Tank move help & advice

[JayReefs97]

Hey everyone,

I am upgrading from a 30 gallon to a 60 gallon. The 30 gallon will be at my old apartment whereas the new tank will be in my new home so this will have to be done in a day. My plan is to transfer the existing 30 lbs of rock, 30 gallons of water, filter media, and the sand along with my fish I have in my existing setup into the new tank. I will then be adding the other half of the water, sand & rock which will be brand new. Do I risk any type of mini cycle or should I be good to go with this?

 

[JTP424]

I wouldn't transfer the water. Just make new. All your biological filter is in your rock!
I would just use new rinsed sand and fresh water.
I'd keep the old sand and rinse it if you want or just use all new.
No risk of mini cycle. As you add more rock etc you may have to deal with some uglies if it's dry rock etc.

 

[JayReefs97]

I wouldn't transfer the water. Just make new. All your biological filter is in your rock!
I would just use new rinsed sand and fresh water.
I'd keep the old sand and rinse it if you want or just use all new.
No risk of mini cycle. As you add more rock etc you may have to deal with some uglies if it's dry rock etc.

Knowing I won't having to haul existing sand and water just made me a much happier man, thank you for the advice, new sand and water it is.

 

[Kiwi reefer]

The filter media and rock should be heaps of benifical bateria so your tank will cycle really fast especially if you have a fish in there

The new sand and water is a great idea and suggestion from above

To make sure your fish are safe in there new tank a Seachem ammonia alert would be a good piece of mind theyre cheap and they do work well

if your alart tag shows ammonia moving up you can just do a water change.

 

[JayReefs97]

The filter media and rock should be heaps of benifical bateria so your tank will cycle really fast especially if you have a fish in there

The new sand and water is a great idea and suggestion from above

To make sure your fish are safe in there new tank a Seachem ammonia alert would be a good piece of mind theyre cheap and they do work well

if your alart tag shows ammonia moving up you can just do a water change.

This is super helpful, thanks so much

 

[UnnamedReef]

Good advice above. I've done two long range moves/upgrades with my tanks (kept existing rock, used new rinsed sand, and new water as recommended above) and had no issues cycling. Ammonia alert made me less nervous, worth every penny for a transfer.

If you have the 60 gallon up to temperature/matched salinity and running with rinsed sand and new water ahead of time it will make your life much easier. Coolers and/or buckets to move livestock work well. Make sure you separate fish from rocks since rocks can shift in transit and injure fish, I lost one that way.

May help to baste off your rocks before you put them in the new tank to transfer as little detritus as possible. I went light on the feedings for the next couple days after both transfers. Good luck! I'm in CT and close to MA if you need anything

 

[JayReefs97]

Good advice above. I've done two long range moves/upgrades with my tanks (kept existing rock, used new rinsed sand, and new water as recommended above) and had no issues cycling. Ammonia alert made me less nervous, worth every penny for a transfer.

If you have the 60 gallon up to temperature/matched salinity and running with rinsed sand and new water ahead of time it will make your life much easier. Coolers and/or buckets to move livestock work well. Make sure you separate fish from rocks since rocks can shift in transit and injure fish, I lost one that way.

May help to baste off your rocks before you put them in the new tank to transfer as little detritus as possible. I went light on the feedings for the next couple days after both transfers. Good luck! I'm in CT and close to MA if you need anything

Thank you so much. I will be taking a day or 2 off work to make sure this all goes smoothly and safely. I will 100% be taking all of your advice into account as this will be my first big move. Very much appreciate this! Cheers from new england!

 

[UnnamedReef]

Cheers indeed! Best of luck with your move and upgrade. If you need some new coral to help fill that out give me a shout

 

[Reefanatik]

I will be moving my 270g tank to my new home 30 minutes away this upcoming weekend. It will be allot of work, not looking forward to it. I created a thread and listed steps I will use for my transfer also, looking for any advice.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/270g-sps-tank-move.1151416/