Help! transferring tanks

[Mrgarthman]

Hi all , after some advice and a newbie to this site, currently bought a Red sea 425XXL and have a Redsea 250 currently
Planning on moving all stock over at the weekend

I ahve some containers , with heaters and airstones to house the Livestock and rock while doing so ( plannong on doing over 2/3 days )

I have 425 litres of NEW Natural seawater delivered in large containers
1) While housing the livestock do i use current tank water or new ( old is stabilised but may spike while in housing for 2/3 days ) ( New is fresh and maybe imbalanced silightly but all water changes are currently used with this )
2) USing old sand, ive seen many posts saying gently transfer it and let it settle for a few days some say completely wash as all live rck ad media will house the necessary bacteria )
im not in a rush and happy to wash old sand )
3) I have 2 clowns in main tank and 2 in a nano which im thinking of adding to main tank , do i add these to the housing to get used to each other ( neutral ground ) or leave till new set up and and all at same time
Also any other hints and tips are extremely welcome

Pls help!

cheers

 

[Gumbies R Us]

This might be able to help you!

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/tank-transfers-tips-and-tricks.672468/

 

[Mrgarthman]

Hi all , after some advice and a newbie to this site, currently bought a Red sea 425XXL and have a Redsea 250 currently
Planning on moving all stock over at the weekend

I ahve some containers , with heaters and airstones to house the Livestock and rock while doing so ( plannong on doing over 2/3 days )

I have 425 litres of NEW Natural seawater delivered in large containers
1) While housing the livestock do i use current tank water or new ( old is stabilised but may spike while in housing for 2/3 days ) ( New is fresh and maybe imbalanced silightly but all water changes are currently used with this )
2) USing old sand, ive seen many posts saying gently transfer it and let it settle for a few days some say completely wash as all live rck ad media will house the necessary bacteria )
im not in a rush and happy to wash old sand )
3) I have 2 clowns in main tank and 2 in a nano which im thinking of adding to main tank , do i add these to the housing to get used to each other ( neutral ground ) or leave till new set up and and all at same time
Also any other hints and tips are extremely welcome

Pls help!

cheers

This might be able to help you!

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/tank-transfers-tips-and-tricks.672468/

Thanks will have a look, seems no one had the same type of move, i have to get the new tank emptied, removed and mew tank then put in the same place, dreading it

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Are you building the new tank in the same place? Its easier if you can build the tank in a separate spot then you can just move everything over in one shot - equipment, then rocks, then fish. But if the new tank is going into the same spot, then it gets more complicated, and you'll have to put everything in buckets like you mentioned.

Don't reuse the sand without a very thorough cleaning, its usually easier to buy new sand. But if you do re-use the sand, put it in a bucket with tap water and swish it around pour the dirty water out and add clean water and keep going until the water runs clear when you swish it around. Its a long and hard job. The sand holds all the poop and uneaten food and dead critters over the time you had it

 

[Mrgarthman]

Are you building the new tank in the same place? Its easier if you can build the tank in a separate spot then you can just move everything over in one shot - equipment, then rocks, then fish. But if the new tank is going into the same spot, then it gets more complicated, and you'll have to put everything in buckets like you mentioned.

Don't reuse the sand without a very thorough cleaning, its usually easier to buy new sand. But if you do re-use the sand, put it in a bucket with tap water and swish it around pour the dirty water out and add clean water and keep going until the water runs clear when you swish it around. Its a long and hard job. The sand holds all the poop and uneaten food and dead critters over the time you had it

Yes same spot Unfortunatley, i will re use the sand and will spend hours if i have too cleaning it , not in a rush as such , my main concern is housing all the stuff unitl i complete it, have 3 x 90l containers each with a heater , 1 for fish and CUC , 1 for rock with corals and one for plain rock , plainning on using Natural sea water to fill them up and put them in rather than the old water, will save some used water to put in the new tank and will add all the media etc uncleaned

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Thats going to be a long tough day for you but your plan will work fine. I would suggest to add a couple of rocks to the bucket with fish for cover and biofiltration, perhaps an airstone as well. I've kept fish in buckets like this for a days and they were fine. Good luck with your project!

 

[Freenow54]

Hi all , after some advice and a newbie to this site, currently bought a Red sea 425XXL and have a Redsea 250 currently
Planning on moving all stock over at the weekend

I ahve some containers , with heaters and airstones to house the Livestock and rock while doing so ( plannong on doing over 2/3 days )

I have 425 litres of NEW Natural seawater delivered in large containers
1) While housing the livestock do i use current tank water or new ( old is stabilised but may spike while in housing for 2/3 days ) ( New is fresh and maybe imbalanced silightly but all water changes are currently used with this )
2) USing old sand, ive seen many posts saying gently transfer it and let it settle for a few days some say completely wash as all live rck ad media will house the necessary bacteria )
im not in a rush and happy to wash old sand )
3) I have 2 clowns in main tank and 2 in a nano which im thinking of adding to main tank , do i add these to the housing to get used to each other ( neutral ground ) or leave till new set up and and all at same time
Also any other hints and tips are extremely welcome

Pls help!

cheers

I assume you need to move the stand 2 to 3 days makes me nervous. If you can I would keep the current aquarium running

 

[Mrgarthman]

Thats going to be a long tough day for you but your plan will work fine. I would suggest to add a couple of rocks to the bucket with fish for cover and biofiltration, perhaps an airstone as well. I've kept fish in buckets like this for a days and they were fine. Good luck with your project!

Yeah will do, just dont liek the idea of my livestock crammed in a 90l container for a few days, but i gues the transports to the aquatic stores are alot worse.....

 

[Mrgarthman]

I assume you need to move the stand 2 to 3 days makes me nervous. If you can I would keep the current aquarium running

Impossible unfortunatley

 

[slogan315]

When moving, I moved my livestock to my saltwater mixing trash can. Lived in there for a week just fine.

Your goal is to minimize stress on the fish and corals. I would recommend using as much of the current tank water in the holding containers as possible. That way you are minimizing the shock of the transfer. One tip is to siphon as much water as you can to the holding bins before removing rocks. Obviously not leaving corals above water for long. Once you start moving rocks, the water is going to get cloudy and gross. So whatever you can siphon before moving rocks is key.

Also, not sure if you have tangs or other big fish, but a single 90l will likely work just fine for a few days if it fits all your rock.

And for extended period of time, I’d recommend putting in some powerheads instead of just an airstone. Lights likely aren’t needed.

Good luck! You got this! Keep it simple