New tank.... HOW?!?

[Dj City]

Hello
I am considering upgrading my system. I have a 110gal mixed reef and I'm thinking about getting a Red Sea Reefer XXL750.

If I get the Reefer, how do I set it up?
What I mean is, the new tank would be going in the same spot the existing is in right now.

How would I set the new tank up and move the tanks?
I'm having a hard time explaining what I'm asking.
How do I move the existing tank and put the new tank in its place?
The existing tank is full of water, rock, sand, fish, sump, equipment and corals.
I would want to transfer a lot of what is in the existing tank to the new tank but I can't figure how to make this happen.

Some help, advice, guidance would be appreciated.

Also, anyone with a Red Sea Reefer XXL, please tell me how you like it and what do need to know about it too make the most of it.

Thanks R2R family.

 

[Crabs McJones]

I did something similar. What I did was I emptied as much water as I could into a bug tub (brute rubber trash cans from a hardware store work great) with a heater and a powerhead to keep some water movement and the temperature up. Then transferred all my rock and coral and fish into that tub. Then a buddy and I took the tank off the stand and set it aside. Good note for reference dont reuse your old sand. Get all new sand. Then I took all my equipment out of the sump and emptied as much water out as I could into the tub , trying not to transfer the detritus in the sump into the tub. Then took the sump out and set that aside. Now you should be able to move your stand with the tank and sump out of it. Then build and slide the RSR into place, set it up, get a pump and start pumping your water back into it, and as the water is pumping into the system you can start placing your rockwork and coral back into the tank. Remember if any coral is out of the water to have a cup on hand to dump water on them every couple minutes or take the hose that is putting your water back into the tank and spray them down. And right before you run out of water in the tub add back in your fish, they'll be easier to catch with the low water level in the tub. Then pack up your old tank and send it to me lol I hope this helps!

 

[recess62]

I think you are gonna need some large rubber made containers to put your live rock and live stock into while you swap the tanks out. The rock and live stock will survive in the container if you provide heat and water circulation. I would ditch the sand and start with new live sand. Once the tank 110 is empty it should be straight forward to just move out the old and assemble the new.

 

[RobZilla04]

Simply put you will need some large, or many small, containers. Plan on an entire day to make the move just incase something goes haywire. Have a second set of hands to help as well. A 12 pack and a buddy go a long way in making the process easier.

Prepare enough salt water +10% to account for the difference in system size.
Use new dry substrate.
Account for how you will keep the containers holding livestock up to temp and flowing during the time it is going to take to get the systems swapped out.
Aquascaping can be done over the week or two following the transfer. When I went from 55g to 90g the water was very cloudy and it was hard to see into the tank when replacing the rockwork with coral. I simply came back to it once it cleared.

Best of luck & congrats.

 

[Dj City]

First...
I gotta get the new tank. I'm leaning towards the RSR xxl 625 instead of the 750. I don't think I have enough wall space for the 750 and the 625 will fit that wall perfectly.

So... new dry sand
Why dry sand and not the wet bag sand?

Im thinking of going with new reef saver rock. I want a new, simpler scape that I can't do with my existing large liver rock. I would cram all old live rock in the sump and and display and remove one at a time over a few weeks. Also, I'm thinking of using marine pure in the sump to supplement for having less live rock in the display.

I have two 32gal brute trash bins that I use for the rare water change. I could use those plus get some other bins from Walmart or someplace like that to house my livestock and rocks during the change over.

Will the reefsaver rock need to be cycled?
Will the new tank need to be cycled since it's going to have all the old rock and equipment installed?
How much time am I looking at having livestock in bins before the new tank is ready to go for living things like fish, corals and anemones?

 

[RobZilla04]

Wet bag sand is so because it possesses "live" bacteria to help get system's started. Die off could cause a spike of ammonia which could be deadly to current livestock. Best to use new dry and allow the bacteria load you are transferring to slowly increase the population over a period of time. The live sand could potentially work, I just remember using dry sand.

Using the old sand can create a nutrient spike due to releasing everything that's been trapped in there since the system began. Although lesser if you routinely vacuum when performing water changes, yet still not worth the risk IMO.

New rock will take time to culture. Best if added slowly to the new system over time. Same goes for the marine block.

The system won't cycle in manner of high ammonia followed by weeks of nitrogen cycle from nitrites to nitrates because you are using so much of the old water/rock which contains the multicultured bacteria from the established system. All livestock (coral/fish/nems) can be transferred in the same day provided you are using as much of the old water as possible, the old rock, new sand, and just a little new water/rock. Going from 110g total (if that's what you currently have) to 160g plus sump (minus aquascape/equipment displacement) that's not a significant jump in size considering total volume. I'm not familiar with Reef Saver rock, so you'll have to research if it leaches phosphates back into the water column. This would create potential algae outbreaks if not controlled and limited by how much you add at once.

