Ideas anyone??? Upgrading tanks

jnj97 · Nov 11, 2015

I bought a bigger tank woohooooo!!!!
Now I'm going to switch my smaller one into my bigger one. Whats the easiest way to do this????
I have to be honest I'm nervous about switching it over lol I don't want to loose anything

TheEngineer · Nov 11, 2015

It's not as daunting as it sounds. You need to have a plan in place and do it all in one day if possible. There are some great threads about moving tanks around, one in particular written by Krikor on Delaware Valley Reef Club's site (I don't think I can post that link here or I would... mods?)

You want to save as much of the water from your old tank as you can. Are you adding new live rock and/or sand? If so, you need to cycle the new tank first.

Reefing Madness · Nov 11, 2015

Go to Walmart and buy a few plastic totes. I don't know how big your other tank is, maybe you just need a bunch of 5g buckets.
Anyway, put the rock and some water into one tote, the sand into another, but the sand you will be rinsing out really really well before adding it back to your new tank, and the fish into another tote.
You can use another tote or totes for your water, or you can put the water into your bathtub for holding.

CamInDFW · Nov 11, 2015

Most will recommend not re-using sand. It depends on how much larger you are going. I saved water from a water change and then moved tanks 3 days later saving as much water as I could. The less exposure to air, the better when it comes to your rock. I

Jimbo662 · Nov 11, 2015

I did this about 2 months ago. Once I got the new tank filled with saltwater I moved a couple of larger rocks from the existing tank along with a bottle of bio-spira. I fed the tank daily so the food would break down to feed the bacteria. After about a week with no spikes I moved the pair of clowns. Waited again then moved the remaining rock and corals.

nbagnardi · Nov 11, 2015

temp, salinity, and ph are the most important things to look at when transferring corals/livestock in my opinion. i had a big tote with a heater and powerhead in it to keep my corals comfortable, not one of them were happy. i went from a 60 cube to a 5 foot tank with all new sand and new rock. i used live sand and real reef rock so cycling wasn't an issue but setting up was. plan it all out, step by step. then re-plan it. do a walkthrough. fish in a separate container than corals etc. most of all, don't be intimidated, have confidence in yourself and you got it all day