Upgrading to bigger aquariums

[Joffunswife]

Hey all.

We currently have 2 small marine tanks running… a 24gal fowlr and a 32gal reef. Both tanks systems are old and had multiple owners before us, replacing bits was getting costly so we are taking delivery of a 115gal tank next week with the hope of consolidating the two smaller ones. Both run at the same salinity, temp and all inhabitants are compatible bar 1 who will go to live with a reefer friend.

Can anyone advise the best way to get everything swapped over. The new tank will be going in the same room but due to also having a 132gal fresh water tank in the room once the new one is in it won’t be feasible to keep the old tanks in place.

Any advice would be wonderful

Thank you

 

[JumboShrimp]

Sounds like 115 gallons of fun coming your way! So, all your FOWLR fish (except one) are reef compatible, is what you are saying?

 

[Joffunswife]

Yes they’re all reef safe. My fowlr was never intended to stay a fowlr tank. I was just waiting for some corals to grow out enough to frag them. The only thing moving will be the decorator crab that lives in the fowlr. Definitely lots of fun coming our way for sure

 

[Dom]

Hey all.

We currently have 2 small marine tanks running… a 24gal fowlr and a 32gal reef. Both tanks systems are old and had multiple owners before us, replacing bits was getting costly so we are taking delivery of a 115gal tank next week with the hope of consolidating the two smaller ones. Both run at the same salinity, temp and all inhabitants are compatible bar 1 who will go to live with a reefer friend.

Can anyone advise the best way to get everything swapped over. The new tank will be going in the same room but due to also having a 132gal fresh water tank in the room once the new one is in it won’t be feasible to keep the old tanks in place.

Any advice would be wonderful

Thank you

I've been down this path. There was much I didn't consider before I purchased my 125 gallon. For example:

• The lighting on the existing tanks were insufficient to light the new, larger tank. I was necessary for me to buy new lights. I chose AI Hydra 32s, quantity 3, cost: $1500.00
• Protein skimmer in the sump was too small to handle the larger tank. Cost: $250.00
• Purchase additional substrate as the existing substrate was inadequate to cover the tank's bottom. I had to add 4 bags of crushed coral. Cost: $120.00.
• PVC supplies to plumb the new tank. $180.00.

Just some stuff to think about.

 

[vlangel]

I just transferred my 56g display with 30g sump into a 75g AIO. The 75g was going in the same spot as the 56g. I got my old spare 20g and 10g and moved water fish and coral into those tanks along with a heater and some rock. The rest of the rock went into 5 gallon buckets. I even washed my old sand so it went into 5 gallon buckets. Then I took down the 56g when it was empty and moved the 75g in its place. I leveled it. After that I got a vinyl tablecloth and laid out most of my wet live rock and began aquascaping. I already had a rough idea what I wanted. After I got it mostly scaped I poured the washed sand around the rock. When I got all the sand in I began adding pre-made salt water into a dish first so the sand would not get overly cloudy. When it was a third or half full I began adding fish by bagging them and floating them in the new aquarium. This was to acclimated them to temperature and salinity, although I tried to make the new made saltwater as close to the water in the 20g and 10g. Once the fish were floating i added all the water from the 20g and 10g to the new tank plus the water that was in the 5g buckets with rock. I added water to each fish bag just like I do with buying a new fish except once the fish was acclimated I released the fish and poured the water into the 75g. When all the fish were released I finished filling the new aquarium. Then it was a matter of getting the equipment up and running, starting with oxygenation the water and then heating it. The previous light fixture is still what I am using on the new tank. My tank is very simple so that's about all the equipment that I have but you can add all other equipment in any order since oxygenation and heating are the main life supports. I hope this helps.

 

[Joffunswife]

Hey all.

We currently have 2 small marine tanks running… a 24gal fowlr and a 32gal reef. Both tanks systems are old and had multiple owners before us, replacing bits was getting costly so we are taking delivery of a 115gal tank next week with the hope of consolidating the two smaller ones. Both run at the same salinity, temp and all inhabitants are compatible bar 1 who will go to live with a reefer friend.

Can anyone advise the best way to get everything swapped over. The new tank will be going in the same room but due to also having a 132gal fresh water tank in the room once the new one is in it won’t be feasible to keep the old tanks in place.

Any advice would be wonderful

Thank you

Thank you for this but these are all things we’ve already picked up ready or we had bought a bit bigger as we knew this would happen eventually with the age of the tanks. We’ve got 8 freshwater tanks so as much as I accept they’re nowhere near as intense as a marine tank we have learnt our lessons over the years equipment wise.

 

[Jarob]

First off, either fully rinse the old sand until crystal clear water or start with new sand (and again rinse until clear). If they're not in the same spot, set the tank up, add the clean sand and fill up with new saltwater. Get the temp and salinity identical to the old system and just transfer everything over. The bacteria on the live rock from the two systems are the filtration and will handle the same bioload they're currently supporting. Keep your lights at 50% intensity and slowly ramp them up over next week or two, never use full intensity right off the bat.

I'm doing a transfer tomorrow myself from an 80g SPS system to 220g.

 

[JumboShrimp]

This is by far the fastest, most efficient way I've ever found to rinse sand. Pan-out the dirty water in the channel like panning for gold; do it with fresh water about 10-15 times until it runs clear.

 

[Jarob]

This is by far the fastest, most efficient way I've ever found to rinse sand. Pan-out the dirty water in the channel like panning for gold; do it with fresh water about 10-15 times until it runs clear.

That works! Yesterday I washed 80lbs in about 40 minutes using a large strainer and garden hose. Normally it takes me an hour per 20lb bag with the bucket hose method!

 

[JumboShrimp]

(Always trying to build a better mousetrap. )