Upgrading My Tank, Need Advice!!!

NNiccoli · Feb 5, 2017

Hello Everyone!

I am new to R2R but have been in the hobby for about 2 years now.
I am about to upgrade my tank and would love any tips/pointers you guys might have.
My current set up is the JBJ 30gal nano tank. I have loved it and it has been an amazing tank to start with and over the last 2 years I have learned A LOT!!
The pictures you see are of my current set up.

I just purchased the new Red Sea Max S 650 LED
It should be here any day now. I am really excited!
I plan to do a new thread with the whole set up to let you guys follow my journey if you so desire. Let me know what you guys think!

Now to the questions.
Anyone have any advice on the best way to transfer my current set up, rocks, corals, fish to my new tank?
I plan to set up my new tank and let it cycle then transfer the goods.
Anyone had any luck with that plan? comments? Concerns?

Any advice is welcomed.
Thanks!!

CodyRVA · Feb 5, 2017

First variable is location. If you're placing the new tank where the current tank is, thats trickier. You'll need a holding tank once you remove everything from your nano, then move your nano, position your new tank and place your livestock into the new system. Otherwise, just move everything from your nano to your new tank. You won't need to cycle the new tank, the tank may experience a small cycle or some diatom blooms and things like that, but not to the extent of a brand new setup.

Make sure you have enough new water with chemistry as close as possible to your current nano's chemistry. Don't forget to have it at the proper temp and all that jazz. Your live rock and sand will provide the bacteria, but it's smart to add a bottle of bacteria when doing any transfer to supplement your losses because you will have some loss.

Keep an eye on your sand as well; if you're one to regularly turn your sand bed you should be fine. If you don't, you're likely going to release a bunch of ugliness from your sand when you do your transfer which will have adverse affects on your water. My advice is to do the sand dead last no matter how you move it. If you "think" your sand is relatively clean, i'd go ahead and add it to your new tank, if you "think" it's dirty, rinse it with RODI. It's not rocket science, I have rinsed mine before and other times decided not to and never had a problem, but it really does depend on how you keep your sand bed.

I've transferred numerous tanks; moving one tank into another in the same general location is a breeze. I moved my current tank 4 hours away and it required a crazy amount of preparation. If you plan out each step and are well prepared you'll do fine. :)