Tank upgrade imminent

[Jasongtr]

hi

I currently have a fluval flex 32.5g it’s been running a couple of months, I added Red Sea live sand 10kg and 10kg of dry rock when I started it.
I’ve been taking advice at my LFS and since then have added the following under their recommendations

pair of clowns
Sulphur goby
Peacock wrasse
Royal gramma
6x blue legged hermits
4x trocus snails
Sand sifting star fish
Conch
Tuxedo urchin
Pistol shrimp
6x nassarius snails

I have an aqua one ocellaris 850uv canister filter, sicce sdc power head (plus another for the new tank ready) loads of bio media and the rear chambers and canister and a protein skimmer

im going to probably get a DD pro reef 900 tank and just wanted to know I’m on the right track so I was thinking of the following

1. aqua scape the new rocks
2. Add new live sand
3. Full with freshly made saltwater and heat, leave for 24/48 hours to allow sand and rock dust to settle
4. Leak check and check flow rates on pump and drain etc
5. Add the seeded rock and bio media from the old tank into the sump of the new one
6. Transfer all livestock
7. Add some bottle bacteria for a week or so
8. Daily water testing for a week or two
9. If all is stable drain the old tank and store it away

does that look feasible or am I way off, what you you do differently and are there steps I’ve missed or added that I shouldn’t of

Long read so many thanks for staying to the end

 

[Reef Psychology]

Sounds good. I’m doing something similar consolidating two tanks. Only difference is I did water changes from both tanks and placed the syphoned (not from sandbed) water into the new tank and also used Aquaforests Life Source to vary the biodiversity. So far I’m two weeks in with 66% lights (250 PAR) and very little nuisance algae/bacteria are popping up. Free ammonia is zero, nitrates are at 2 and phosphate is not showing up (was 0.08 in other tanks). The real results will be in 30 days though. Oh, I also tossed in a bottle of algaebarns EcoPods just in case. Already have acros, stylos, mushrooms, hammer, anacros, and digi and they are all open and looking good. Will be posting pix when I have time to edit the photos.

Edit: Sorry, your tanks only a couple months old? I’d probably go a little slower. 2 months isn’t very established. My tanks are more than a year and a half old. I’d definitely use more than a bottle of bacteria. Not trying to sell you on Aquaforest but I’d definitely use Life Bio Fil and Life Source to round out your bacterial support system. There’s a lot of snake oil out there for sure, but mud and seeded pumice is absolutely good stuff IMO.

 

[Jasongtr]

Sounds good. I’m doing something similar consolidating two tanks. Only difference is I did water changes from both tanks and placed the syphoned (not from sandbed) water into the new tank and also used Aquaforests Life Source to vary the biodiversity. So far I’m two weeks in with 66% lights (250 PAR) and very little nuisance algae/bacteria are popping up. Free ammonia is zero, nitrates are at 2 and phosphate is not showing up (was 0.08 in other tanks). The real results will be in 30 days though. Oh, I also tossed in a bottle of algaebarns EcoPods just in case. Already have acros, stylos, mushrooms, hammer, anacros, and digi and they are all open and looking good. Will be posting pix when I have time to edit the photos.

Edit: Sorry, your tanks only a couple months old? I’d probably go a little slower. 2 months isn’t very established. My tanks are more than a year and a half old. I’d definitely use more than a bottle of bacteria. Not trying to sell you on Aquaforest but I’d definitely use Life Bio Fil and Life Source to round out your bacterial support system. There’s a lot of snake oil out there for sure, but mud and seeded pumice is absolutely good stuff IMO.

Thanks

should of added this is going to be done until the new year (wife needs a place for the Christmas tree )

do it will be 4/5 months in then still not massively mature but should have a decent bio balance for the livestock

 

[Reef Psychology]

Thanks

should of added this is going to be done until the new year (wife needs a place for the Christmas tree )

do it will be 4/5 months in then still not massively mature but should have a decent bio balance for the livestock

Oh, ok. Established usually means at minimum 6+ months, with a robust ecosystem being a over a year. If you’re going to have the new tank cooking over a couple of months that would be great. FYI on canister filters. They are very efficient at converting waste so if you’re going to keep corals it probably will become a problem a few months down the road. Also, some invertebrates might not appreciate high nitrates that tend to come along with canister filters either after 6+ month’s. I’d avoid canisters altogether unless it’s going to be a fish only tank.

 

[Jasongtr]

Oh, ok. Established usually means at minimum 6+ months, with a robust ecosystem being a over a year. If you’re going to have the new tank cooking over a couple of months that would be great. FYI on canister filters. They are very efficient at converting waste so if you’re going to keep corals it probably will become a problem a few months down the road. Also, some invertebrates might not appreciate high nitrates that tend to come along with canister filters either after 6+ month’s. I’d avoid canisters altogether unless it’s going to be a fish only tank.

Canister filter is on the old smaller tank, it definitely won’t be used on the new tank

 

[Jasongtr]

Oh, ok. Established usually means at minimum 6+ months, with a robust ecosystem being a over a year. If you’re going to have the new tank cooking over a couple of months that would be great. FYI on canister filters. They are very efficient at converting waste so if you’re going to keep corals it probably will become a problem a few months down the road. Also, some invertebrates might not appreciate high nitrates that tend to come along with canister filters either after 6+ month’s. I’d avoid canisters altogether unless it’s going to be a fish only tank.

Should also of added I’ve not got the new tank yet and it won’t be in place and filled until the new year ticks over so I won’t be cycling it at all until then