Nervous about setting up a new tank

[rja]

Hey all,
I have been running a 1.5 year old Biocube and I have really outgrown the tank. I want to get more fish and more coral. So the obvious answer is to move to a larger tank.

I have my eyes set and first dibs on a 75 gallon standard tank, petco stand, drilled with a 20 long sump and RO skimmer. It has a couple other pieces of equipment included as well as sand and rock. No lighting though. All for $400. The tank is currently running and has a hippo tang and dragon wrasse. I am going to likely donate those fish to the LFS or trade in. As far as lighting, I am thinking 3 Kessil A160WEs or whatever I can find on marketplace.

My worries are that I will likely need to re plumb the tank because it is all soft line, I will also probably want to get a whole new sump. My plan is to clean everything and start completely fresh with ocean rock. Probably start the tank as a FOWLR and take it VERY slow in moving over my corals.

Any advice?

 

[Stephen8169301]

Yeah I mean you seem like you have a solid plan as for upgrading as for fish look into local reefers first if no bites then fish store but if your looking for a quick give away the lfs it is as for the tank do you know how old it is only because the seams in the tank wouldn’t want them to fail on you. With the rock are you looking to reuse them? Do you have any pics of the tank ? How old is all the equipment? these are the questions you should be asking

 

[Bruttall]

If that system is currently running/cycling and has no plumbing issues, why change the plumbing?

Re-homing that Hippo is a good idea as he will out grow that small tank really fast considering they get up to 12 inches long and really should be in a 6foot 150g Minimum tank.

I am not impressed with the Kessil lights. A lot of mixed reviews on them. a pair of 165watt ViparSpectra would light that tank very well and for $160 each new would be cheap, so would a pair of Hydor Aquamai LED (I had amazing coral growth in a 75g with the hydor, but they are $400 each new). But if you're going to spend the money, I would look at the Orphek Atlantik Icon and the Radion XR30 G6 blue, or the Neptune Sky LEDS. IMO these 3 vastly out preform the Kessil lights.

The only other thing I would suggest is CuC as soon as you see Algae Growth in the new tank, reefcleaners.org has nice packages you can check out, give you an idea of what you should have in your size tank. Dwarf Cerith Snails, amazing algae eating machines. I have like 270 in my tank.

Do a BUILDTHREAD!! you get a nifty badge on your name that is also a LINK to your thread!! One of my favorite features of these forums because it allows you to keep a photo documentary of your reefing adventures!!

Good Luck.

 

[rja]

Yeah I mean you seem like you have a solid plan as for upgrading as for fish look into local reefers first if no bites then fish store but if your looking for a quick give away the lfs it is as for the tank do you know how old it is only because the seams in the tank wouldn’t want them to fail on you. With the rock are you looking to reuse them? Do you have any pics of the tank ? How old is all the equipment? these are the questions you should be asking

I am going to trade the rock to this one LFS that has decade old ocean rock when the time comes to have water in the tank. That’s the thing with the fish, the tank will be dry for a while as I redo pumbing and move my freshwater tank across the room to fit the new tank. The tank itself is only 2 years old but maybe I should reseal it anyway.

 

[rja]

If that system is currently running/cycling and has no plumbing issues, why change the plumbing?

Re-homing that Hippo is a good idea as he will out grow that small tank really fast considering they get up to 12 inches long and really should be in a 6foot 150g Minimum tank.

I am not impressed with the Kessil lights. A lot of mixed reviews on them. a pair of 165watt ViparSpectra would light that tank very well and for $160 each new would be cheap, so would a pair of Hydor Aquamai LED (I had amazing coral growth in a 75g with the hydor, but they are $400 each new). But if you're going to spend the money, I would look at the Orphek Atlantik Icon and the Radion XR30 G6 blue, or the Neptune Sky LEDS. IMO these 3 vastly out preform the Kessil lights.

The only other thing I would suggest is CuC as soon as you see Algae Growth in the new tank, reefcleaners.org has nice packages you can check out, give you an idea of what you should have in your size tank. Dwarf Cerith Snails, amazing algae eating machines. I have like 270 in my tank.

Do a BUILDTHREAD!! you get a nifty badge on your name that is also a LINK to your thread!! One of my favorite features of these forums because it allows you to keep a photo documentary of your reefing adventures!!

Good Luck.

I currently have a CUC sized for my biocube so I will just be adding to that. I think that I will evidently be introducing bubble algae as my tank suffers from it now and I will be transferring corals and unfortunately some rock as they’ve encrusted to it. I do have a build thread that I have not updated in a while. Here is the current state of the BC29:

Edit: I want to change up the plumbing to PVC because it’s all soft lines with no valves. I also want to add an in line UV sterilizer at some point.

 

[EricR]

If that system is currently running/cycling and has no plumbing issues, why change the plumbing?
...

