Upgrading tank advice

[Exib]

Hi all
Set up Red Sea XL200 in Jan 2020 I do have a build three on the forum due to space restrictions as the time could only have 60cm tank, I have been away from the hobby for a few years and now am back with a passion. I was going to upgrade to Redsea 250 though have decided to purchase XL300 delivery due this week.

So I thought it would be straight forward to transfer everything across to the new tank using the rock from the XL200 though tried YouTube and did see a couple of videos but didn’t fill me with confidence

I have containers to create store about 170 litres new RO water mixed with Salt and I could take 100 litres or more from my current tank, I have ordered 2 bags Redsea live sand incase I need more just in case though am worried about starting a mini cycle

Corals are LPS, Torch, Hammer, Acan, Scoly 4 x really nice Goni few Goni and Zoa + couple of SPS

Any advice or tips would be helpful

 

[nezw0001]

Be prepared for some things to not be happy in their new home. I lost several corals when I transferred my tanks, not due to water chemistry issues, but due to being unable to replicate the same light and flow they were under at the old tank.

 

[Exib]

Be prepared for some things to not be happy in their new home. I lost several corals when I transferred my tanks, not due to water chemistry issues, but due to being unable to replicate the same light and flow they were under at the old tank.

Thanks for the advice good points raised

 

[brandon429]

36 pages of documented outcomes, this w help.

Official Sand Rinse and Tank Transfer thread

Not only do I love that job, I did it in my vase :) so it’s been modeled already/ done your job is just bigger. I’m going to link a thread where nobody listens regarding aiptasia removal, apply this to your mushroom tank. the sand cleaning is already covered here / ridding newly cleaned rocks...

www.reef2reef.com

they're all the same set of moves, every tank, though they range in size and corals/fish etc

whether you are upgrading, downgrading, moving a tank, removing sand, adding sand, changing out rocks, beating cyano its all the exact same series of steps which you'd do on the transfer, dont take this summary as final gotta read for the small details:

no old water is needed can use all new

live rocks alone transfer all the required bacteria we dont need any from the sand, we need cloudless sand as the priority


ALL sand is pre rinsed in tap water before use, cloudless, then final rinse is RO water to evacuate the tap. then you set up the new tank, the moved tank, the upgraded tank, the cyano free tank etc
if you are filling up the new tank and notice a cloud, start over, incomplete sand rinse.

cloudless.

Notice details: we never use testing because we command what ammonia will do before it does. We'll never see a mini or full cycle there, It's impossible given the order of ops. Clouding causes mini cycles (but in new sand it's just messy silt, not true decay like aged sand, we rinse anyway)

 

[Reef.]

Think I would have went dry sand, always good to give sand a good rinse before adding to tank, I would still probably rinse the live sand, your sand will seed it in no time, if you dont add more fish the sand and rock you already have will be enough biological media anyway, the new sand if needed will just be extra so no rush in making it live.

 

[Exib]

Think I would have went dry sand, always good to give sand a good rinse before adding to tank, I would still probably rinse the live sand, your sand will seed it in no time, if you dont add more fish the sand and rock you already have will be enough biological media anyway, the new sand if needed will just be extra so no rush in making it live.

Thanks for your reply thinking about I should have just ordered dry sand as I paid a premium for the live sand, too later now order placed the sand is due tomorrow. When I start the transfer I will make sure I wash the sand through. Ideally I want to put the rock in first On the bottom of the tank and then put the sand in

 

[Reef.]

Thanks for your reply thinking about I should have just ordered dry sand as I paid a premium for the live sand, too later now order placed the sand is due tomorrow. When I start the transfer I will make sure I wash the sand through. Ideally I want to put the rock in first On the bottom of the tank and then put the sand in

Not sure if true but with live sand in a bag I read the bacteria is in the water not on the sand, not sure if I believe that but anyway, you could save a small amount of sand and water from the bag, don’t rinse that so at least you will benefit from the bacteria the sand came with, could be a different strand of bacteria to that you already have, the more variety the better, means you’ll benefit from the rinsing and also the bacteria that came with the sand, will just take a bit longer for the bacteria to build up their numbers. After a few weeks you’ll have not lost anything, so your money hasn’t gone to waste.