Can i upgrade without killing anything?

[Gobi-Wan]

Hello. I am planning an upgrade from a 75 to a 125. The new aquarium will be in a different location so I have that going for me as far as convenience. I am building a new sump, however i do plan on using some of the equipment from my 75 setup. So I cant run them both at once. I have worked my way up to keeping some birds nest, montis of several types and an acropora which is on a large rock I would like to keep. I also have 3 bubbletip anemones. I will have to add quite a bit of sand as I would like to have a deeper bed than I have now. Can I expect to move my corals into the new setup, or will I need to let it "mature" for a while. I ask this because I still dont really understand what people mean by that... I was only able to keep sps after building an algae scrubber about a year into the hobby. It is my understanding that hair algae on an ATS can process raw ammonia and possibly help buffer any mild cycling that could occur? Another option is, I could keep the few fish I plan on keeping in a 28g nano cube I have, but it doesnt have any filtration options suitable for maintaining SPS. What is the best way to go about this?

 

[Gobi-Wan]

Also what kind of sand should I add? My main concerns are that I absolutely love having a diamond goby and would like something that doesn't make a huge mess. And also I feel my aragonite is a little more coarse than I would really like. I prefer white.

 

[Hersheyb]

Moving isn't that bad, just have to have a game plan. First of all, it's a bigger tank, so I'm assuming you will be adding new rocks? or will you just be using the lr from your current setup? Do you have sand? I highly suggest you don't use the sand from your old setup, it's prob filled with detritus, so if your going with sand use new sand. If you are adding more rocks and you have the time, cycle the rocks, best option here but not necessary just as long as the new rocks are clean dry rocks. Next make sure the water parameters matches your current setup. Lastly during the transport process keep everything safe and steady. If the drive is long get some battery bubblers.

 

[brandon429]

120 gallon rip clean

I found a rod that fits in between and pushed out some junk.

www.reef2reef.com

so happy he completed that today. its a literal step by step template for what you want

*he goes extra mile=his setup is transferred from 120 to 55, then back to 120 its a double move done successfully, yours is 50% easier. do every step.

 

[Gobi-Wan]

Moving isn't that bad, just have to have a game plan. First of all, it's a bigger tank, so I'm assuming you will be adding new rocks? or will you just be using the lr from your current setup? Do you have sand? I highly suggest you don't use the sand from your old setup, it's prob filled with detritus, so if your going with sand use new sand. If you are adding more rocks and you have the time, cycle the rocks, best option here but not necessary just as long as the new rocks are clean dry rocks. Next make sure the water parameters matches your current setup. Lastly during the transport process keep everything safe and steady. If the drive is long get some battery bubblers.

I am using my current rocks, of which I have probably 80 or 90 pounds. I will be fine with that for now, and add more later. Im actually not moving just upgrading. The new tank is in the same room as the old, just on a different wall.

 

[Hersheyb]

Also what kind of sand should I add? My main concerns are that I absolutely love having a diamond goby and would like something that doesn't make a huge mess. And also I feel my aragonite is a little more coarse than I would really like. I prefer white.

Sand choice will depend on you, I have an sps dominated tank so I have a lot of flow in my tank but I like to keep wrasses so I'm stuck with sand... I found that caribsea argonite special grade is the perfect size, it's small enough that my critters can do what they do and no sand storm from pumps.

 

[Hersheyb]

I am using my current rocks, of which I have probably 80 or 90 pounds. I will be fine with that for now, and add more later. Im actually not moving just upgrading. The new tank is in the same room as the old, just on a different wall.

OHHHhh that shoudl be easy! just make sure water parameters are the same n your good to go!!

 

[Gobi-Wan]

Sand choice will depend on you, I have an sps dominated tank so I have a lot of flow in my tank but I like to keep wrasses so I'm stuck with sand... I found that caribsea argonite special grade is the perfect size, it's small enough that my critters can do what they do and no sand storm from pumps.

How deep do you run your sand bed for sand sleeping wrasses and what types do you have?

 

[Hersheyb]

i run around 1-1.5" on most part of the tank, the surrounding area around the rock work is closer to 2" since that's where most of the wrasses sleep by.