I was thinking the same thing.
...unless there's something specific you want to do with the plumbing or just like the idea of the project for the experience.

Personally, I wouldn't go for a re-seal unless closer inspection reveals any concerns.

Only thing I'd consider that hasn't been mentioned is give some attention to the stand:
Evaluate and consider if it could use some beefing up or opt for a better one (if desired) now while it's easy.

*your current corals all look nice and happy/healthy so you've got that part down,,, good job

 

[Rennurdoar]

I was thinking the same thing.
...unless there's something specific you want to do with the plumbing or just like the idea of the project for the experience.

Personally, I wouldn't go for a re-seal unless closer inspection reveals any concerns.

Only thing I'd consider that hasn't been mentioned is give some attention to the stand:
Evaluate and consider if it could use some beefing up or opt for a better one (if desired) now while it's easy.

*your current corals all look nice and happy/healthy so you've got that part down,,, good job

On the transfer, I would definitely use new sand. On your old rocks, you can scrub and clean them in a bucket of water from the current tank or RODI water when transferring. That way you can knock off any bubble algae or anything else you want to remove.

From my understanding, the sand won't transfer over anything but problems down the line. We used all new sand because of this when transferring our 65g to our new 90g.


I'd also pass up on resealing a tank. I've never done it, so no experience just from reading up on it, it's a large task to get right.

I also think you might be able to find a better deal if you're wanting to redo to plumbing and Sump anyway. We got our 90g with 2 sumps and 2mp40s and more for $100.

Just have to watch marketplace. It sounds like you should look for a tank only, or tank and stand since you're thinking of replacing the other components. I'd think you can find a good 75 and stand for around 200.

 

[rja]

I was thinking the same thing.
...unless there's something specific you want to do with the plumbing or just like the idea of the project for the experience.

Personally, I wouldn't go for a re-seal unless closer inspection reveals any concerns.

Only thing I'd consider that hasn't been mentioned is give some attention to the stand:
Evaluate and consider if it could use some beefing up or opt for a better one (if desired) now while it's easy.

*your current corals all look nice and happy/healthy so you've got that part down,,, good job

Thank you! Yeah, I really want to enforce the stand with some 2x4s. How would you recommend doing that? One in each corner cut perfectly to fit between the top plywood and bottom plywood of the stand? Maybe send a screw into the top and bottom of the stand to make sure the 2x4s are loaded. I will also have to do some extensive shim work to make sure everything is level because my basement floor is very unlevel.

 

[rja]

On the transfer, I would definitely use new sand. On your old rocks, you can scrub and clean them in a bucket of water from the current tank or RODI water when transferring. That way you can knock off any bubble algae or anything else you want to remove.

From my understanding, the sand won't transfer over anything but problems down the line. We used all new sand because of this when transferring our 65g to our new 90g.


I'd also pass up on resealing a tank. I've never done it, so no experience just from reading up on it, it's a large task to get right.

I also think you might be able to find a better deal if you're wanting to redo to plumbing and Sump anyway. We got our 90g with 2 sumps and 2mp40s and more for $100.

Just have to watch marketplace. It sounds like you should look for a tank only, or tank and stand since you're thinking of replacing the other components. I'd think you can find a good 75 and stand for around 200.

Yeah I would go with something better but the person I am buying from has helped me a lot. Some of the coral in my tank was from her and given to me for free. I just want to pay it forward. I could also probably get some credit for the fish anyway.

 

[Rennurdoar]

Yeah I would go with something better but the person I am buying from has helped me a lot. Some of the coral in my tank was from her and given to me for free. I just want to pay it forward. I could also probably get some credit for the fish anyway.

Well that makes sense then! On your uneven floor, instead of shimming and trying to reinforce, you could build your own stand around $100-$150. Just a couple of 2x4s and a couple of 4x4s and some plywood.

Sell or use the old stand for something else. But then you could build the stand to account for the unevenness and not have to shim. Just a thought. Good luck on the new build, you will definitely enjoy a larger tank! We upgraded, and I already want to upgrade again to a larger one haha

 

[rja]

Well that makes sense then! On your uneven floor, instead of shimming and trying to reinforce, you could build your own stand around $100-$150. Just a couple of 2x4s and a couple of 4x4s and some plywood.

Sell or use the old stand for something else. But then you could build the stand to account for the unevenness and not have to shim. Just a thought. Good luck on the new build, you will definitely enjoy a larger tank! We upgraded, and I already want to upgrade again to a larger one haha

I was thinking of just welding a steel stand honestly would be way easier for me. Thankfully I have an industrial fab shop at my disposal

 

[Rennurdoar]

Nice! You should definitely start a build thread here on R2R. There are a ton of helpful people, and we all enjoy a build thread! It's also a good way to keep track of your tank, like a digital journal kind of.