Upgrade to a 150

[kvnkne]

Hi all,

I have an 80 gallon fowlr tank established 8 months ago with 75 lbs cultured reel reef rock, a 2 inch live sand bed, and being filtered with a Marineland canister filter rated for 100 gallons. Livestock includes:

2 Grade B Snowflake clowns, presumably mated, about 3 inches
1 Niger Triger, about 4 inches
1 Green Chromis
1 6 Line Wrasse, 2 inches
1 Black Damsel
1 Skunk Cleaner Shrimp
1 Turbo Snail
Lots of arthropods

A 45 Gallon with a Flame angel 2 inches that has been in quarantine for about 8 weeks ready to be set free. Running a Marineland 350 canister with about 25 lbs reel reef rock, bare bottom.

And a 29 gallon with an HOB rated for 60 gallons with 10 lbs reel reef rock bare bottom, stocked with a grade a snowflake, 2 inches (I know issues but 150 gallons???) And a tiny naked ocellaris about 3/4 inch .

I stumbled across a 150 gallon made in 2010 for dirt cheap and brought it home. I was wondering if anyone would think it wise to disturb all the tanks taking both canister filters, all the live rock, seed with some of the live sand and get another 100 or so lbs of either dead or live sand.

Its just such a big tank and I was hoping for any and all feedback on advice.

Also water parameters are excellent.

I know I need to upgrade to a sump and refugium but $$$$$

I use an 5 stage RODI unit rated for 100GPD

PH-8.2
Ammo-0
Nitrite-0
Nitrate-0-5.0
Salinity-1.024
Temp-80F

Pretty much across the board for all tanks

Thanks

Kevin

 

[geridoc]

Normally I would be concerned about all of those clownfish, but you have a great opportunity here. By moving everyone into a new tank with new aquascaping nobody has a territory, so there will be less aggression (no guarantees, but fingers crossed). You will probably find that the 150 gallon tank is easier to maintain, since its size provides a buffer against sudden changes in parameters. Enjoy!

 

[kvnkne]

Thank you for your response. My main concern is tearing down the 80 gallon and disturbing its ecosystem. I have had a tank crash in the past and just want to make sure that the two canister filters are sufficient for the load and breaking up the tank wont cause issues and cycling.

 

[geridoc]

If you conserve your live rock and filter material you should have no problem. While the tank is larger, the bioload isn't expanding very much for the time being, so whatever was sufficient for the 80 will be ok for the 130. Still, given that the fates seem to hate salt water fishkeepers, I would keep a bottle of Amquel Plus handy just in case.