New tank. Questions about moving fish

[FishyFish]

Hello! I've had a 28g tank set up for several months and I'm ready to upgrade to a 75g. I want to break down the 28g and move all fish and corals into the 75g. What's the best way to go about doing this and how long should I wait before adding them to the new tank?

My plan is to take a few pieces of live rock from the current tank and add them to the new tank along with 40 lbs of dry rock, 80 lbs of rinsed dry sand, (sand from the current tank is getting tossed) and a full bottle of bacteria. I'm then going to add a little bottled ammonia and wait until the ammonia level goes back down to 0. Once this happens will it be safe to transfer the fish and corals over along with the rest of the live rock? Or do I need to wait longer? Can all fish/coral be moved at the same time or should I stagger it out some?

I also have a new fish who is almost ready to come out of QT. Should I add him to the big tank at the same time as the fish from the 28g?

Stock list in the 28g is just one longnose hawk, 2 clownfish, and 7 snails. There are also around 15 coral frags and one giant GSP. Any advice would be much appreciated!

 

[MnFish1]

Hello! I've had a 28g tank set up for several months and I'm ready to upgrade to a 75g. I want to break down the 28g and move all fish and corals into the 75g. What's the best way to go about doing this and how long should I wait before adding them to the new tank?

My plan is to take a few pieces of live rock from the current tank and add them to the new tank along with 40 lbs of dry rock, 80 lbs of rinsed dry sand, (sand from the current tank is getting tossed) and a full bottle of bacteria. I'm then going to add a little bottled ammonia and wait until the ammonia level goes back down to 0. Once this happens will it be safe to transfer the fish and corals over along with the rest of the live rock? Or do I need to wait longer? Can all fish/coral be moved at the same time or should I stagger it out some?

I also have a new fish who is almost ready to come out of QT. Should I add him to the big tank at the same time as the fish from the 28g?

Stock list in the 28g is just one longnose hawk, 2 clownfish, and 7 snails. There are also around 15 coral frags and one giant GSP. Any advice would be much appreciated!

Have done this (from a 90 --> new 125). Merely took the old rock, coral and fish - put them into buckets (brute) - heated and circulated the water. Used 1/2 the water from the old tank - mixed another 60 gallons of new water - put it in the new tank - hooked up the sump made sure there were no plumbing problems and added the rock, coral and fish into the tank - with no problem - I think I took the sand (I have just a very shallow sand bed) from the old tank - rinsed it quickly - and placed 1/2 of that in the new tank as well (I didnt want as much sand in the new tank).

 

[MnFish1]

PS - you may want a larger clean up crew - and in your case - I would add almost all of the old water to the new tank - just make sure its debris free (ie.. clear)

 

[robocop1906]

I went from 40g to 150g.

With a lot of patience I just set up a weekly water change schedule where I’d dump 5gal of my DT water in the 150g tank. I had a power head and a canister filter on that tank temporarily for circulation. I monitored the salinity to keep it inline. I did that until I had it about 80% full, tested the salinity then filled the rest with freshly mix salt water that netted out to 35ppt salinity. Along the way I slowly added live rock from the 40g tank plus new dry rock and new sand.

 

[Aquavaj]

If the 75 isn't going where the 28 is then I would get it going before the transfer. Your live rock and bottled bacteria will jump start the cycle and get things going much faster. I'd hold off a little longer on the new fish to let your beneficial bacteria catch up first.

 

[MnFish1]

If the 75 isn't going where the 28 is then I would get it going before the transfer. Your live rock and bottled bacteria will jump start the cycle and get things going much faster. I'd hold off a little longer on the new fish to let your beneficial bacteria catch up first.

The tank shouldn't 're-cycle' as the live rock and live sand (where most of the beneficial bacteria is/are are going into the new tank. If you can also put the filtration media or other filter you're using in the new tank - you shouldn't need to recycle anything. (of course - I wouldn't add 20 new fish on the same day lol.

 

[FishyFish]

Thanks so much everyone for the tips!

The tank shouldn't 're-cycle' as the live rock and live sand (where most of the beneficial bacteria is/are are going into the new tank. If you can also put the filtration media or other filter you're using in the new tank - you shouldn't need to recycle anything. (of course - I wouldn't add 20 new fish on the same day lol.

