Tank Migration

[kamehameha]

I currently have a 32g tank with about an inch of sand and 20lbs of rock. It has gotten to the diatom stage and that is pretty much cleared out now. For livestock I have 5 cerith snails, 9 hermit crabs, 3 nassarius snails, 2 Clowns, 1 firefish, and 1 yellow watchman goby. I don't have any coral yet.

I just got a great deal on a 75g tank and sump. I am going to paint the stand and replumb from the tank to the sump. I will need to buy a skimmer (any recommendations?) a heater and some more rock. Could do with some suggestions on rock as well, my plan is to keep softies only, just beginner corals. I'm not the best at scaping, is there anything easy to stack?

What I am wondering is, what would be the best way to move everything over to the 75g? Should I cycle the new tank on its own cycle, or will adding in my current rocks and sand get this new tank up to the same stage right away? Should I use the actual water from the old tank, in the new tank? I have been using a canister filter with the 32g and it has a bunch of Seachem Matrix in it, which I can throw into the sump.

For reference, this is my current build: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/my-32g-flex.864624/

TLDR: My questions are:
1. What would be the best way to move everything over to the 75g?
2. Should I cycle the new tank on its own cycle, or will adding in my current rocks and sand get this new tank up to the same stage right away?
3. Should I use the actual water from the old tank, in the new tank?
4. Have any Skimmer or Rock suggestions?

 

[sunken3]

I currently have a 32g tank with about an inch of sand and 20lbs of rock. It has gotten to the diatom stage and that is pretty much cleared out now. For livestock I have 5 cerith snails, 9 hermit crabs, 3 nassarius snails, 2 Clowns, 1 firefish, and 1 yellow watchman goby. I don't have any coral yet.

I just got a great deal on a 75g tank and sump. I am going to paint the stand and replumb from the tank to the sump. I will need to buy a skimmer (any recommendations?) a heater and some more rock. Could do with some suggestions on rock as well, my plan is to keep softies only, just beginner corals. I'm not the best at scaping, is there anything easy to stack?

What I am wondering is, what would be the best way to move everything over to the 75g? Should I cycle the new tank on its own cycle, or will adding in my current rocks and sand get this new tank up to the same stage right away? Should I use the actual water from the old tank, in the new tank? I have been using a canister filter with the 32g and it has a bunch of Seachem Matrix in it, which I can throw into the sump.

For reference, this is my current build: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/my-32g-flex.864624/

TLDR: My questions are:
1. What would be the best way to move everything over to the 75g?
2. Should I cycle the new tank on its own cycle, or will adding in my current rocks and sand get this new tank up to the same stage right away?
3. Should I use the actual water from the old tank, in the new tank?
4. Have any Skimmer or Rock suggestions?

for me... I would reuse all your current stuff (some may say dump the sand, but why?)

take all the live things out and put them in some tank water.. stir up your sand good .. filter it and then reuse it in the new tank with any extra sand you've added. add you rock and such. you can use all new SW as long as it has had 24+ hours to settle.. if your live sand and rocks can support your current setup, you dont need to wait to cycle the 75 (as long as youre not adding additional stuff immediately). I like reef octopus skimmers..

 

[kamehameha]

for me... I would reuse all your current stuff (some may say dump the sand, but why?)

take all the live things out and put them in some tank water.. stir up your sand good .. filter it and then reuse it in the new tank with any extra sand you've added. add you rock and such. you can use all new SW as long as it has had 24+ hours to settle.. if your live sand and rocks can support your current setup, you dont need to wait to cycle the 75 (as long as youre not adding additional stuff immediately). I like reef octopus skimmers..

So I also got ~50lbs of sand from the previous owner and planned to use that as well. Going to rinse it out as much as possible first.

As far as skimmers go I am hoping to find an option that's a bit cheaper than the reef octopus offerings.

That's good to hear about the cycle, I don't plan on adding anything else yet. I am actually not sure what other fish I even want. Id love a Dwarf Flame but I'm afraid it would go for coral. So I've got some research to do!

 

[Rick's Reviews]

I'm looking into moving my aquatic life into a bigger tank also, so any advice on this thread is really appreciated, for me i also have 2 X clownfish goby and pistol shrimp (paired) cleaner shrimp , various hermits, snails , similar filters (cannister) , same questions as @kamehameha ?

 

[sunken3]

yes.. i seem to move stuff around every so many years.. bigger then smaller then bigger.. lol

i have not had an issue with a flame angel in my reef tank (at least nothing i have ever seen).

 

[kamehameha]

yes.. i seem to move stuff around every so many years.. bigger then smaller then bigger.. lol

i have not had an issue with a flame angel in my reef tank (at least nothing i have ever seen).

Well that's good to hear, I may give one a shot then. The only other fish I'm thinking I really might want is a Whitetail Bristle tooth Tang. But they are not the cheapest so it'll be a much later addition.

 

[sunken3]

nothing is cheap now...

 

[kamehameha]

Today I had some copepods appear in my tank. Not sure how they got there, but I'm not mad about it, would love a mandarin down the road. Problem is, I also found 15 or more Bryopsis as well. I assume this means I haven't been careful enough about not getting LFS/Live Aquaria water in my tank.

I think I got them out by razor scraping and suctioning them up with a baster, although its possible one or two escaped. Haven't seen any on the rock just the glass.

Since I'm working on my new tank now, I'm wondering what the best way to proceed might be; Should I just use new rock and sand and leave out the old stuff meaning a whole new cycle? Or maybe add the live rock into the fuge in my sump and use some floss to keep the algae from getting into the return bay?

The other option is to wing it and see if it gets bad. Then I could just use some of this Reef Flux Fluconazole Treatment. I want to keep the pods if possible.

Maybe there is a better solution, if possible Id like to leave the Bryopsis behind though. Please let me know what you think.