Strategy help needed for tank transfer

Grampy’s Reef · Apr 8, 2021

Hi all, I’m going to transfer two tanks into one larger one. One is a 15 month old SPS 80 gallon system with 9 average fish, the other is a 3 month old LPS 110 gallon system with three fish. They are both going into a 220 gallon system(6’ 180 gallon tank and sump). I’m planning on using all the rock from both systems and adding new bleached cured(rinsed and soaked) dead rock. The rock from the SPS tank is the oldest and should probably be put in first to establish the new tank but...is transferring the SPS encrusted on the rock a good idea to be first? It would be about 80 gallons of water from the old tank and 140 gallons of fresh saltwater into a brand new tank. I will also be transferring over a large amount of chaeto from fuge to new fuge. The newer tank still needs more time for the rock to mature and can be added slowly over time. Another thing I need to deal with is a strategy for transferring the fish, I’d like to add them all together but catching the ones in the tank that still has rock in it will be challenging as they are still shy.

I also have enough dry rock to start the new tank fresh but don’t really want to start from ground zero again. Only real problem with the other tanks is some aiptasia that I will zap most as I transfer.

Or, should I just move it all at once and hope for the best, lol. Thanks for any help, I will be posting a build thread when the new tank arrives next week or so.

Aldrinlights · Apr 8, 2021

If you move it all and hope for the best using uncured rock and fresh sand you will definitely have a small cycle. I suggest moving over all of your cured rock and new sand if you're using sand, get all the fish into the new tank and use a lot of new water like you said you would be doing. Your existing rock will need of course to build up more bio filtration with the additional fish all together. The new sand will require a micro cycle itself too so you dont want to overdo it. Don't add the new uncured rock all at once. Do it 5lbs at a time spread out over a couple weeks each. Not worth losing corals and fish. Keep the uncycled rock in the other tank until its ready to move over is my suggestion. You can always pull the LPS rock out while you have fresh water for it to sit in to catch the fish.

If using sand, don't forget to rinse the crap out of it. you will have a cloud for weeks if you dont. Also fine sand will have a ton of fines in it which will be stirred up.

Grampy’s Reef · Apr 8, 2021

Aldrinlights said:
If you move it all and hope for the best using uncured rock and fresh sand you will definitely have a small cycle. I suggest moving over all of your cured rock and new sand if you're using sand, get all the fish into the new tank and use a lot of new water like you said you would be doing. Your existing rock will need of course to build up more bio filtration with the additional fish all together. The new sand will require a micro cycle itself too so you dont want to overdo it. Don't add the new uncured rock all at once. Do it 5lbs at a time spread out over a couple weeks each. Not worth losing corals and fish. Keep the uncycled rock in the other tank until its ready to move over is my suggestion. You can always pull the LPS rock out while you have fresh water for it to sit in to catch the fish.

If using sand, don't forget to rinse the crap out of it. you will have a cloud for weeks if you dont. Also fine sand will have a ton of fines in it which will be stirred up.

Thanks, I will not be using sand. The only problem with moving all the cured rock over is that I have SPS encrusted on the large rocks that would have to move with it. I figured if I moved all the rock and fish the bio load would be the same and about 40 extra gallons of water. The uncurled rock will go into one of the older tanks and moved over slowly like you suggested. I agree with your advice, just worried about my Monties and a few acros. I thank you again.

Aldrinlights · Apr 8, 2021

As long as you are testing every other day during the beginning phase and you try to keep your phos and nitrate at the same levels it will of course dip at first but then it will stabilize over a few weeks. supplement your corals with food and some reef energy ab+ and make sure you have adequate par in the new tank. Hopefully the lighting will be sufficient. Make sure you dont put the SPS into extremely higher par all of a sudden or they could bleach.

Grampy’s Reef · Apr 8, 2021

Aldrinlights said:
As long as you are testing every other day during the beginning phase and you try to keep your phos and nitrate at the same levels it will of course dip at first but then it will stabilize over a few weeks. supplement your corals with food and some reef energy ab+ and make sure you have adequate par in the new tank. Hopefully the lighting will be sufficient. Make sure you dont put the SPS into extremely higher par all of a sudden or they could bleach.

Thanks for the tips. I have a good par meter and both tanks use the same light spectrum and so will the new tank, using the same Radions so I will be doing my best to match par or a little less to where I place the coral. Just needed some assurance, god knows I’ve made my mistakes getting this far lol.