Advice needed for moving my fish to a new tank

Miza · Sep 24, 2013

Hi all, I currently have a 29 gal (30x12x18) FOWLR setup with ~ 30lbs of Live Rock and 4-6 inches of live sand.

My "guys"
2 Clownfish
1 Pajama Cardinal
1 Firefish
1 Leopard Wrasse
1 Cleaner wrasse
1 yellowheaded jawfish
1 Lawnmower blenny
1 cleaner shrimp
1 banded coral shrimp
2 turbo snails
and a few small hermits that hitchhiked in on the LR

I know I have a heavy bio load and do VERY frequent water changes to maintain perimeters and the health of my guys.

Salinity- 0.124
Ca- 450
Mg- 1200 (this is a little lower than it's been...)
No2- 0.0
No3 - 80 ppm
Ammonia- 0.0
Alk- 9.0

I have just purchased a 60 gal (36x19x24) and will be picking it up on Saturday. I'm looking for advice on how to transfer from one tank to another with minimal trauma to my fish. I set up my current tank and let it cycle before putting any fish in, but I don't have the room to keep both while the new one cycles. I will obviously be transferring the current live rock (as well as adding more), but I'll be adding new live sand and a LOT of new water.

I want to do this right. :tongue:
Suggestions?

GHill762 · Sep 27, 2013

bump..

about to do the same.. I'll probably have 2 systems running for a while..

MargieInAZ · Sep 28, 2013

When I upgraded my tank, I did it this way... Get the new tank fully set up and water test it, and make sure everything is working properly. Make sure you have an adequate amount of saltwater mixed up at to the same temp as your current tank. Then start transferring water from current tank to new tank. Once about half the water has been transferred, you can start transferring live rock and fish/corals over. Add some new salt water to the new tank slowly as you also transfer the rest of the water over from first tank. I wouldn't transfer all of the water over, as it will get pretty dirty toward the end of the transfer.
Then just fill the rest of the new system with the newly mixed saltwater.
It's like you just did a really big water change.
Good luck!

GHill762 · Sep 28, 2013

I don't think that's a great idea when you have new rock and new sand.. I'm going to run two systems until the new system is done cycling..

Miza · Sep 29, 2013

Unfortunately, I don't have room for both systems so I'll have to do the exchange all at once. Someone suggested (on another thread) to do a few water changes before making the exchange and save the "old" water to use starting the new tank. This may be my best bet.

mcarroll · Sep 29, 2013

Get a Brute trash can or large cooler (etc) and set up a "temporary tank" that's at least got flow and heat. Maybe one for rock, one for critters to make it easier?

Now you shouldn't have to rush while you assemble the new tank, and you don't even lose any water. (Do lose the old sand though.)

Hope this helps!

-Matt