Seeking advice on tank transition

[rnegrette]

Hey reefers! My wife (@Fusillijenni) and I will soon be getting a new tank. We're currently running a 16 gallon and are going to be upgrading to, most likely, the Waterbox 90.3 within the next month or two. We have around a dozen small frags which are on a frag rack in our current tank. Unfortunately our current tank has a few aiptasia and quite a number of vermetid snails.

We also have a 5 gallon and a 20 gallon tall that we're planning on using as quarantine tanks in the future. We're looking for advice on:

• Whether we should move our current frags into a quarantine tank at all, before transitioning them into the new Waterbox, or if they can be dipped and moved right over
• Would it be more harmful than helpful to move our coral to a less-established quarantine tank with a less powerful light than we have on our display tank? (We have an AI Prime HD 16 on our 16 gallon, and would be using a Current Orbit light on the quarantine tank)
• Since we can't use media from our existing tank due to the pests, we're planning on starting up the quarantine tank bare bottom with just dry rock rubble and frag racks and cycling w/ Dr. Tims. Would it be beneficial to also add sand to the quarantine tank?

We know these are beginner-like questions, however we're just wanting to perform a seamless transition as possible without introducing any pests to the new tank (which hasn't even been ordered yet, so we have some time).

Thanks in advance for any advice or tips you can offer!

 

[BartMan]

Do you plan to leave the current tank running while the new tank cycles? That's what I would do. Leave the current tank as is until you are comfortable that the new tank is stable. Then just dip and transfer the frags to the new tank. If you aren't going to keep the current tank up while the new one cycles, I may consider having a buddy foster your frags in their tank on a frag rack until you're tank is ready. I don't think I would put them in a 'quarantine tank' unless there was no other option.

 

[rnegrette]

Do you plan to leave the current tank running while the new tank cycles? That's what I would do. Leave the current tank as is until you are comfortable that the new tank is stable. Then just dip and transfer the frags to the new tank. If you aren't going to keep the current tank up while the new one cycles, I may consider having a buddy foster your frags in their tank on a frag rack until you're tank is ready. I don't think I would put them in a 'quarantine tank' unless there was no other option.

Yes, we're definitely going to have the existing tank running while the new tank cycles. Thanks, that's helpful and we'll most likely stick with that.

 

[Jekyl]

Yes, we're definitely going to have the existing tank running while the new tank cycles. Thanks, that's helpful and we'll most likely stick with that.

If starting with dry rock in the new tank it would be a month or 2 before coral would be happy. Ever consider starting with live rock? Vemitid can be squashed and aiptasia are easily managed. Or if you're really feeling frisky some rock from gulfliverock.com, Tampa Bay or KP would be my first choice.