Maturing a Red Sea Reefer 200 XL from a Fluval Evo 13.5

[Paul-RS200xl]

Hi all, this is my first post!

Many years ago I set up a large fish only tank with living rock. 18 months ago, after marrying and having kids, we decided to have a go at a setting up a nano tank, which has done really well. After The Evo LED stopped working a few weeks ago and we (just) moved house, we’ve decided to upgrade to a RS Reefer 200 XL, which is due to arrive next week. Sadly, as expected in the move, some of the more delicate yellow sponges were lost on the living rock, but all else travelled fine. I haven’t properly organised things in the Fluval and as I am I’ve started to ponder our options. (Please see attached pics.)

We plan to set the tank up as a SPS/LPS reef, with a few small fish. I’d be really grateful for any views people may have on the following please:

Would it be best to transfer the LR from the Evo in to the Reefer to seed the new tank? (Bristle worms and all,) Or
Buy new LR from my LFS, which brings the risk of pests? Or
Buy ocean or synthetic rock and seed with a maturation product? Or
All of the above, or none of the above!

Thanks!

 

[Dcal]

all of those are viable options. depends how bad you want to get rid of bristleworms/if youre fine with them. fastest cycle would be move all rock over to new one + some more live rock if needed.

 

[Paul-RS200xl]

Thanks very much for the feedback. We've become quite attached to our bristleworms—they have their role in life too! I guess it'd be best to keep some in the Evo—the rock with the green finger coral and then move some of the others into the 200XL. Do you think it'd be okay to just put the rock in the new tank after it has settled for a week, or should I acclimatise the rock in the Evo with the water from the new tank? (Caution tells me that'd be the best way not to loose the more delicate creatures, though I'd prefer as much as a fresh start as possible!)

 

[Phistergosh]

You don't need to acclimate the rock if it's just coming from an already running tank unless you have wildly different salinity or something. It's worth shaking the rock off in a bucket of salt water just to loosen debris and gunk right as you are moving it.

You should reuse as much live rock as possible for the new tank. The biological filtration and biodiversity is going to be leagues better than using dry rock, even after years. Bottles bacteria only adds some bacteria.

Get something like caribsea life rock that's dyed purple blue already as dry rock and use that to fill in because you will need more rock.

 

[DonTavo27]

I would transfer just about everything over, it would be the best way to seed the new tank, just be Sure to test for PO4 and Nitrates for the first couple weeks religiously, and do what’s necessary to keep things under control.
Here’s my 3 month old tank, I’m just battling a little hair algae due to my laziness!
Of not testing and performing water changes ;p

The saturation is real in this picture lol

 

[Paul-RS200xl]

You don't need to acclimate the rock if it's just coming from an already running tank unless you have wildly different salinity or something. It's worth shaking the rock off in a bucket of salt water just to loosen debris and gunk right as you are moving it.

You should reuse as much live rock as possible for the new tank. The biological filtration and biodiversity is going to be leagues better than using dry rock, even after years. Bottles bacteria only adds some bacteria.

Get something like caribsea life rock that's dyed purple blue already as dry rock and use that to fill in because you will need more rock.

Thanks for this, It's especially helpful to hear about the dry rock and rinsing in a bucket first as I do the transfer.

In the 90's I was guided to by tufa rock for my fish only, which was a hair algae nightmare—it ended up being a rockery in my garden before I switched to live rock. I guess nothing is really going to ever replace the real thing and I've also 'heard' some say that caribsea rock doesn't become live rock over time, hosting bacteria but not much else—I haven't seen this for myself though.

 

[Paul-RS200xl]

I would transfer just about everything over, it would be the best way to seed the new tank, just be Sure to test for PO4 and Nitrates for the first couple weeks religiously, and do what’s necessary to keep things under control.
Here’s my 3 month old tank, I’m just battling a little hair algae due to my laziness!
Of not testing and performing water changes ;p

The saturation is real in this picture lol

Wow, your tank looks great—the corals look dressed for a disco! Do you have a Red Sea cube?

Thanks for the advice about testing. Our Evo has seemed to generally do well with water quality, though for some reason despite no over feeding etc. PO4 has always at around .5. I've just tested and the water's at:

PH - 8.4
NO2 - 0
NO3 - 2
PO4 - 0.3
Ca2+ - 420
Mg - 1500
dKH - 13.1

(Unpacking boxes and children in our new home led to less water changes for a while!)

