Migrating/Upgrading tank in the same spot strategy

[benapilot]

I’m about ready to move my new SCA 150 in the place of my 75.
Heres my strategy:
1- Fill two 50 gallon storage totes with current tank water (supplement with fresh saltwater)
2- Rocks and coral in one, fish in the other.
3- Air stone, heater and power head in the fish tub
4- Power head, heater and lights over the coral/rock tub
5- Tear down and remove the 75, discard current sand
6- Move the 150 in. Hook up all the equipment, fill about halfway with water and salt mix- heater and power head.
7- Aquascape with current rocks, then add new Fiji pink live. Fill with remaining water from rock/coral tub
8- When water clears, add fish.

There is no guarantee that I can get this done in one or even two days. Will my livestock be ok in the tubs for a few days (up to a week?).

I’m contemplating getting a smaller 10-20 gallon aquarium to use as a future quarantine system. Would I be better off putting my fish in there? 2 clowns, 2 damsels, coral beauty, flame angel, flame hawk, neon dottyback, niger trigger, lawnmower Blenny. Seems to be a lot for even a 20 gallon...

Is there a better way?

 

[brandon429]

missing: tap rinse all sand in tap water for hours in buckets until clean, final rinse ro, then use sand.

yes buckets are ok for a while on heated water and changes.

 

[benapilot]

missing: tap rinse all sand in tap water for hours in buckets until clean, final rinse ro, then use sand.

yes buckets are ok for a while on heated water and changes.

Unfortunately, I can’t rinse the sand. I don’t have a utility sink and it’s 10°F outside!

 

[brandon429]

total devastation will occur, leave it out then

you could let it sit a long time to settle.

 

[tricky_tran]

missing: tap rinse all sand in tap water for hours in buckets until clean, final rinse ro, then use sand.

yes buckets are ok for a while on heated water and changes.

I had zero issues putting in the Fiji Pink out of the bag with no rinsing into my new system along with live rock. Each 20lb bag of sand came with some additive for cloudy water.

60 lbs of fiji pink live sand + 70 lbs of live rock + Dr Tims One and Only + Instant Ocean Bio-Spira = cycled in 2 weeks for me. maybe i got lucky?

 

[Softhammer]

I’ve done this multiple times. If it’s a quick swap there no reason to get rid of the sand. Drain as much water as possible from the existing tank and move it out of the way. i did it on a tile floor, 90g, and walked it out of the way an inch at a time. I then refilled it. Then plumbed up the new tank and filled it. I cross water changed to equalize While transferring as much sand as I could, let the new setup filter until clear. then put all rock and corals in. I then used a colander for the remaining sand shaking out detritus. The key is DONT let the sand go stagnant. Otherwise it is totally fine.

 

[ReefLaw]

I would buy new sand and use like 20 percent of your old sand.

 

[Softhammer]

Well I’m speaking fact from multiple actual experiences. Not opinion. Sand can be reused

 

[brandon429]

Upgrade disaster

Recently had a huge leak in our 90 gal reef which forced us to upgrade sooner than expected . The upgrade being a 230 gal with a 48 gal sump . Mistake #1 I added some of the old sand assuming it would be beneficial to have a little bacteria .. I was wrong . Nuked the whole tank killing all fish...

www.reef2reef.com

doesn't always work.

what works in a given example home doesn't work for the masses, but it works about 90% of the time.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/so-i-didnt-rinse.592624/
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/sandbed-stirred-up.544852/#post-5723606

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/very-cloudy-water-after-sand-and-rock.559386/#post-5735864
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/question-about-vacuuming-sand-bed.616059/ https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/new-tank-milky-cloudy.616519/

 

[brandon429]

if you want 100% safety, rinse the sand in tap before you use it in the new setup, final rinse in ro.

if you are determined not to follow the 100% safe mode, then you have a 90-95% chance of being fine. 5% is the above, you can see it doesn't always work out that's why you can only find one sandbed / tank migration work thread on the internet, the rest are just one off jobs and the fails don't report back very often. what works 100% for safety is pre rinsing.

 

[benapilot]

I already have the new sand on hand. Without the ability to take the sand outside and rinse, I‘ll discard all the old sand and start with a clean slate.

@Softhammer, Thanks for the suggestion! I’m a little worried about damaging the vinyl planking on the floor.... if I could get a moving blanket underneath, that might work...

If I’m bringing over all my live rock and a couple dozen marine pure balls from my sump, would it still be beneficial to grab some bacteria?

 

[brandon429]

no, the bacteria wont help simply because the live rock is orders beyond what you need, and already full up there's no attachement points left open.

no supplementing is needed. if you do add some that's no harm too. we are all so grossly overdone on bacteria it just wont matter either way, add or subtract we're still overdone. live rock is this good of a filter, if we don't overcome it with cloudy sand rot etc. new sand has no risk, we're pre rinsing only to avoid the clouding which isn't helpful but sometimes settles out anyway, the little flocculant pack they provide helps.

 

[Coral the Reefer]

I just did this a month ago, from 40breeder to 75 gallon. I set up the new tank next to the 40b (both in the living room) and added rinsed new sand. Then moved over the live rock and from existing tank and glued where necessary. Then added 3/4 new salt water and 1/2 of the existing water from the 40b. Moved over corals and anemones, then caught fish and moved over one at a time, from least aggressive first to most aggressive last. Everyone is doing excellent and no ammonia spikes or cycling- the existing live rock was mature.

 

[benapilot]

Great job!

My move went real well! Had the fish and rocks in tubs in the same room for about a week while I got the new tank filled with RODI water. Once it was full, I put the rocks in, then sand. Once the water cleared, I put the fish and remaining corals in. Only one fish loss... my neon dottyback. I think he got crushed at some point moving rocks around.

Everything is doing great!