Tank transfer folks- noticeable changes

[ChrisfromBrick]

Did a tank transfer exactly a month ago. 69 to 100g (yes should have gone with the 130 but hindsight and all that). Things I did:

-Obviously got rid of old sand and used 40 lbs tbs sand and about 20 lbs of special grade
-added fritz turbo 900 for some xtra bacteria
-used all of my 2 year old coralline covered rock
- added another mp40
- went from t5 to all quanta bars (higher par reading top to bottom)
-kept same skimmer and kept it wet as did other pump


The good:
The process was pretty smooth. The cycle was instant as i got 10pm nitrate after setup.

My alk did not swing at all. This is what I was most afraid of. I dose AFR in the morning and kalk all day and night. I started small since back glass wasn’t covered in coralline.

The biggest thing I pleasantly noticed was the growth of coralline algae at the 3 week mark which showed up first on my newer branch live rock, first. Then, right before the 4 week mark i noticed it on my new brs heaters and my back wall. I was expecting this to take a few months.

My high end sps are absolutely stunning under meso blue. Especially the walt disney.

The bad:
I lost an entire colony of stratosphere zoas and stratocaster zoas. Possibly the lightning change?

I lost a blenny and have no idea where and when it went.

The TBS sand doesn’t impress me with any type of critters i wanted. Maybe some copepods, amphipods, cool sand dwellers but i don’t see anything. It also does blow around more than I care for. Thinking i could have just gone all special grade (which is a great sand).

Now I bought into the neptune cult and got some cool things with it and better doser (DOS) but still have to set it up. Hoping this gives me some more peace of mind.


Any experiences that are similar to mine and any comments on my experience?

 

[cdemoss01]

I will be doing this in the future.. Scares me. Hopefully someone can come and give their opinion!

 

[StradicCi4]

Ive tank transferred more times than I care to admit - I lost a couple good sized sps colonies last time, but they were because it was an emergency. (Red Sea Reefer victim #141513413634)

10>20>140>36>75 fingers crossed I don't have to do it in the future.

Its always went well, however, I always made sure to have plenty of Fritz turbostart, PNB bacteria and a bottle of pods - everyone seems fat and happy!

I also want to get into the controlled aquaria but its so dang spendy off the jump.

 

[ChrisfromBrick]

Ive tank transferred more times than I care to admit - I lost a couple good sized sps colonies last time, but they were because it was an emergency. (Red Sea Reefer victim #141513413634)

10>20>140>36>75 fingers crossed I don't have to do it in the future.

Its always went well, however, I always made sure to have plenty of Fritz turbostart, PNB bacteria and a bottle of pods - everyone seems fat and happy!

I also want to get into the controlled aquaria but its so dang spendy off the jump.

Good call on the pods. I am going to get some varied pods soon.

 

[Biokabe]

I've done multiple tank transfers over the years. I think I must just suck at it, because every time I've done it I've had significant losses. My most recent one went from a Reefer 350 to a Tsunami 90g, and lost 7 out 9 fish, and about 95% of corals and inverts.

 

[jsmkmavity]

I've done multiple tank transfers over the years. I think I must just suck at it, because every time I've done it I've had significant losses. My most recent one went from a Reefer 350 to a Tsunami 90g, and lost 7 out 9 fish, and about 95% of corals and inverts

Do you get the livestock out before disturbing the sandbed?
Do you clean the sand before re-using or get new sand?
A lot of toxins can be released from a sandbed especially a deeper one.
I would also use as much original tank water as possible in the transfer and then do water changes afterward. Using tank water can be a challenging process but if you siphon enough to hold the livestock then move rock then siphon more water to transfer (maybe in several stages depending on corals location) IMO it can help reduse stress by having as many things similar as possible.
Hope this helps.

 

[billyocean]

Switched from a 125 to a 300. Added 15 lbs of kp aquatics lr and used all my rock from the 125. The transfer was in a different location about 15 feet away. So...set up the 300...all new rinsed carib sea dry special grade and all new water. Sent an icp on the 125 and the 300 and when results came in I dosed the 300 trace (moonshiners) to match my 125. Switched everything over in a day...swished my rock around in brute can to knock off any loose detritus. System has about 175 or so acros...lost one matt v time machine. I did get a little ostreopsis but got rid of it quickly. Would be a little more involved if its going in the same spot perhaps

 

[ChrisfromBrick]

some interesting things-

When did my transfer i didn’t have any cycle- instant nitrate
I have been getting massive coralline growth which took only 2-3 weeks to show on rocks first then glass.
The zoas were more sensitive to the lighting and tank upgrade than the acropora.

I used tbs live sand for my new sand bed.

 

[HARDY CORALS]

I think some loss and a few problems are to be expected. I too just moved into a m100. In fact, your smoothness of transfer is what encouraged me to finally move my stuff over in one evening haha!

Overall everything looks great and I had a very quick easy cycle by utilizing my old live rock, like you.
My pros: all my zoas LOVE the new tank.
My bad: 75% of my torch heads have decided to move on!!

I pulled the trigger on the neptune apex over black Friday. I for some reason did not hook it up until last week (intimidated by my first controller). Now that it's running, I think it is the most useful tool, I should have bought one 2 yrs ago!

My ph was dropping to 7.5 at night and barely living in the 7.8 range during the day. I would have never seen it without my apex. Hook yours up if you haven't man, it's insightful at the least. I am sorry for your losses on the stratos, you will get it figured out.

 

[Biokabe]

Do you get the livestock out before disturbing the sandbed?
Do you clean the sand before re-using or get new sand?
A lot of toxins can be released from a sandbed especially a deeper one.
I would also use as much original tank water as possible in the transfer and then do water changes afterward. Using tank water can be a challenging process but if you siphon enough to hold the livestock then move rock then siphon more water to transfer (maybe in several stages depending on corals location) IMO it can help reduse stress by having as many things similar as possible.
Hope this helps.

It doesn't, but your heart is in the right place. I don't reuse sand, I did get new sand, and the livestock was out before I touched the sandbed. Your advice is good, but I did follow it with my most recent transfer

Fundamentally, my problem was that I was trying to do too much with the tank transfer, and I made too many mistakes that cost me precious time. I was planning on the actual transfer itself only taking 6-10 hours, and it ended up taking three days. Had I planned on it taking that long to begin with, I likely would have had minimal losses. Or, if I had done any of the very many things I did wrong correctly, my original plan would have worked, and again I would have had minimal losses.