Upgrading sps tank - opinions needed

[gatorbait01]

Hey all,

I have a 36 cube packed w/ sps and I'm upgrading my tank to a reefer 250. I'm trying to determine the best method to transfer the contents over to the new tank without stressing/killing my corals. I currently have the new tank cycling next to the existing tank. Here's what I'm planning on doing.

1. New tank cycling w/ no lights for 1 month. While tank is cycling, I seeded the new tank with bio balls that I had in my existing tank. Also seeded the new tank with 5 gal of existing tank water along with some sand every 2 weeks. Also used microbacter7 to seed the new tank as well as ghost feeding the tank. New tank contains new sand along with some new caribsea life rock.

2. After 1 month install lights and add a fish or two from the existing tank into the new one.

3. After about 2 weeks with lights start moving some lps over to the new tank just to see how they react. Then the following weeks add my acro frags racks over to the new tank as another reference point.

4. After 2 months transfer a rock island where I have 3 colonies growing and use this as a another reference point to judge the health. Unfortunately it about the only rock I can easily separate and transfer into the new system.

5. Finally about 2 weeks afterwards, if the 3 colonies are doing well, take all the water from my existing tank and put it into the new tank and move my colonies and remaining rocks over then.

Does anyone have experience transferring a sps tank. I have some nice corals in this tank and really would like this to go smoothly. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[DesertReefT4r]

Pretty solid plan, just a few suggested additions. No lights for the first 3 months, adding a couple fish at 2 months and start your refugium if you are running one. At 3 months start to slowly light the tank a couple hours a day increasing over a few weeks. If everything is looking good, no algae issues, no3 and po4 in check and fish are doing well then added a couple hardy tester corals. If they are doing well after a few weeks do the transfer. Try to keep sg, temp, alk, cal and mag the same between 2 tanks and use all new water from the new tank. I know you will want to get everything into the new tank as soon as possible but taking it slow like this will give the tank more time to cycle slowly and become ready for corals and reduce or eleminate algae blooms. Your corals are in a healthy stable system that they are accustomed to so unless there is an urgent need to move them dont until the new tank is really ready.

 

[Biggles]

Unless you have plans for entirely new lighting over the new system which i doubt considering how beautiful your corals look now then the main consideration is to equalize the water between the two systems as much as possible prior to moving the corals over. If you can get the two systems close to each other, the corals being transferred will react no differently than if you lifted them out of your current tank and then put them straight back down.
The more water you can swap between the two systems the better even if it means doing a bucket of water swapped every day, bacteria etc are just as important as the alk and calcium levels etc and your current system water is red hot so use it to make the new system just as successful.

I was lucky in 2015 when i upgraded my 65 gal to a 190 gal peninsula as i was able to set the new display up next to the existing display.

31st Jan 2015

Filling with RO

Fresh mixed peninsula water linked with 100 gph pump to old system for 3 days so the water was matched - as if i added a huge new sump in effect.

7th Feb 2015 - 8 days later. Transferred everything across starting with the corals from the sump which had a 250W radium over it.

Transferred the display rock and corals across next.

All done, moved the 400W radium over the next day and added a second one.

I'm not suggesting you do it this way or this fast, just showing you the importance of ' tricking ' your corals into not realizing they've been ' upgraded '.

 

[DesertReefT4r]

Unless you have plans for entirely new lighting over the new system which i doubt considering how beautiful your corals look now then the main consideration is to equalize the water between the two systems as much as possible prior to moving the corals over. If you can get the two systems close to each other, the corals being transferred will react no differently than if you lifted them out of your current tank and then put them straight back down.
The more water you can swap between the two systems the better even if it means doing a bucket of water swapped every day, bacteria etc are just as important as the alk and calcium levels etc and your current system water is red hot so use it to make the new system just as successful.

I was lucky in 2015 when i upgraded my 65 gal to a 190 gal peninsula as i was able to set the new display up next to the existing display.