Before I move the rock over I might do 10% water changes every day before with water from the large aquarium, discarding the water I take out of the Evo—making sure the salinity is the same first. When I do the transfer I'll move the rock without corals first, leaving the filefish in the old tank, so the rock can settle with the lights off for a week. I'll might then transfer the cleanup crew too, leaving it for another week—perhaps with the lights on for a couple of hours. I'm not in a rush and hopefully that'll smooth the transfer. Does that sound like a wise plan?

Thank you!

 

[Phistergosh]

I just did a tank upgrade last weekend. I traded away my tank as part of the deal. I moved everything into a white brute tub first for 2 days. kept heat and a small powerhead going. even put the fish in with the corals and live rock.

not only did all the corals survive, they look great after a week in their new home.

you should be fine moving all rock, corals, and fish at once. there's a massive thread discussing tank moves. they say that the biological filtration on the live rock is good enough and you will be fine. they said the biggest cause of a mini cycle was reusing sand. they say reusing sand is the biggest cause of issues in general. they say to leave all the sand behind and use fresh new sand in your new system. or you can go through a large rinse and drying process but sand is cheap enough to just buy again.

splitting the rock is goin the split your filtration. I think you should start seeding extra rock asap if you want to keep the Evo going. move most if not all your rock wherever your fish and corals are going along with all the livestock including clean up crew. do it all at once. also there's no reason to go a week without lights for your rock. it could cause some harm actually. I would just move it all over in one shot and turn the lights on after letting things settle for a few hours.

 

[DonTavo27]

Wow, your tank looks great—the corals look dressed for a disco! Do you have a Red Sea cube?

Thanks for the advice about testing. Our Evo has seemed to generally do well with water quality, though for some reason despite no over feeding etc. PO4 has always at around .5. I've just tested and the water's at:

PH - 8.4
NO2 - 0
NO3 - 2
PO4 - 0.3
Ca2+ - 420
Mg - 1500
dKH - 13.1

(Unpacking boxes and children in our new home led to less water changes for a while!)

Before I move the rock over I might do 10% water changes every day before with water from the large aquarium, discarding the water I take out of the Evo—making sure the salinity is the same first. When I do the transfer I'll move the rock without corals first, leaving the filefish in the old tank, so the rock can settle with the lights off for a week. I'll might then transfer the cleanup crew too, leaving it for another week—perhaps with the lights on for a couple of hours. I'm not in a rush and hopefully that'll smooth the transfer. Does that sound like a wise plan?

Thank you!

Thank you! Lol I took the picture right before the lights ramped down, so it’s a bluer spectrum, that and a orange filter makes for some super saturated images

I wouldn’t necessarily throw the “Seasoned” salt water away from the Evo if I were you, I would use that water to seed the Red Sea.
I would do 50% new water 50% Water from your already established tank.
Buy a 10 gallon brute container to help you store the livestock in the transfer.
Most importantly, make sure parameters and temperature all match in the process.

 

[DonTavo27]

My tank is the Innovative Marine 40 pro.

 

[Paul-RS200xl]

I just did a tank upgrade last weekend. I traded away my tank as part of the deal. I moved everything into a white brute tub first for 2 days. kept heat and a small powerhead going. even put the fish in with the corals and live rock.

not only did all the corals survive, they look great after a week in their new home.

you should be fine moving all rock, corals, and fish at once. there's a massive thread discussing tank moves. they say that the biological filtration on the live rock is good enough and you will be fine. they said the biggest cause of a mini cycle was reusing sand. they say reusing sand is the biggest cause of issues in general. they say to leave all the sand behind and use fresh new sand in your new system. or you can go through a large rinse and drying process but sand is cheap enough to just buy again.

splitting the rock is goin the split your filtration. I think you should start seeding extra rock asap if you want to keep the Evo going. move most if not all your rock wherever your fish and corals are going along with all the livestock including clean up crew. do it all at once. also there's no reason to go a week without lights for your rock. it could cause some harm actually. I would just move it all over in one shot and turn the lights on after letting things settle for a few hours.

Great idea with the bath and pleased everything's looking great in your tank!

Thanks for this. I think I'll move it all over in one go, as you say, without moving across the sand, while ensuring the temp and salinity are the same. I guess the LR I've had in the tank has grown a lot of light dependant stuff on it over the last year and a half, so having the lights out would cause some die back. Thanks again!

 

[Paul-RS200xl]

My tank is the Innovative Marine 40 pro.

Thanks for this. On reflection it seems a waste of water that's generally okay. I guess I was thinking more about putting PO4 into the new tank and causing more problems, though the PO4 is probably more to do with the sand in the Evo.

I haven't seen the Innovative brand in our LFS—looks great though.