 

[Greybeard]

I did something similar last summer. Had a 60g cube, wanted to break it down and put up a 140g peninsula, occupying the same floor space.

The way outlined above, moving everything to tubs, then to the new tank, would likely work... but. I was afraid that, increasing the size dramatically, as I was, that I would be in for an ammonia/nitrite/nitrate startup cycle. I ended up taking a different path.

I picked up a cheap 55g tank, slightly smaller than the 60 I already had, and moved everything from the 60 to the 55, positioned out of the way of the new tank. I did use a few barrels, including one of new mix salt water, but everything else came over. Siphoned off the water into a barrel, as close to the top of the sand bed as I could. Put all of the rock, fish, corals, etc into these tubs full of existing reef water. I then moved the sand bed, with a new, clean dustpan, stirring as little as possible... and I LEFT IT ALONE for an hour or so, just wet sand, enough water to cover it. Let it settle, before adding anything else. I then added the rock, corals, and as much of the clear water I had from the original tank as I could, topping it off with fresh mix salt, probably less than 10%, to keep me from pumping in stuff that was full of sediment.

So, old tank empty, stuff in a reasonably solid holding tank, lit, heated, good flow... there it sat, for like 5 months. I set up the new tank, got it plumbed, water tested, cleaned... new sand, new rock, and started the cycle. Just as you would with any new tank. In this case, I used Red Sea's reef mature kits... I'd never tried them, and wanted to see how it worked. Worked great, but it's way expensive for a larger tank, and unnecessary. I don't recommend it. Anyway, got a fully established bio filter going, nice and stable, in the new tank, and THEN I transferred corals and fish to the new tank. I also moved a few pieces of live rock, most of it ended up in the sump, since I didn't really want any more rock in the display. Broke down and got rid of the 55 and the old sand, and the few bits of rock remaining.

Long slow process, yes indeed, but IMHO, it was the best way to go. I didn't loose any fish, I lost 1 coral, probably due to the crappy light I was using over the 55g holding tank... and that was it.

Rule 1 in reefing: Nothing good happens fast. Take your time.

 

[RichReef]

If you aren't trying to get rid of certain animals and pests you can do what we did.

We actually moved the original tank over. Set up the new one and plumbed them together.

It worked like a charm. A little inconvenient but it was a very clean exchange.

 

[RobZilla04]

I did something similar last summer. Had a 60g cube, wanted to break it down and put up a 140g peninsula, occupying the same floor space.

The way outlined above, moving everything to tubs, then to the new tank, would likely work... but. I was afraid that, increasing the size dramatically, as I was, that I would be in for an ammonia/nitrite/nitrate startup cycle. I ended up taking a different path.

I picked up a cheap 55g tank, slightly smaller than the 60 I already had, and moved everything from the 60 to the 55, positioned out of the way of the new tank. I did use a few barrels, including one of new mix salt water, but everything else came over. Siphoned off the water into a barrel, as close to the top of the sand bed as I could. Put all of the rock, fish, corals, etc into these tubs full of existing reef water. I then moved the sand bed, with a new, clean dustpan, stirring as little as possible... and I LEFT IT ALONE for an hour or so, just wet sand, enough water to cover it. Let it settle, before adding anything else. I then added the rock, corals, and as much of the clear water I had from the original tank as I could, topping it off with fresh mix salt, probably less than 10%, to keep me from pumping in stuff that was full of sediment.

So, old tank empty, stuff in a reasonably solid holding tank, lit, heated, good flow... there it sat, for like 5 months. I set up the new tank, got it plumbed, water tested, cleaned... new sand, new rock, and started the cycle. Just as you would with any new tank. In this case, I used Red Sea's reef mature kits... I'd never tried them, and wanted to see how it worked. Worked great, but it's way expensive for a larger tank, and unnecessary. I don't recommend it. Anyway, got a fully established bio filter going, nice and stable, in the new tank, and THEN I transferred corals and fish to the new tank. I also moved a few pieces of live rock, most of it ended up in the sump, since I didn't really want any more rock in the display. Broke down and got rid of the 55 and the old sand, and the few bits of rock remaining.

Long slow process, yes indeed, but IMHO, it was the best way to go. I didn't loose any fish, I lost 1 coral, probably due to the crappy light I was using over the 55g holding tank... and that was it.

Rule 1 in reefing: Nothing good happens fast. Take your time.

Did you test at any point after transferring contents of the 60g to the 140g? Specifically for Ammonia, Nitrites, Nitrates, & Phosphates.