Unfortunately adding filter media isn't really an option, since the new tank downs have an hob filter. I guess maybe I could just put the filter in the sump, would that work? The sand is getting tossed out, it's too fine. I bought dry sand for the new tank. The good news is I only have 3 fish and one more in QT ready to come out so 4 total.

I went from 40g to 150g.

With a lot of patience I just set up a weekly water change schedule where I’d dump 5gal of my DT water in the 150g tank.

WOW you have the patience of a saint!! I'll be doing a wc on my current tank tonight and probably one more before the new tank is full. Hopefully between that and the live rock it'll be okay.

 

[robocop1906]

Yes, you could place the filter media in the sump. Before you ditch the old sand one option would be to place all or some of it in a plastic Tupperware without the top and let it sit in the sump for a while. Then toss it at a later date. Just stop the flow, let the sand settle and you should be good.

 

[MnFish1]

Thanks so much everyone for the tips!



Unfortunately adding filter media isn't really an option, since the new tank downs have an hob filter. I guess maybe I could just put the filter in the sump, would that work? The sand is getting tossed out, it's too fine. I bought dry sand for the new tank. The good news is I only have 3 fish and one more in QT ready to come out so 4 total.



WOW you have the patience of a saint!! I'll be doing a wc on my current tank tonight and probably one more before the new tank is full. Hopefully between that and the live rock it'll be okay.

Yes - you can put the HOB in the sump - but in all likelyhood the live rock will be enough. Even a little of your old sand will also help. Good luck - its a pain to do - I have to get the floors refinished so have to take the tank down and put it up again for 5 days - and I'm not looking forward to it. (but I will just use the same stuff that's already in it)

 

[Jon Fishman]

I have a lot of frags is n plugs, and too close together for “long term” Some are glued on rocks and I will snap them off the rocks with needle-nose pliers and the others are either wedged in crevices or stuck in the sandbed.

For my move, what I am planning on doing to make my life easier, is adding several small dry rocks, hopefully not enough to cause any issues with stability of my parameters, and drilling large holes in them so I can fit the frag plugs into them.

This way, I can remove everything from my large display rocks, minus larger or encrusted pieces, set up my scape in the new tank so everything looks nice, and put the small new rocks in and around the large rocks so all of my frags are both easily moveable if I find something that needs moved up or down in the tank, but also in a stable enough base that I won’t need to worry about waking up and finding a plug knocked/blown off down into my rockwork.

I will also be doing the water-change method....... Going to remove 15 or so gallons a week, dump it into a storage tote, let it sit/settle for awhile, then pump it into the new tank, not drawing from the bottom, through a filter-sock, into my new tank.

I will have a couple of old powerheads the new drilled rocks, and a heater in the new tank and will probably add an established large rock or two once the water level gets high enough from water changes, and add a good 30% new water and let it cycle in there for awhile and eventually syphon out most of the old tank water directly to the new one when it is time to move all the corals and fish over.

I moved my existing tank to a place where I could directly pump from it to the new tank just for this reason

I am going from a 4’ to an 8’ so I have a lot more room to spread out my corals now.

I am going bare-bottom, but if the sand you have is only a few months old, I would rinse it and reuse it.

 

[FishyFish]

Lots of great ideas in here, thanks everyone! I just have a couple more quick questions.

Someone told me in a different thread not to add ammonia with live rock, but I thought the bacteria needed something to eat? Should I add bottled ammonia to feed bacteria before the fish are added or not?

I'm also wondering about the timing of adding the tang in QT. Should I add all fish to the new tank together so they won't have time to establish and get aggressive? Or should I wait a bit before adding the tang?

 

[MnFish1]

Lots of great ideas in here, thanks everyone! I just have a couple more quick questions.

Someone told me in a different thread not to add ammonia with live rock, but I thought the bacteria needed something to eat? Should I add bottled ammonia to feed bacteria before the fish are added or not?

I'm also wondering about the timing of adding the tang in QT. Should I add all fish to the new tank together so they won't have time to establish and get aggressive? Or should I wait a bit before adding the tang?

Yes - curious - what purpose would ammonia serve? Are you planning to add new live rock - or merely switch what you have to a new tank? IMO - you're causing yourself more risk doing this 'piecemeal' rather than just moving everything at once. That way you have one filter system, one heater, you can use all of your old water (and 40 gallons or so new water) - you can add bottled bacteria if your worried (like Fritz Turbo - the 'keep cold kind) - but there is no reason you should have another 'cycle' if you do everything at one time - and dont add a lot of new 'live rock' that might have'dying stuff' on it.

