Tank transfer, good plan?

[littlefoxx]

Step 1) obviously getting the tank installed and plumbed, might need some assistance on that when the time comes

2) get new sand

3) place existing rocks from my other tank in the aquarium to scape it

4) fill the water from my old tanks to at least submerge the rocks

5) move fish and place wavemakers and air stone at that level for oxygenation of the water

6) continue making new saltwater until the tank is full

Does this plan sound good??? Ive never done a transfer (of saltwater) and I just want to do it right and not loose anyone!

Is it okay for the water to be cloudy from disturbing the new sand with putting water in it to continue to fill the tank? Im just not sure what to do with the rocks because i know they are seeded for the fish.

I have the advantage of not having to use totes as my tanks are still up and running as the plan is to tear them both down after everyone is transferred and settled

 

[Reefering1]

I would have all water made beforehand. Rinse the new sand well to avoid excessive cloudiness. Verify temperature and salinity

 

[littlefoxx]

I would have all water made beforehand. Rinse the new sand well to avoid excessive cloudiness. Verify temperature and salinity

Problem is I only have a few 5 gallon buckets and dont want to completely shock everyone with all new saltwater, or is that just me being paranoid? I just dont know how I would scape the rocks with all the water in since it will probably take me a few days to fill. Unless I fill with all new SW and then move the rocks over and fish?

 

[legionofdoon]

New salt water shouldn't shock them as long as it's the right temp and is oxygenated..

 

[littlefoxx]

New salt water shouldn't shock them as long as it's the right temp and is oxygenated..

Ah okay so as long as the ricks get in the new tank water is okay?

 

[Vinaka_vakalevu]

how big is your new tank?

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

300g, right? Wont that take days to fill up if you are using a home RO/DI unit? I would only transfer a few fish at first.

 

[Lavey29]

You're going to have a mini cycle too so better have some prime and bottle of bacteria available and expect a water change in 24 hours. At least this is what my LFS tells me and he routinely does tank transfers to a new system.

 

[littlefoxx]

how big is your new tank?

300 gallons

 

[littlefoxx]

300g, right? Wont that take days to fill up if you are using a home RO/DI unit? I would only transfer a few fish at first.

My RO system is so slow!!! It takes me 3 hours to get 15 gallons

 

[littlefoxx]

You're going to have a mini cycle too so better have some prime and bottle of bacteria available and expect a water change in 24 hours. At least this is what my LFS tells me and he routinely does tank transfers to a new system.

This is the part Im confused about. Ive heard transferring the rocks/media does the mini cycle without the bottled stuff. The science part of reef/fish keeping is not my strong suit… so to make sure I understand you are saying to fill the tank with new SW, transfer rocks, use bottled bacteria like the turbo start with a few fish, water change and then move the rest of the fish?

 

[littlefoxx]

I guess better to phrase my question like this: Im breaking down a 125 and a 70 gallon and merging them (will re home some live stock that wont mix together, still working on that). Problem is I dont have the budget to get all new rocks in edition to sand for a 300 gallon, so I need to use the combined rocks plus some dry rock I have to make the scape. Im just not sure if the two tanks can be without rocks? Like for hiding, bioload ect?

 

[ti_lavender]

Is the new tank going where one of the existing tanks are? If so that complicates things.

 

[saltcats]

I would definitely fill up the new tank with saltwater and get it warmed up/circulating. And then move over all your live rock and animals at the same time. That's how I did mine - had it running for a bit with the new sand and dry rock and then moved all the old live rock and animals in one go.

That said, I did get a nasty dino outbreak after that which I think is not uncommon when you are adding dry rock/sand to the system, so be prepared. If I did it again I'd definitely cycle the new rock first in a bucket in the dark for a while first to at least get bacterial growth to try to compete with the dinos.

I believe since you are transferring the biofilter (the rocks) with them it shouldn't need to cycle again but it wouldn't hurt to keep an eye on parameters and be ready with water made in case you need to do a WC.
If you want you could add some bottle bacteria at the same time to give things an extra kick but I don't think it'd be necessary.
Definitely don't take the rock out of the old tanks and leave the fish behind though.

The new water shouldn't cause a shock; just make sure pH, temperature, and salinity match for the fish.

 

[Lavey29]

This is the part Im confused about. Ive heard transferring the rocks/media does the mini cycle without the bottled stuff. The science part of reef/fish keeping is not my strong suit… so to make sure I understand you are saying to fill the tank with new SW, transfer rocks, use bottled bacteria like the turbo start with a few fish, water change and then move the rest of the fish?

