Tank transfer advise

[Striike]

Hey guys, I had mentioned before I am going to move to a 90g, with built in overflows, to do away with the overflow box problem I had. Has anyone had experience transferring inhabitants to a new tank?
This tank will be going on the same stand, so I have to drain the 75 in order to move it off. And I want to set up the 90, and run it, before putting anything in, to ensure no leaks.

I was thinking of getting a Brute garbage can, and draining the water from the 75, and putting the LR, corals, and fish in the garbage can for 1-2 days while I set up and test the 90. I am thinking they would do fine with no food or light for a couple of days, but wanted some first hand thoughts on this. Is there another method I should consider?

The tank will be ready in 3 weeks, so I have some time to think about it, but I want to make sure I do this right. Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[ironman]

I would reuse 100% of the current water when you transfer to the other tank. If you just want to water test the tank do that with tap water and then throw that water away when you move everything over.

 

[salt newbie01]

I agree with bryan on using 100% of the water. So what to put it in? Brute trash cans while nice are expensive. And you would need 2. Why not go to tractor supply and by a 100 gallon watering trough? Made from black plastic and I just priced them at $69. You could use it for a sump in another room or basement depending on your layout. Or when your done sell it to me cheap ;) just a thought. best of luck

 

[Striike]

These comments, while helpful, bring up another question. When I do this transfer, I am performing some upgrades.
I currently have a 29g sump, I am changing to a 38g sump, with a DSB. I am using the sand I have in my 29g to seed the 38g, but am worried about a mini-cycle. This a warranted concern? Should I do the move a couple days prior to adding the livestock?
I am removing the sand in my DT, so when I go to the 90, none of the sand in the 75 is coming over. I am just putting a 1" layer of sand in the 90.

So I guess both points come to me being worried I'll get a cycle with the change in substrate.

 

[bamachamp92]

you probably will get a cycle of some sort changing the substrate, but i dont know if a couple of days will help any. I would just do the changeover all at once with used water. If you let me know when you are going to do it we are pretty close to each other I can have a water change ready and you can get some of my water also in case you need more than you have and mine is a old seasoned system so it should help your mini cycle also.

 

[ironman]

Like tommy said you will have some sort of a mini cycle no matter what, you are making to many changes to an existing system to not have one. But you can minimize it by using as much seasoned water as possible and not sturring up any more of the substrate than you have to. as long as you use the 75 gallons of old water and all your live rock you will be fine, you may get a few weeks of algae blloms on the glass and substrate, but that will probly be unavoidable anyway, I would limit the photo period for the first few weeks to limit the ability of the algae to grow.

 

[Striike]

Great advice, guys, thank you.

 

[scouncil]

Donny may still have the big black troughs that I borrowed. You could ask. If he's not using them, you could probably borrow for a limited time and not buy anything.