Switching tanks and need the best plan of attack

kay2443 · Feb 3, 2023

I have a 10 gal housing a fire fish watchman goby and a crab and snail. Im switching to a 20 gal. Now my problem is this has to be done quickly because of a space issue and not having enough outlets to run both things. So I had dry sand that is now live and more in the bag that has never been used (dry sand) so I need to stir up the existing sand get a bunch of crap out and was going to put it in the new tank mixed with dry sand fish are being put in a bucket while this is happening. Putting old tank water in the new tank about 9 gallons and filling the rest with new saltwater adding in my live rock and what not. Then the fish gotta go in. My question is do you think I’d have an ammonia and nitrite spike?

Uncle99 · Feb 3, 2023

Depends on the age of the rock.
Seasoned rock, no spike, provided bio load kept same.

kay2443 · Feb 3, 2023

What is seasoned rock? Live rock?

kay2443 · Feb 3, 2023

Uncle99 said:
Depends on the age of the rock.
Seasoned rock, no spike, provided bio load kept same.

The rock was dry but has been in there since December 14th and now starting to grow corraline

Uncle99 · Feb 3, 2023

kay2443 said:
The rock was dry but has been in there since December 14th and now starting to grow corraline

Good to go.
All that’s really changing is the water volume.
Not much bacteria in the waters.
It’s the rocks and sand.

kay2443 · Feb 3, 2023

Uncle99 said:
Good to go.
All that’s really changing is the water volume.
Not much bacteria in the waters.
It’s the rocks and sand.

Okay. This is my first time switching tanks like this. It’s at my work and I have 18, 3 year olds who really love it. So I’d really love to not accidentally kill anything by lack of knowledge. THANK YOU!!!

Uncle99 · Feb 3, 2023

Me, I would not mix up the sand unless it is out of the tank.
Take out sand, rinse it well in tap water. Put it in. Add your old/new rock.
I would start off with new water, nothing in old water we need.
Stabilize temp and salinity before moving your friends.
Done!

kay2443 · Feb 3, 2023

Uncle99 said:
Me, I would not mix up the sand unless it is out of the tank.
Take out sand, rinse it well in tap water. Put it in. Add your old/new rock.
I would start off with new water, nothing in old water we need.
Stabilize temp and salinity before moving your friends.
Done!

Was planning on mixing up old sand to get all the crap out of it in the old tank then mix it in a bucket then add. I could only get 13 ish gallons of new water so that’s where I’m at

Tired · Feb 3, 2023

Do not use the old sand without incredibly thorough rinsing. Swishing it around isn't enough. Honestly, you're probably better off not using it at all.

If you transfer all the rock from the old tank to the new, the new tank will have enough of a biofilter to handle the old fish. Provided you don't also transfer a load of gunk (i.e. in old sand), you shouldn't have an ammonia spike, but testing with a reputable kit (so, not API) is still a good plan.

Any water you use from the old tank should be removed before you start moving rocks or sand. Once you stir things up, that water might get nasty and shouldn't be transferred.

aSaltyKlown · Feb 4, 2023

kay2443 said:
The rock was dry but has been in there since December 14th and now starting to grow corraline

Assuming this is when you started the tank, then a quick rinse of the sand will be fine.

Drain 5 gallons of the old tank water into a bucket and it will be fine to use. If you can get tap water into the bucket that you will have the sand in and a place to pour out the water, I'd do a few fill, stir and pour water and repeat a few times.

kay2443 · Feb 4, 2023

aSaltyKlown said:
Assuming this is when you started the tank, then a quick rinse of the sand will be fine.

Drain 5 gallons of the old tank water into a bucket and it will be fine to use. If you can get tap water into the bucket that you will have the sand in and a place to pour out the water, I'd do a few fill, stir and pour water and repeat a few times.

So the tap water in the sand won’t hurt anything? ESP since once the temp is good the go in the new tank?