Tank upgrade advice/knowledge

[billyocean]

I'm upgrading my 125 gallon standard to either a 240 or 300 gallon within the next 4-6 months. The new tank is not going where my current tank is and will be about 20 feet away. The actual moving of the livestock and current rock isn't an issue. Most of equipment is already in hand as well. My biggest concern is the prep for transferring my acro heavy tank to a bigger new tank. I only have about 100-110 lbs of rock in my current tank which won't be enough for the new tank. I'm going to use new prerinsed sand and will probably preload it and the new water with po4 and no3 to match my current tank. I could order some extra live rock and get it ready in an extra tank if needed as well. I'm curious if there's a media I could use to substitute for a bunch of extra live rock that I could throw in my current sump now. There's marine pure blocks, bio blocks/spheres that have mixed reviews. Anyone using something that doesn't leech aluminum? I've also read the amount of aluminum isn't harmful. Anyhoo...just looking for some advice on how to make the transfer with as little loss as possible since I have time. Oh yeah, I don't run a skimmer just some felt socks and LR in my current sump. Dose phos and nitrate to keep numbers up as well.
Thanks

 

[brandon429]

you dont need the extra media, that much live rock can carry double your current bioload. you won't be doubling bioload, so don't doubt your current surface area.

 

[billyocean]

Here is the current tank...added a piece of dry rock the other day for a shelf I'm making soon and didn't want it on the sand.

 

[brandon429]

here are the highlights for that tank's safe transfer based on this fifty page thread of them:

Official Sand Rinse and Tank Transfer thread

The best way to prepare your sand for use in a transferred reef tank, an upgraded reef tank, a reef tank under invasion etc is to put the sand in sections in a bucket and TAP WATER rinse it outside over and over with the garden hose until all the silt / waste is ejected, expect hours of work per...

www.reef2reef.com

-re ramp your lights on the new tank, don't start with the same par it risks burning the new transfer frags as all the organic waste will be removed in the sand rinse process and rock rinse process so that zero detritus carries over to your new tank


-you have the sand rinse down correctly, it'll take hours and hours to do it right but that's the safe way. do not move over one handful of old sand as a seed like you read; that's dangerous, we never do it ever

move only perfectly rinsed and verified cloudless sand that you tested in a cup of clear water to see if it's cloudless

rinse your rocks off or swish them in saltwater before moving over, so that no detritus is stuck to the bottom, use saltwater and move only clean rocks.


you can see that we tap water rinse the sand, so that you have hours worth / unlimited supply, final rinse on that sand is saltwater to evacuate the tap you used. This applies to new sand you might buy, or old sand, we install no clouded sand whatsoever.

you can add any extra surface area you like but it's not required. that degree of rock alone above xferred over will run any bioload in reefing instantly, because its vastly beyond what you need now. A firm rule in updated cycling science is that reef tanks do NOT run low on surface area with any normal degree of rocks in the display; this frees you up to not have to consider that portion in your tank transfer. if you're adding new rock its because you want to, not that you have to.
that tank in my city would cost about eight grand or more to get fully like it is above (including hardware/tank/all of it not just the life you've put time into_)

based on that huge cost I recommend studying the thread a while, see their before and afters

see the challenges occasionally: they were holding fish that jumped out of an uncovered tote and dried up on the floor; this helps anticipate problems before encountering them. I moved a few 200 gallon setups there via remote planning, yours is quite a serious big job there for sure. that's a prime reef, a very big deal to upgrade correctly in my opinion.

 

[billyocean]

here are the highlights for that tank's safe transfer based on this fifty page thread of them:

Official Sand Rinse and Tank Transfer thread

The best way to prepare your sand for use in a transferred reef tank, an upgraded reef tank, a reef tank under invasion etc is to put the sand in sections in a bucket and TAP WATER rinse it outside over and over with the garden hose until all the silt / waste is ejected, expect hours of work per...

www.reef2reef.com

-re ramp your lights on the new tank, don't start with the same par it risks burning the new transfer frags as all the organic waste will be removed in the sand rinse process and rock rinse process so that zero detritus carries over to your new tank


-you have the sand rinse down correctly, it'll take hours and hours to do it right but that's the safe way. do not move over one handful of old sand as a seed like you read; that's dangerous, we never do it ever

move only perfectly rinsed and verified cloudless sand that you tested in a cup of clear water to see if it's cloudless

rinse your rocks off or swish them in saltwater before moving over, so that no detritus is stuck to the bottom, use saltwater and move only clean rocks.


you can see that we tap water rinse the sand, so that you have hours worth / unlimited supply, final rinse on that sand is saltwater to evacuate the tap you used. This applies to new sand you might buy, or old sand, we install no clouded sand whatsoever.

I'm very familiar with the rip clean. Never done it but I've read through the thread and have seen the results! But yes, rock will be shaken well and sand rinsed until it's snow globe clear!

 

[brandon429]

**one other small trend is developing among transfer tanks

delayed fish disease expression. its not notable but its starting to pop up where Jay in the disease forum is getting posts like: I cleaned my tank and got disease, or I moved my tank/upgraded my tank/added a handful of sand from my old tank and got disease in fish that had ran years with no problem.


we don't know what causes that yet, at least be on the lookout and perhaps have a qt tank ready. this old tank might be a decent qt to have if possible in case any diseases happen in the new tank and you won't be able to treat them inside due to the rocks and sand.

in my opinion I think the issue is that people are buying fish from places nowadays simply more disease prone than its ever been for us, and they add them to these sharp aged reefs that somehow suppress disease as things sit, right now

some aspect of upsetting that balance expresses the disease even though sitting there, nothing was expressed. something to watch for at least, what a beautiful reef!

 

[Crustaceon]

If you're not immediately adding a bunch of additional livestock, you don't need a bunch of additional live rock no matter how big the new tank is. Literally all you have to do is transfer everything you have right now into the larger tank. The best course of action is setting up the new tank where it's going to stay, filling it maybe 3/4 full with your usual salt mix, throwing a heater in to temp match and moving the rock and coral directly over first. Move the sand next and lastly, re-drip acclimate your fish/inverts to the new tank. Top off with enough freshly mixed saltwater to set the overall level through the display and sump. Most of the nasties are going to stay behind in the old tank after transferring the sand.

 

[billyocean]

I'm not really concerned with any nutrient explosion or anything. I guess more concerned for the acros having the amount of bacteria available that they are accustomed to now. I don't know if this is even an issue or a thing..lol. That depth of the science is beyond my knowledge. Of course I do understand the lighting and flow in of itself will be a hurdle to dial in and may cause some issues initially. I guess I should mention I don't have a lot of fish either and won't be adding anything substantial very quickly. Just doing the 6 P's so to speak. Thanks for the advice so far!