Upgrading established 75/20g to 210g with sump. Need some advice

TehBrainz

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Jul 31, 2018
Messages
477
Reaction score
287
Location
Charleston, SC
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Hello,

Per title, I'm in the process of upgrading my 3 y/o 75 gallon tank with a 20g sump to a 210g with sump (not sure of exact size) that was broken down by as a local FOWLR that is 2 years old. All I'm keeping is the tank, stand, canopy, and sump.

I have ~60-70lbs of rock in my current system as well as bio balls in the sump that will be transferring over to the new tank. I will be using new sand and ~120lbs of new dry Marco rock. Dr. Tim's will be added at start.

I'm assuming I will have a minicycle, even if I dump all filter media from old to the new tank all at once due to the volume of new dry rock, correct? Would it be best to do a small transfer of rock/bio balls from old to new to kick start the cycle and leave the 75g running for a small time period? I don't want to start "fresh" as I have a great bio filter and microfauna built up and have had some softies and LPS in the system since last year

Trying to manage my expectations and plan properly. New tank will be able to get wet as early as this coming weekend. I've been told that the time period with both tanks in the house should be as little as possible

Thank you!
B

20210723_180015.jpg 20210619_234926.jpg
 

Jmcg89

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Sep 2, 2020
Messages
170
Reaction score
114
Location
Port st lucie
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I went from a 60 to a 180 in about 2 days with maybe only 15 lbs of rock and 12 or so marine pure balls going to the new tank. Same thing as you new sand and new dry rock and all new water. Fish were only 2 small tangs and 2 chromis. Also many snails and crabs and my chaeto.
I also dosed microbacter 2 times to be safe.
Never saw an amonia spike on the amonia alarm.
I felt pretty safe with a larger water volume compared to the bio load letting the bacteria keep up.
 

brandon429

why did you put a reef in that
View Badges
Joined
Dec 9, 2014
Messages
29,483
Reaction score
23,570
Location
tejas
Rating - 0%
0   0   0

That's the safest way to blend and move tanks. Study a few pages you'll lose nothing

Most important part of fifty pages of examples: tap rinsing all new sand used. The reason that's the only tank transfer thread on the web is because non rinse methods have a loss rate of about 25% so nobody wants to run a rinseless transfer thread, only rinsing is 100% safe. The less you change up that logged procedure above the safer the move will go. The entire method to preventing any recycle is cloudless sand, move no detritus, seed with no old sand unrinsed. Don't use bottle bacteria we can plainly see it's not needed above in any move job
 
Last edited:

dbowman5

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Feb 19, 2020
Messages
2,299
Reaction score
11,493
Location
Dayton, Ohio
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Good Luck! With all the used rock and media, you might not see a cycle at all. Your bio load is light so the transferred bacteria could be sufficient; some say that there is little, (percentage-wise) in the sand and water contributing to bacteria populations. What i wonder is how long will the transfer take? Will you be able to keep the rock and media fresh during the transition?
 
OP
OP
TehBrainz

TehBrainz

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Jul 31, 2018
Messages
477
Reaction score
287
Location
Charleston, SC
Rating - 0%
0   0   0

That's the safest way to blend and move tanks. Study a few pages you'll lose nothing

Most important part of fifty pages of examples: tap rinsing all new sand used. The reason that's the only tank transfer thread on the web is because non rinse methods have a loss rate of about 25% so nobody wants to run a rinseless transfer thread, only rinsing is 100% safe. The less you change up that logged procedure above the safer the move will go. The entire method to preventing any recycle is cloudless sand, move no detritus, seed with no old sand unrinsed. Don't use bottle bacteria we can plainly see it's not needed above in any move job


@brandon429 That looks like a great thread! I'm about 6 pages in so far and now planning on the rinse of my new live sand. I may do some doses of Dr. Tim's since I've got it afterall, but its refreshing to read that it shouldn't be necessary.

Good Luck! With all the used rock and media, you might not see a cycle at all. Your bio load is light so the transferred bacteria could be sufficient; some say that there is little, (percentage-wise) in the sand and water contributing to bacteria populations. What i wonder is how long will the transfer take? Will you be able to keep the rock and media fresh during the transition?
@dbowman5 , So my plan was to use plenty of 7g and 10g buckets I have to store the rock and fish/inverts. I have a few airstones and air pumps I can split off tubing to keep the water oxygenated. Honestly not sure how long the transfer will take, but I'm hoping to keep it to a minimum.

Thanks,
B
 
OP
OP
TehBrainz

TehBrainz

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Jul 31, 2018
Messages
477
Reaction score
287
Location
Charleston, SC
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I went from a 60 to a 180 in about 2 days with maybe only 15 lbs of rock and 12 or so marine pure balls going to the new tank. Same thing as you new sand and new dry rock and all new water. Fish were only 2 small tangs and 2 chromis. Also many snails and crabs and my chaeto.
I also dosed microbacter 2 times to be safe.
Never saw an amonia spike on the amonia alarm.
I felt pretty safe with a larger water volume compared to the bio load letting the bacteria keep up.
Did you keep the 15lbs of rock or did you add to it? I'll be keeping a close eye on nutrients, but hoping for the best. Good to hear about your positive experience.

I just need to get my butt in gear to finish the plumbing in the next day or so!

Thanks,
B
 

Jmcg89

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Sep 2, 2020
Messages
170
Reaction score
114
Location
Port st lucie
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Did you keep the 15lbs of rock or did you add to it? I'll be keeping a close eye on nutrients, but hoping for the best. Good to hear about your positive experience.

I just need to get my butt in gear to finish the plumbing in the next day or so!

Thanks,
B
I had set up rockwork with dry rock in the new tank and then added the live rock from the old tank, i actually have removed all of it by now because it didnt fit with the aquascape
 
OP
OP
TehBrainz

TehBrainz

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Jul 31, 2018
Messages
477
Reaction score
287
Location
Charleston, SC
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
So I checked the parameters today between both tanks and I realized a mistake I've made.

I decided to switch salts for this tank and was planning on doing the switch through some water changes but ran out of reef crystals about halfway through making the water. I finished with Brightwell and as a result my parameters between the two tanks are a bit off. Biggest difference is between Alk and Mag. Should I work to bring these closer aligned before moving live stock or would a drip acc be enough when moving over?

Current 75 gallon
Alk - 8.5
Cal - 450
Mag - 1400
Salinity - 1.025
Temp - 79

New 210 gallon
Alk - 10.1
Cal - 425
Mag - 1680
Salinity - 1.025
Temp - 80

I'm thinking I might want to do a WC on the old tank before moving everything to get a small acc that way as well. I'm so close to the finish line!!
 
OP
OP
TehBrainz

TehBrainz

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Jul 31, 2018
Messages
477
Reaction score
287
Location
Charleston, SC
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
So looking at the bucket of Brightwell NeoMarine the measurement values don't make sense.

The NeoMarine bucket says Alk should be ~7.5 and Mag 1288 at a Salinity of 1.025.

I'm making new water and will test a fresh batch of 100% NeoMarine. It shouldn't be the old salt as I've always kept my tank around 8.5. Unless there was an alk spike at the bottom of the last bucket? Is that possible?
 

A worm with high fashion and practical utility: Have you ever kept feather dusters in your reef aquarium?

  • I currently have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 69 37.5%
  • Not currently, but I have had feather dusters in my tank in the past.

    Votes: 62 33.7%
  • I have not had feather dusters, but I hope to in the future.

    Votes: 25 13.6%
  • I have no plans to have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 28 15.2%
  • Other.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
Back
Top