Two weeks ago I set up my first reef tank ever (Aqueon 46gal bowfront). All I have in it so far is 47lbs of live rock, 60lbs of Nature's Ocean Live Sand, 20 turbo snails, one firefish goby, and four peppermint shrimp. (i'm using a Fluval 306 canister filter). I have no coral yet in my current tank, and no other fish other than the firefish goby. The tank has been through it's cycle, and everything has been going great, until I noticed that my center brace has failed at a critical point (the top center brace was repaired with epoxy originally and did not hold. I got this tank for only $50 and tried to make it work). I do not wish to re-repair it or make a new brace (using an aluminum bar brace to clamp the glass from bowing out any further currently, but its a pain in the butt for gaining access and i'm worried the tank is already compromised and one of these days it's going to start leaking, which would be disastrous since the tank is located on the second floor of my home), and I am considering buying a new tank altogether(same size tank). The tank has only been set up for a few weeks now, and I am wondering if I can just swap everything from the old tank into the new, including all of the old sand (which i'm hoping would be okay since the sand is only a few weeks old and still pretty darn clean). Hoping I could get some input from some experienced reefers on if it's okay to reuse everything from the old tank and just transfer it to the new (reusing the old water, sand, filter media, etc.). This would be my first ever tank swap, and the new tank would be going in the same location as the old tank, so I'm also wondering how I would go about making the swap (not sure what steps I should take and in what order, and I'm also not sure if i need to use an aerator to keep my firefish goby/shrimp alive in a separate container while making the swap - Id imagine the swap will take me roughly 5-6 hours to complete.) Any advice would be GREATLY appreciated!
Considering Tank Swap...
- Thread starter DeLegge90
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yes you can
but while that tank is taken apart, rinse your entire sandbed out with tap water for 30 mins- hour until it runs clean.
then rinse it lastly with distilled or ro, to evacuate the tap, then set back up
no it doesn't harm bac
see our sand rinse thread just below this one...all moves and upgrades.
you have a chance to make your new tank totally cloudless, without interrupting the cycle, you are at an intercept point that can be really helpful.
rinsing does not, not undo the cycle, we show for 23 pages.
if you didn't rinse, things would still transfer just fine. On page one of the thread, we list about 5 threads where they chose not to rinse as study.
but while that tank is taken apart, rinse your entire sandbed out with tap water for 30 mins- hour until it runs clean.
then rinse it lastly with distilled or ro, to evacuate the tap, then set back up
no it doesn't harm bac
see our sand rinse thread just below this one...all moves and upgrades.
you have a chance to make your new tank totally cloudless, without interrupting the cycle, you are at an intercept point that can be really helpful.
rinsing does not, not undo the cycle, we show for 23 pages.
if you didn't rinse, things would still transfer just fine. On page one of the thread, we list about 5 threads where they chose not to rinse as study.
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Mariette
Valuable Member
Totally reuse everything. I just relocated a 55g across the room. Here’s how I did it (ps - you’re gonna need some extra buckets, a small heater, air stone, and extra thermometer)
- fill 1 bucket w clean tank water. Add a few rocks, a heater, thermometer, and an air stone.
- Drain as much of the tank water into other buckets. Add rest of live rock. Be careful not to squish any inverts that may be clinging to the rocks.
- catch fish and inverts. Place them in the bucket w the heater and air stone.
- scoop out the substrate into a bucket. This is gonna get messy.
Tank 1 - done
If 2nd tank has a sump, check all plumbing and water levels. Once ready,
- put sand in 2nd tank
- add water, rocks, and other equipment.
- turn on heater
Once heat in new tank matches the heat in the bucket where your keeping the fish and inverts, chuck em in the new tank.
Done
Good luck
As a side note: tanks that can’t be trusted to hold water can always be used or sold as reptile enclosures
- fill 1 bucket w clean tank water. Add a few rocks, a heater, thermometer, and an air stone.
- Drain as much of the tank water into other buckets. Add rest of live rock. Be careful not to squish any inverts that may be clinging to the rocks.
- catch fish and inverts. Place them in the bucket w the heater and air stone.
