Tank upgrade transfer questions

[CapeCoralDan]

I have a Pro-Clear 90 right now, almost 2 years old. I've attached a picture.
I took advantage of Innovative Marine 40% off sale. I bought the EXT 150. It won't arrive for a while, but looking for advise on upgrading to the new tank.
Should I transfer the sand & rock right away after filling the tank. I really don't want to wait for the tank to cycle if adding rock and sand should help. I know I'll have to add some live sand.
I can wait if needed. I'll move my old tank out of the way and can keep it running until new tank is ready.

 

[brandon429]

It's the sand you need to deal with correctly

The rocks and everything else, 80% of the water can transfer safely. Use 20% new water and don't skip sand prep rinse / 50 pages of tank transfers happened due to our rinse prep;

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

You may be tempted to skip the rinse, don't, transferring over waste to the new tank advanced ages your tank, if you want the win do exactly those tap water rinses above. Every job there, 300n or so, is rinsed the exact same way study some of the jobs before you move


This is a no bottle bac job

 

[vetteguy53081]

I have a Pro-Clear 90 right now, almost 2 years old. I've attached a picture.
I took advantage of Innovative Marine 40% off sale. I bought the EXT 150. It won't arrive for a while, but looking for advise on upgrading to the new tank.
Should I transfer the sand & rock right away after filling the tank. I really don't want to wait for the tank to cycle if adding rock and sand should help. I know I'll have to add some live sand.
I can wait if needed. I'll move my old tank out of the way and can keep it running until new tank is ready.

View attachment 3036444

I waited 24 hours of tank running to add my rock on a very recent transfer. Its almost 3 months and I have yet to see diatom, or cyano. The rock will be very beneficial and live sand always. I moved 35 fish (now 39) into it in 36hrs and all went smooth. I kept them in tubs while assuring salinity and clarity was in place.

This was at 48 hrs:

At Day 5:

Day 23:

 

[CapeCoralDan]

It's the sand you need to deal with correctly

The rocks and everything else, 80% of the water can transfer safely. Use 20% new water and don't skip sand prep rinse / 50 pages of tank transfers happened due to our rinse prep;

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

You may be tempted to skip the rinse, don't, transferring over waste to the new tank advanced ages your tank, if you want the win do exactly those tap water rinses above. Every job there, 300n or so, is rinsed the exact same way study some of the jobs before you move


This is a no bottle bac job

Wow, thanks for the link. Very helpful. Hope it goes smooth!!

 

[CapeCoralDan]

I waited 24 hours of tank running to add my rock on a very recent transfer. Its almost 3 months and I have yet to see diatom, or cyano. The rock will be very beneficial and live sand always. I moved 35 fish (now 39) into it in 36hrs and all went smooth. I kept them in tubs while assuring salinity and clarity was in place.

This was at 48 hrs:

View attachment 3036484

At Day 5:

View attachment 3036485

Day 23:

View attachment 3036486

Wow, what a tank! I figured I'd have to wait a little before transferring. Glad it all worked out for you. Appreciate the advice.

 

[steveschuerger]

I did a much smaller transfer last summer. 30 to 60 both IM AIO. The only thing I would change in hindsight is how I handled the sand. Didn’t do the rinse and payed the price with diatoms and a bit of cyano. It’s only now really starting settle in properly. Otherwise I just moved the rocks and critters/fish/corals in.