Tank Transfer and New livestock

NWHreef · Dec 18, 2023

New to the site, and looking for some advice on a slow transfer of corals and fish from a 20gal AIO to a 45 gal AIO. I plan on setting up the new tank with life rock and live sand, as well as a few rocks i've had in the back of my old tank for several weeks now. Once the cycle is complete, I want to slowly start transferring corals to the new tank. A big reason for the new tank is to get a bubble tip anemone, but i'm not sure what stage to add that at. Is it better to have the tank extremely stable with corals already growing? or should i add it before corals and let it choose a spot?

EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal · Dec 18, 2023

NWHreef said:
New to the site, and looking for some advice on a slow transfer of corals and fish from a 20gal AIO to a 45 gal AIO. I plan on setting up the new tank with life rock and live sand, as well as a few rocks i've had in the back of my old tank for several weeks now. Once the cycle is complete, I want to slowly start transferring corals to the new tank. A big reason for the new tank is to get a bubble tip anemone, but i'm not sure what stage to add that at. Is it better to have the tank extremely stable with corals already growing? or should i add it before corals and let it choose a spot?

Just fill the new tank with saltwater and, assuming you're using sand, once the dust settles, move all your rocks, coral, and fish/inverts to the new tank. No need to "cycle" since you'll move the biofilter to the new tank along with the fish. Think of it this way... If you added a 25 gallon sump to your existing 20 gallon tank, you wouldn't need to cycle or do anything special... It's just more water.
(And I don't recommend "life" rock or other man made rocks - they're essentially concrete and have a lot more negatives than positives for your tank)

EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal · Dec 18, 2023

As for the nem, you want to be able to keep the water chemistry/parameters stable. Some people can do this in a new tank, but if you are still new to this hobby, it's probably best to plan on waiting 4-6 months before adding a nem. Regardless, they will move if they want and it's not hard to reposition corals if needed.
I have had nems in my tank for years, and have 3 now -- just last week, one of them decided to move and has traveled all over the tank... As I said, it can happen regardless of how long the anemone has been in the tank.

Good luck!

NWHreef · Dec 18, 2023

Thanks for the advice! Unfortunately, life rock was the best option I could find at a reasonable price. (it was still pretty expensive) Would drilling some additional holes in the rock help?
- Thats good news for the nem! I have been fine keeping parameters in check on the 20 gal for over a year. I figure the 45gal will have even more wiggle room.

EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal · Dec 18, 2023

NWHreef said:
Thanks for the advice! Unfortunately, life rock was the best option I could find at a reasonable price. (it was still pretty expensive) Would drilling some additional holes in the rock help?
- Thats good news for the nem! I have been fine keeping parameters in check on the 20 gal for over a year. I figure the 45gal will have even more wiggle room.

Yeah. If the 20 has been up over a year, you should be fine adding a nem. And it doesn't matter how soon after the move... If you had one now, you'd be moving it to the new tank along with everything else so there's really no difference.
Life rock is fine, just not ideal. If you have other porous rock and/or something like Matrix for bacteria to colonize, it's fine.
Drilling holes in life rock won't do anything but add holes, lol. No need to do this unless you're joining rocks together using rods.

EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal · Dec 18, 2023

NWHreef said:
Thanks for the advice! Unfortunately, life rock was the best option I could find at a reasonable price. (it was still pretty expensive) Would drilling some additional holes in the rock help?
- Thats good news for the nem! I have been fine keeping parameters in check on the 20 gal for over a year. I figure the 45gal will have even more wiggle room.

Which "Huntsville" are you?