Thoughts On Quick Tank Transfer, Compared To Waiting A While

[ajremington68]

Off the gun want to preface that I am an EXTREMELY impatient reefer. :)

Soo, I have a 180g at my parents house with all my corals and fish. I planned to bring it to my new house (moved about 15 mins away). I bought a 350g trough and started prepping to transfer everything from the 180g to the trough and use my lights, skimmer, and powerheads to let it run for 2-3 weeks while I set it back up and do a small cycle at my new place. I bought 2 bottles of Dr. Tims one and only for the "quick" cycle.

Then, I found a local selling a 300g acrylic tank, stand, and sump for 300 bucks. The reason for the cheap price is that he put in an offer on a house in Kentucky, got it, and had to get rid of it fast to move. So I cleaned it up, made a new stand for it, got a new sump, and got it in the basement of my new house. I water-tested it in my garage for 2 days and all is well. I currently have it filling and have it half way filled. My plan is to get it about 5"-6'" from the overflow, then stop adding RODI and mix in salt, then add all the Caribsea 300lbs of Fiji Pink sand I bought for it. Then I will fill a 55g drum and mix it then add more to get it functional and fill the sump and pipes.

I will also be getting the bio bricks out of the sump of the 180g, and I will be borrowing rock and bio bricks from my friend's 300g, and 2 bottles of Dr. Tims. So, with that being said is 1 day good enough, a couple days, 1 week? Or test it to make sure there are no nitrites and ammonia, and I have nitrates?

Question is how long do I let it run before I bring over all the rock, coral, and fish from my 180g?

I did this with a JBJ 35 just added sand, Dr. Tims, and some media. let it sit for 3 days, then added all coral and fish from my frag tank. Didnt lose anything and no bacteria blooms or anything. But every tank will act differently. Did I get lucky on this tank or can I expect the same results as long as I test ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate?

 

[phillybean]

It's 15 minutes away. It'll be tough, but if it were me, I'd leave the new tank empty, mix up 200ish gallons of fresh salt water, add enough dry rock to the new tank as you need (I'd aquascape half the tank with new dry rock), then in on big trip, move all the water, rock and live stock. Add it all to the new tank, add the new water (basically a big water change without removing the old water) and call it a day. Make sure the temp of the new water is very close to the old. I did basically the same, albeit in the same room, when I went from a 90 to 220. No need for Dr. Tims or any waiting period.

On the flip side, I had issues with my old 220, rock, pests, etc. So I ran the new 180 with fresh dry rock, did a 6 week cycle and acclimated everything over 4 weeks (clowns first, then one tang per week). Much more work, stress and I assume stress on the live stock, but to have a pest free tank was worth it to me.

 

[Fish Fan]

I will also be getting the bio bricks out of the sump of the 180g, and I will be borrowing rock and bio bricks from my friend's 300g, and 2 bottles of Dr. Tims. So, with that being said is 1 day good enough, a couple days, 1 week? Or test it to make sure there are no nitrites and ammonia, and I have nitrates?

I'm not entirely following your post

But, if you're using mature bio bricks and mature rock from a running system, you can probably do an "instant cycle" here. Are you transferring the rock from the 180 too, or is that rock staying behind? If you're moving over all that rock too, you can almost certainly do an "instant cycle". The more live rock you can use here, the closer you can come to an "instant cycle".

You also haven't mentioned fish. If you're just moving over your corals, you don't need to cycle a new tank at all for corals.

If you're looking for "insurance" from a bottled bacteria product, I'm going to suggest using Fritz TurboStart specifically. I used to recommend Dr. Tim's one and only, but from experience and from following MANY cycle threads here on R2R, that product takes 3 to 4 weeks to work, despite what it might say on the bottle The Fritz TurboStart specifically works in as fast as 24 to 48 hours, so I'd go with the Fritz product.

I see now where you are adding fish. With your bio brick and live rock, you may not need it, but, I might suggest going with the Fritz product as "insurance". Add your cycled bio bricks, as much real, wet live rock as you can, and optionally add a bottle of TurboStart. Add your corals too, they will help cycle the tank. Give that a day or two or three, and check for ammonia. If ammonia is below about 0.25 ppm, I think you'd be fine to add your fish, though adding them slowly over time would not be a bad idea

I hope this helps and good luck!

 

[ajremington68]

@Fish Fan

Yes all rock from 180 is coming, but I want to bring all the rock, coral, and fish in one or two trips same day. So I want insurance that the tank is as good as it can be. Being I have 2 bottles of Dr. Tim’s that was 60 bucks should I add that and Fritz? Or only Fritz?

My thoughts of the big text is get the new sand in the 180g with all new mixed water. Bring over all bio bricks and then get some rock from my buddy’s system and add Dr. Tim’s. Let that run for a week, then give back the rock to my buddy’s system and in the same day bring all my rock, coral, fish.

I will have to do all coral, fish, and rock in one day because I need the skimmer, power heads, and lights from my 180g to put on the 300g. I have a new return pump and used heater in the 300g for now, then I will transfer my two 600W heaters from the 180g as well.

@phillybean

I have heard from others about making some saltwater and bringing over all from the 180 or filling the 300g and doing water changes on the 180 and bringing it over. Only problem is my method to get the water over to my house is 5g buckets and I go about 6 that have lids. But I have a sedan Cadillac so I can fit 4 buckets max and if they spill that will be game over. And 20 gallons and a 30 min trip there and back… tough.