tank up grade

[olesalty]

So i will be venturing in to upgrading my 75g to a 120g from a fellow reefer since his upgrade. Now i am looking about 2weeks away from getting it from him and am in the process of planning how this will go. I will be trying to take care of it in one day, since thats about all i will have. I have a few questions so i guess i will get to them. First whats the best way about flipping the sand over? I have read that it is not good to stir the sand up, but i wouldnt see any other way of coarse. I am assume there would be some sort of cycle( which i want to aviod) but i maybe wrong. Would the fish be ok or just start with new sand? I would be sifting old sand anyways to get rid of a bunch of the big black rocks i dont care for. Second question would be on the rock. I want to do something different with my rockscape compared to now. So the question is can i keep the rock out of water awhile with out to much die out? Again tryin avoid any cycling that may affect my coral. Last but not the last i am sure. I have about 30lbs or so of rock that I took out of my tank 6months ago sitting in the garage will it be safe to add or should i start cycling in my tub in the garage now till i am ready.

 

[nater]

any fish or coral in the tank you are moving? or just rock and sand?

 

[olesalty]

yes fish and corals in the 75 i am moving

 

[olesalty]

no one? anyone?

 

[swannyson7]

As for the sand, there are two options. You can either reuse the old sand just making sure that you thoroughly rinse it with RO/DI or you could get new sand and add a cup or two of your old sand to establish some life in it. For the rock that's currenty in your tank, you should keep it in a tupperware with saltwater & a heater to prevent die off. The rock that has been out of your tank will need to be recured. All of the living stuff on/in the rock have died off by now and could cause a significant ammonia spike if you add it to your tank without cycling.

 

[Paul_N]

All three of the things you mentioned could give you a cycle.
#1 I would go with new sand. IMO the only other option is not to just sift the sand but to actually rinse it very well and for me, not worth the trouble
#2 How long are you talking about keeping the rock out of water? If you plan on keeping it out for hours then just get a plastic tub or 5 gallon bucket with tank water and keep the rock in there while you work on it and you should not have any issues. If you are just talking about keeping the rock out of the water for several minutes then you should be fine.
#3 the rock sitting in the garage for 6 months will be safe just rinse it very well but will probably give you a small cycle due to things inside that died off.

The thing is if you did any of the three things above by itself you might not have to worry about any major cycle but doing all three together you might not be able to avoid it. I would also add some type of bacteria source like mb7 or Biodigest to help you get through any cycle.

 

[justreefin]

How long has the sand been in your 75gal? If it's old and dirty than I would not reuse it, just save a little and reseed the new sandbed. If it's pretty new than give it a good cleaning and reuse. If you want to use your old dry rock than you should go ahead and place in a container with some saltwater with a powerhead now. The longer you have it circulating in water before using it the better off you be. That way you can at least minimize any cycling from any die off in the old rocks. Having your rocks out for aquascaping shouldnt be too bad, just dont let it dry out too much.

 

[Jeepguy242]

rinse your sand in a bucket, save as much of your water as possible, i went from a 55 to a 125 in a day, all my old rock, and new cured rock, and saw no cycle, but i have been told that i was lucky!!!

mark has a relly good write up on how to do it, i followed his instructions, and had no problems Melevsreef.com - Rinsing Sand

actually his site has saved my sorry butt more than a handfull of times.... THANKS MARC!!

 

[dubge]

I have done tank upgrades for myself and friends many many times and had no problems, no noticeable cycle but I have always used a new sand bed, buy a rubbermaid trash barrel to keep all your rock in and as much of the tank water as you can, put a powerhead and a heater in the barrel, save some of your old sand bed to seed the new sand bed, if you have a deep sand bed only take sand from the top couple inches as you dont want to stir anything up from down the bottom.

I did just add a tank to my system using dried out live sand and for the amount of time I spent rinsing it out I should have just bought new sand. If you want to do this in one day the new sand might be the way to go not only for time but so you dont have any type of a cycle and kill things

** oh and rinse the rubbermaid barrel out and return it when your done (as long as you dont scuff it up) if you dont want to spend the money on one or you cant borrow one**

 

[Troylee]

I agree with this guy believe it or not... Haha..:tongue:

All three of the things you mentioned could give you a cycle.
#1 I would go with new sand. IMO the only other option is not to just sift the sand but to actually rinse it very well and for me, not worth the trouble
#2 How long are you talking about keeping the rock out of water? If you plan on keeping it out for hours then just get a plastic tub or 5 gallon bucket with tank water and keep the rock in there while you work on it and you should not have any issues. If you are just talking about keeping the rock out of the water for several minutes then you should be fine.
#3 the rock sitting in the garage for 6 months will be safe just rinse it very well but will probably give you a small cycle due to things inside that died off.

The thing is if you did any of the three things above by itself you might not have to worry about any major cycle but doing all three together you might not be able to avoid it. I would also add some type of bacteria source like mb7 or Biodigest to help you get through any cycle.

 

[olesalty]

awesome thanks for the replies. Yeah sounding like new sand is the way to go. Didnt really care much for the black mix i have now anyhow. Now on a new note. I am hoping to place the sump in the garage this time. One so i can get some space under the stand and two going to get a bigger pump and dont want to hear it. Should i worry to much with it being in the garge? ie should i put a lid of some sort on it to keep things from goin in? and should i be worried about the heat in summer and cold in winter,I do have a chiller and heaters of coarse.

I also plan on using my old 75 for the sump. Was thinking 2 sections. One for the skimmer, and the other to have most of the live rock in. Figured this way i can go minimal LR in the display, really like the open sand beds some of you all have. Would this work?

 

[dubge]

How cold/hot does your garage get? I never covered mine when it was in the garage and would find a bug in the sump or skimmer once and a while. In the summer I did notice the hinges rusting on the garage door from the salt in the air as well as other things rusting. In the winter we kept the garage at 50 degrees so I never worried about the cold and in the summer it stayed fairly cool most of the time. I did not have a chiller but did run a big box fan on the sump plus an a/c in the room the tank was in. Biggest issue was evaporation as I would go through 5-8 gallons a day top off. Total water volume was around 400-500 gallons