31st Jan 2015

Filling with RO

Fresh mixed peninsula water linked with 100 gph pump to old system for 3 days so the water was matched - as if i added a huge new sump in effect.

7th Feb 2015 - 8 days later. Transferred everything across starting with the corals from the sump which had a 250W radium over it.

Transferred the display rock and corals across next.

All done, moved the 400W radium over the next day and added a second one.

I'm not suggesting you do it this way or this fast, just showing you the importance of ' tricking ' your corals into not realizing they've been ' upgraded '.

That is a great method, I like that as well. Basically linked the 2 tanks together.

 

[gatorbait01]

Pretty solid plan, just a few suggested additions. No lights for the first 3 months, adding a couple fish at 2 months and start your refugium if you are running one. At 3 months start to slowly light the tank a couple hours a day increasing over a few weeks. If everything is looking good, no algae issues, no3 and po4 in check and fish are doing well then added a couple hardy tester corals. If they are doing well after a few weeks do the transfer. Try to keep sg, temp, alk, cal and mag the same between 2 tanks and use all new water from the new tank. I know you will want to get everything into the new tank as soon as possible but taking it slow like this will give the tank more time to cycle slowly and become ready for corals and reduce or eleminate algae blooms. Your corals are in a healthy stable system that they are accustomed to so unless there is an urgent need to move them dont until the new tank is really ready.

I was considering going longer without lights and maybe I will go at least 2 months instead of 1. For the refugium, my new tank has a refugium in the sump but was planning on using it for a frag area instead. I have been really unsuccessful keeping a refugium in my current tank as I have never been able to keep my chaeto alive. I actually dose Phosphates/nitrates to keep levels detectable. If I get to a point where I can't keep those levels manageable I was thinking of converting back to a fuge or get a chaeto reactor. I will ramp the lights as mentioned.

 

[gatorbait01]

Unless you have plans for entirely new lighting over the new system which i doubt considering how beautiful your corals look now then the main consideration is to equalize the water between the two systems as much as possible prior to moving the corals over. If you can get the two systems close to each other, the corals being transferred will react no differently than if you lifted them out of your current tank and then put them straight back down.
The more water you can swap between the two systems the better even if it means doing a bucket of water swapped every day, bacteria etc are just as important as the alk and calcium levels etc and your current system water is red hot so use it to make the new system just as successful.

I was lucky in 2015 when i upgraded my 65 gal to a 190 gal peninsula as i was able to set the new display up next to the existing display.

31st Jan 2015

Filling with RO

Fresh mixed peninsula water linked with 100 gph pump to old system for 3 days so the water was matched - as if i added a huge new sump in effect.

7th Feb 2015 - 8 days later. Transferred everything across starting with the corals from the sump which had a 250W radium over it.

Transferred the display rock and corals across next.

All done, moved the 400W radium over the next day and added a second one.

I'm not suggesting you do it this way or this fast, just showing you the importance of ' tricking ' your corals into not realizing they've been ' upgraded '.

I'm actually changing the light. I currently running a Hydra/t5 hybrid and going all T5’s at the moment. I have had 2nd thoughts about moving away from the hybrid as the radion/t5 is tempting, but I was able to get a decent deal on a ati 8 bulb fixture that I was planning on using. If I stay with it, I will probably add a light bar but a little turned off by them due to aesthetics and they aren't electronically dimmable.

I will increase the water exchanges btwn tanks as you mentioned, bit go the slower route as I don't want to deal with some sort algae issue.

Did you have any losses at all when u did yours?

 

[gatorbait01]

What do you guys think about running a skimmer on the new setup while it's cycling? As the transfer happens I was thinking it would be nice to have one, and the one on my current tank is appropriately sized for the new tank. My initial thought was to do the transfer faster in which I could transfer it once the main transfer happens, but if I take it slower it would be nice to have one running on the new tank. There are some decent deals on skimmers now and was thinking of just getting a new one and sell the old one once I break the old tank down.