 

[Michael Naegeli]

I did exactly that, put a 750 where I had the 525. I was told it would take a full day. Three of us did whole move in 3 hours w the stand built and 750 on there. Moved 525 across the room to opposite wall. Placed thick cardboard from the 750 box under the mostly empty 525 and slid it rt across a tile floor. I have own rodi so making new water was easy. It seemed like such a huge task but wasn’t as bad as we all expected when all said and done. You can do it!!

 

[Greybeard]

Did you test at any point after transferring contents of the 60g to the 140g? Specifically for Ammonia, Nitrites, Nitrates, & Phosphates.

Sure... Any time I do any sort of major change, I test Ammonia for a while. Never had any in the 140, once the initial nitrogen cycle was established. When I added the coral and fish, I didn't get any measurable ammonia bump at all. I will say that I didn't have many fish, and those that I had were small... It was a 60 cube, after all

I don't think I ever tested Nitrite, but Nitrate and Phosphate I test weekly, regardless. Had a problem with the new tank in keeping nitrate and phosphate above zero for a while. First time I'd ever had that problem. Was looking into dosing nitrate and phosphate, but in the meantime, I increased bio load by adding several fish, and started feeding more. I'm maintaining about 6ppm Nitrate and Phosphate just measurable at this point, without dosing. Nitrate drops to barely measurable following a water change, but it doesn't last long... back to 5 or 6 after a day or two.

 

[RobZilla04]

Lots of folks stress over swapping tanks when it's really rather simple. If you think about it, the water and rock work is already being sloshed around. The sand isn't. Thus that is the only place where something "bad" (trapped detritus & gasses) can come from. Provided everything is stored in the proper conditions during the transfer, adding new water isn't going to create any issues.

The lack of living microscopic bacteria in a start up tank is why the initial ammonia spike is observed (see why bacteria is sold as quick cycle products). Now with the huge population of bacteria being transferred from one tank to another, coupled with no dead/decaying organisms, equals no spike measurable by our test kits.

Now transfer billions of bacteria into the new system with no accompanying nutrients to feed on (leaving livestock behind) and you'll get bottomed out nitrate & phosphate levels.

 

[Dburr1014]

Simply put you will need some large, or many small, containers. Plan on an entire day to make the move just incase something goes haywire. Have a second set of hands to help as well. A 12 pack and a buddy go a long way in making the process easier.

Prepare enough salt water +10% to account for the difference in system size.
Use new dry substrate.
Account for how you will keep the containers holding livestock up to temp and flowing during the time it is going to take to get the systems swapped out.
Aquascaping can be done over the week or two following the transfer. When I went from 55g to 90g the water was very cloudy and it was hard to see into the tank when replacing the rockwork with coral. I simply came back to it once it cleared.

Best of luck & congrats.

A case of beer and pizza[emoji16] in fact throw in a couple frags and I'll come. [emoji106]

 

[Crabs McJones]

A case of beer and pizza[emoji16] in fact throw in a couple frags and I'll come. [emoji106]

Depended on OP's location, i'd be game for that as well!

 

[Greybeard]

A case of beer and pizza[emoji16] in fact throw in a couple frags and I'll come. [emoji106]

Have moved (and plumbed!) many a tank with this sort of arrangement

 

[Dj City]

Hahaha

I'm in Maryland.

 

[Dj City]

I'm considering other things I will (may) need for this upgrade.

I don't know how much of an upgrade the RSR 625XXL really is from what I have now. It's slightly larger but not THAT much. It gives me the opportunity to reset everything and re-do the scape.

I have 3x OceanRevive T247 lights over my 110gal. I wonder if that's enough for the RSR 625Xxl?
If I get new lights, what should I get? Do I keep just the 3 lights that I have now? Do I add a 4th OR T247? Do I get new lights?
The Hydra 26's are good but I think the ReefBreeders Photon v2+ is a good option as well. I don't want to waste money on things I don't really NEED so if my existing lights are good enough then I will leave well enough alone.
I have a SCA 302 skimmer and wonder if it's enough.
I have a Jebao DCP 10000 as the return pump. Should I get a larger pump? I'm looking at the DCP 20000.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Jebao-Jecod-DCP-Series-3000-20000-Maring-DC-Sine-Wave-Return-Pump-W-Controller/192423330923?ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&var=492420838300&_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649

And i'm thinking of installing a manifold. Never had one before. Never built one so that will be a challenge.

 

[Dj City]

Any thoughts on the above post?

 

[Rollman]

I’m in MD and could help. Ill be doing the same thing soon

 

[Dj City]

Hey Rollman,

Where in this large state are you? I'm in P.G. county.