 

[FishyFish]

I have 40 lbs of dry rock and 80 lbs of dry sand in the tank now. In the end I want to move everything except the sand from the old tank to the new and break the old tank down completely.

If you think just moving everything over in one day would be safe, I'm open to that idea, it would certainly be easier!! My thought was to add some live rock to seed the new tank and ammonia to feed the bacteria on the rocks since there wouldn't be any fish in there. This would give me time to test the new tank and make sure the parameters were good before adding fish. I would move the other live rock over with the fish and corals.

I'm definitely open to moving it all at once though, this is why I asked for advice! I'm still pretty new to the hobby and this will be my first tank transfer.

 

[MnFish1]

I have 40 lbs of dry rock and 80 lbs of dry sand in the tank now. In the end I want to move everything except the sand from the old tank to the new and break the old tank down completely.

If you think just moving everything over in one day would be safe, I'm open to that idea, it would certainly be easier!! My thought was to add some live rock to seed the new tank and ammonia to feed the bacteria on the rocks since there wouldn't be any fish in there. This would give me time to test the new tank and make sure the parameters were good before adding fish. I would move the other live rock over with the fish and corals.

I'm definitely open to moving it all at once though, this is why I asked for advice! I'm still pretty new to the hobby and this will be my first tank transfer.

After reading your post - maybe I'm misunderstanding - you said you have 40 lbs of 'dry sand' and 'dry rock' in your 40 gallon tank. Does that mean its 'literally dry' now - or it was 'dry' when you bought it but its been in a fully cycled tank (and still is)?

If you have the rock and some other living things in the tank now (the smaller one) - I can only tell you what I have done several times (and for example what People do when they set up tanks at fish shows, etc). The live rock contains most of your 'filtering bacteria' so there really nothing to seed - its already in the rock you have in your original tank. Thats Why I also said you could take a small portion of your sand (rinse it in SW if you want so its clean) - and put than in as well. As an extra insurance policy - you can add nitrifying bacteria - But again in my experience - having moved 10 tanks over the years - it shouldn't be a problem. (the water itself does not contain lots of the bacteria your tank needs - but in any case if you use your old water in addition to new - you also remove that problem.

 

[FishyFish]

After reading your post - maybe I'm misunderstanding - you said you have 40 lbs of 'dry sand' and 'dry rock' in your 40 gallon tank. Does that mean its 'literally dry' now - or it was 'dry' when you bought it but its been in a fully cycled tank (and still is)?

If you have the rock and some other living things in the tank now (the smaller one) - I can only tell you what I have done several times (and for example what People do when they set up tanks at fish shows, etc). The live rock contains most of your 'filtering bacteria' so there really nothing to seed - its already in the rock you have in your original tank. Thats Why I also said you could take a small portion of your sand (rinse it in SW if you want so its clean) - and put than in as well. As an extra insurance policy - you can add nitrifying bacteria - But again in my experience - having moved 10 tanks over the years - it shouldn't be a problem. (the water itself does not contain lots of the bacteria your tank needs - but in any case if you use your old water in addition to new - you also remove that problem.

Sorry, that really wasn't clear at all! I ordered dry rock/sand and added it to the new tank last night. There's no bacteria in the new tank at all as of yet. Everything in the current tank is live and very well established.

Someone above suggested putting the sand in a container within the sump for a few weeks, I think I'll try that. I don't want the old sand because it's much too fine, but I will move it over temporarily for the bacteria just to be extra safe. I already have the bacteria so that can go in as well.

The tank is still cloudy from adding the sand last night, I think I'll let it settle for a day or two and then just move everything over in one go as you suggested. I'll check ammonia and nitrite for a while to be extra cautious but it should be fine.

Thanks again for the advice!!

 

[Salty Lemon]

I went from a 60 to a 210. I knew it was coming so I had months to plan.

1. I connected a canister filter to my 60 to start extra filtration -- it pumps 525 gph.
2. I kept buying more live rock and adding it to my 60 -- it was majorly overloaded.
3. Before transferring everything, I saved as much water as possible. I still had to add about 150 gallons of new water.
4. I added the rock that had already been established plus some new rock.
5. I attached the canister filter from the 60 with all of its beneficial bacteria to the 210 and had it run for about a month.
6. I still had a small cycle, but I was able to add fish relatively quickly.
7. I did not use my old sand.