If you are moving a lot of fish over in a short period of time there will be a mini cycle. You need to monitor ammonia level and respond accordingly as needed. Maybe need to use some prime, never hurts to add nitrifying bacteria and be ready for a water change if ammonia rises during the first 24 hours.

 

[SudzFD]

Step 1) obviously getting the tank installed and plumbed, might need some assistance on that when the time comes

2) get new sand

3) place existing rocks from my other tank in the aquarium to scape it

4) fill the water from my old tanks to at least submerge the rocks

5) move fish and place wavemakers and air stone at that level for oxygenation of the water

6) continue making new saltwater until the tank is full

Does this plan sound good??? Ive never done a transfer (of saltwater) and I just want to do it right and not loose anyone!

Is it okay for the water to be cloudy from disturbing the new sand with putting water in it to continue to fill the tank? Im just not sure what to do with the rocks because i know they are seeded for the fish.

I have the advantage of not having to use totes as my tanks are still up and running as the plan is to tear them both down after everyone is transferred and settled

I’ve done something very similar but smaller scale. Upgrading my 46g to a 60g. I transferred everything in one day. Fish went in a bucket with a live rock and heater while cloudiness disappeared from new tank. After a few hours, I placed all my fish in. If I recall I did lose one but overall it went well. Maybe not ideal but was ok. I’d think a larger tank would be more forgiving. Definitely went through a mini cycle so having prime on hand is a plus.

Good luck on it. With a tank that size I’m guessing you have some way to isolate the fish (quarantine setup) while you get the new tank up and running.

 

[mrpontiac80]

I transferred my 65 gallon to a 180 gallon around a year ago. I had zero issues. Here’s what I did.

1. Set up new tank and new rockscape.
2. Allow room for existing rock scape to be placed in new tank
3. rinsed all new sand until water ran clear. It took forever! But I used a 5 gallon bucket and a bag of sand at a time. Once rinsed I dumped it into new tank.
4. I made salt water… 50 gallons at a time and added it to the new tank as it was ready.
5. I ran the new tank in order to heat water to desired temperature to match my 65 gallon.
6. Day of transfer, I already knew how much water could be siphoned out of the 65 gallon while just leaving enough after rocks were removed for fish. So I removed 30-40 gallons from the new tank. I wanted to use as much water of the old water as I could.
7. I added fritzyme turbo start 900 to new tank.
8. I removed old rock scapes and placed them in the new tank
9 . Caught fish and moved them to new tank.
10. Combed through old sand looking for any snails and such to transfer.
11 I transferred my lights over plus a couple. I knew my par readings in the 65 gallon so on the new tank I set lights up at 30-50% of that and gradually increased the percentage up by 3% every couple of days until I hit my goal.

It wasn’t nearly as bad as I had feared it was going to be. Just once you start, move swiftly and with a plan.

 

[littlefoxx]

I would definitely fill up the new tank with saltwater and get it warmed up/circulating. And then move over all your live rock and animals at the same time. That's how I did mine - had it running for a bit with the new sand and dry rock and then moved all the old live rock and animals in one go.

That said, I did get a nasty dino outbreak after that which I think is not uncommon when you are adding dry rock/sand to the system, so be prepared. If I did it again I'd definitely cycle the new rock first in a bucket in the dark for a while first to at least get bacterial growth to try to compete with the dinos.

I believe since you are transferring the biofilter (the rocks) with them it shouldn't need to cycle again but it wouldn't hurt to keep an eye on parameters and be ready with water made in case you need to do a WC.
If you want you could add some bottle bacteria at the same time to give things an extra kick but I don't think it'd be necessary.
Definitely don't take the rock out of the old tanks and leave the fish behind though.

The new water shouldn't cause a shock; just make sure pH, temperature, and salinity match for the fish.

Okay makes sense. And the PH is always low in my RO water for some reason, so is the tap where I hook the unit to. So I always have to add buffer to bring it up before adding the new SW to my tank

 

[littlefoxx]

Is the new tank going where one of the existing tanks are? If so that complicates things.

And no, I have a spot that measures perfectly for the new tank to sit next to my old one (and I like the spot!) so that makes things way easier

 

[littlefoxx]

I’ve done something very similar but smaller scale. Upgrading my 46g to a 60g. I transferred everything in one day. Fish went in a bucket with a live rock and heater while cloudiness disappeared from new tank. After a few hours, I placed all my fish in. If I recall I did lose one but overall it went well. Maybe not ideal but was ok. I’d think a larger tank would be more forgiving. Definitely went through a mini cycle so having prime on hand is a plus.

Good luck on it. With a tank that size I’m guessing you have some way to isolate the fish (quarantine setup) while you get the new tank up and running.

Im actually leaving my tanks up until Im ready to complete the fish transfer!