Combining two tanks in to one.

Zeuserdoo · May 22, 2022

I am in the process of moving two smaller tanks in to one larger one. This new tank will not have any fish right away. All of the live rock is well over a year old or more and the old tanks are stable. All of the equipment is brand new, the sand is new, and I am using 100% new saltwater. Is there anything I need to be on the lookout for? Anyone had this type of move go ok?

blaxsun · May 22, 2022

I did the same - a pair of 25-gallon tanks to a 200-gallon system. I added new sand, pre-cycled the new rock a month prior, new saltwater and added Bio-Spira at the time of the upgrade (as I was transferring fish, corals and inverts across).

Zeuserdoo · May 23, 2022

blaxsun said:
I did the same - a pair of 25-gallon tanks to a 200-gallon system. I added new sand, pre-cycled the new rock a month prior, new saltwater and added Bio-Spira at the time of the upgrade (as I was transferring fish, corals and inverts across).

How did everything turn out?

blaxsun · May 23, 2022

Zeuserdoo said:
How did everything turn out?

Didn't lose anything in the transfer/upgrade. Fish are now fatter, healthier and happier (with 42 fishy friends!) Corals are all doing really well - even SPS which I've started to dabble with.

Mperry622 · May 25, 2022

I have a 65 and a 55 set up right next to each other in about 2 hours I'm going to buy a 220 and hope to combine the two.... I stir my sand weekly I wonder if I can get away with reusing it.

Lost in the Sauce · May 25, 2022

Mperry622 said:
I have a 65 and a 55 set up right next to each other in about 2 hours I'm going to buy a 220 and hope to combine the two.... I stir my sand weekly I wonder if I can get away with reusing it.

You can, but it really should be washed thoroughly, it does take time, and is a bit of a pain, but it's completely worth it.

My last transfer, I washed about 80 pounds of sand. Being as transfers are so stressful and time consuming, I went the route of using new sand under the rock scape, and left the rinsing of sand and adding back to the tank for the next day. 80 lbs of sand, half a bucket at a time takes hours to wash correctly. I would do the exactly same thing when I do it again.