- scoop out the substrate into a bucket. This is gonna get messy.
Tank 1 - done
If 2nd tank has a sump, check all plumbing and water levels. Once ready,
- put sand in 2nd tank
- add water, rocks, and other equipment.
- turn on heater
Once heat in new tank matches the heat in the bucket where your keeping the fish and inverts, chuck em in the new tank.
Done
Good luck
As a side note: tanks that can’t be trusted to hold water can always be used or sold as reptile enclosures
michael giordano
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Don’t mean to be rude, but don’t rinse your live sand with tap water, that’s a bad idea you will kill the bacteria and anything living it in. Just drain the tank into containers, put your live rock corals and fish in those container. Scoop the sand out into a bucket. Hook up the new tank, put the sand in it and then take a plastic garbage bag (this is crucial) on top of the sand bed. Then put water in half way, let the water hit the plastic bag not to disturb the sand bed. This will ensure the tank is not very cloudy and you are not going to disturb the sand much. you can then put the rock work, fish and coral in and then finish filling it back up all the way with salt water. If you like you can rinse the sand with a little salt water in the bucket before it goes in the new tank. I have done this a couple dozen times, it’s your best course of action.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/t...ead-aka-one-against-many.230281/#post-2681445
maybe a hundred or so rinses documented, multi forums, five yrs no recycle.
not one.
aware it sounds rogue, imagine trying to build page one of that lol now rinsing is as common as day and spreading all the way to bare bottom/removing sandbeds by the masses...
to not rinse leaves clouding, we open that thread w several examples of people who passionately didn't want to rinse. easy converts after the first mishap/tank cloud up
when he was told to rinse, that was planning ahead. the skip cycle was going to occur w or wout the rinse. He was recommended that so he can avoid the linked wreckages that quite can be common in unrinsed setups. rinsing has literally no downside, not rinsing has many
maybe a hundred or so rinses documented, multi forums, five yrs no recycle.
not one.
aware it sounds rogue, imagine trying to build page one of that lol now rinsing is as common as day and spreading all the way to bare bottom/removing sandbeds by the masses...
to not rinse leaves clouding, we open that thread w several examples of people who passionately didn't want to rinse. easy converts after the first mishap/tank cloud up
when he was told to rinse, that was planning ahead. the skip cycle was going to occur w or wout the rinse. He was recommended that so he can avoid the linked wreckages that quite can be common in unrinsed setups. rinsing has literally no downside, not rinsing has many
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@michael giordano
Bringing the work above to attention, to see how it measures against your post/checking for the negatives mentioned against a few years of collected works. Did we kill bacteria there
Bringing the work above to attention, to see how it measures against your post/checking for the negatives mentioned against a few years of collected works. Did we kill bacteria there
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luckylepgw
Active Member
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I swapped my tank due to an emergency, did NOT rinse the sand and lost practically all livestock. I would suggest rinsing it, even if you just use some old tank water.
we have several of those collected in our works thread as well. the tricky part is, moving tanks and systems without cleaning the bed can be done and has been done without loss. those who can pull it off, prescribe it to everyone requisitely using incorrect microbiology to back it up (that rinsing imparts measurable bad changes to the new system/uncycled/can't reliably process ammonia)
however, there's massive variation and loss associated with non rinsing/transferring detritus. massive.
there is only one way to stop the variation, and apparently only one way comes with 23 pages of work. Its very archaic though...manual work...surgery required, room for errors in the actual process.
its only helpful for smaller systems as large keepers pretty much hate/wont do the deep cleaning required to close all ends other than success, so I can't wait until a better way comes along. It will need to have a large work thread before Ill buy any of it.
however, there's massive variation and loss associated with non rinsing/transferring detritus. massive.
there is only one way to stop the variation, and apparently only one way comes with 23 pages of work. Its very archaic though...manual work...surgery required, room for errors in the actual process.
its only helpful for smaller systems as large keepers pretty much hate/wont do the deep cleaning required to close all ends other than success, so I can't wait until a better way comes along. It will need to have a large work thread before Ill buy any of it.
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