go buy RO from LFS or Walmart.
1st and 2nd question: you shouldn't unless you are moving the tank over about 1 hour away. I would set up the new tank let it settle then check prams B4 transferring fish and coral.
 
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saxman

Guest
Your plan is OK, generally speaking. However, there's no real necessity of using old water in your new setup. Your biofiltration doesn't come from your water, which actually contains very few bacteria, and virtually NO nitrifying bacteria which are found on the surfaces of your LR, substrate, and any filter media you're running.
Since you have a couple of weeks, set the tank up and get it going. Add whatever supplemental CURED LR you may require, pour in a bottle of Super-Bac or Dr. Tim's O&O and ghost feed the tank until you're ready for the move.
Then, take all your LR from your 28 gal, and add it to the 55 gal. If you can, let it settle/circulate a bit, then add your critters. If you like, you can set up your 28 as a holding tank for a couple of days while the new tank settles in.
We moved a dozen tanks of venomous fish our last move (ranging from 10 to 100 gals), and about 8 tanks the previous move...we lost nothing. The last move, we moved the 12 tanks in two weekends, and they went from broken down to re-set up the same day.
HTH
 
jacobsdad09

jacobsdad09

Member
I have no extra LR that is going in I currently have approx 40-45 lbs of LR in my 28 so I was just adding dry rock to help fill in the rock work more. Will adding them on the rock kill them?
 
mr. limpid

mr. limpid

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by JacobsDad09 http:///t/392851/upgrade-moving-help#post_3491407
I have no extra LR that is going in I currently have approx 40-45 lbs of LR in my 28 so I was just adding dry rock to help fill in the rock work more. Will adding them on the rock kill them?
Are you talking about your LR? Then the answer is no, it will take a lot more then transporting them to a new location to kill the bacteria on the rock.
 
sweatervest13

sweatervest13

Active Member
Why not take some of that base rock and put it in the current 28 and start the process of getting the good bacteria on there? That way it has some beneficial bacteria. You could even take out some of the LR from your current set up and put that in the 55 until you move. Just a thought.
I agree with Mr. Limpid. Do not use tap water.
 
jacobsdad09

jacobsdad09

Member
Ok so everyone is missing the part I'm asking.... When I move the LRThat has all my CORAL will they be affected my a spike..... I know what happens when u add live rock..... To a new tank w no LR I will cause a cycle and I don't want that to happen but all my LR has corals on them....
 
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saxman

Guest
No...if all of your LR is cycled, and the new base rock is clean (free of organics), all that will happen is that you will be a bit shy of bacteria. However, the bacteria on your established rock should be enuff to support your current stock.
That being said, as sweatervest mentioned, why not try and kick start the new rock before the move?
 
jacobsdad09

jacobsdad09

Member
To much to add to current tank would clutter it up really bad and I'm not restocking for one month of aquascaping....I'll attach a current pic later
 
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smallreef

Guest
Do you have a sump or is this a cube? If you have a sump put the new dry rock in there....
 
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