Can anyone lend a hand with an upgrade?

[BuGG]

OK, the upgrade is imminent! It's gonna happen this Sunday (fingers crossed)!



I talked to a bunch of people and a couple of local LFS for advice. So the plan is to use brand new sand on the DT and the sump. Use the seller's cured rock, a couple of his live rocks, and some of his sand to help seed the tank. LFS suggested not to thoroughly clean the tank, the filters, etc. to preserve the bacteria. They also suggested to use as much of his old saltwater as possible, but to also have a lot of new saltwater in hand.

So while the tank is being set up, we can use the seller's 55 gal tank for the fish as a temporary housing. He will lend it to us during the upgrade. This can be their home in the next day or two or until the new tank is up and running. I will probably use Dr. Tim's to get a jumpstart. Then when the new tank is all set up, throw in the fish and the old saltwater in the tank. Then keep an eye on the parameters in the following days to make sure everything is OK. Basically it will be FOWLR setup first, then we can slowly move the corals from our 34 gal to the new 120 gal.

Thoughts? I'm really nervous about this and don't want to lose any livestock during the upgrade.

If anyone has a spare heater, powerhead or large container, can you lend it to me for this weekend? Or at least maybe till the end of next week (maybe sooner). I have one of each lying around but I don't know how many I need. I can pick them up tonight or tomorrow. Thanks so much for all your help!

 

[NikkiT]

Using new sand is a good idea. Be prepared for it to take a little while to settle, 12-24 hours.
Test the old water before you begin so that you have an idea of what the parameters were.
When you remove the old water, you want to syphon it into buckets before you remove livestock or rock. You want as little in the way of nastyness in that water as possible. Try not to let the sand get stirred up. Don't use more than 1 cup of his old sand, in my opinion, and do rinse it in saltwater first.

Once you have the water you plan to use syphoned out, then start to remove the rock and/or catch the critters. When you transport the rock, keep it as wet as possible. Add 1" or so of water at the bottom of each container with rock if possible, you never know what critters are still stuck on there, and an 1" of water will go a long way towards helping you keep stars, crabs, and even small fish that may hide in the rock alive until you get them to your home. Don't forget to check those buckets!
I have had good luck with moving animals in tuppperwear containers, one animal per container, containers inside of brutes. Upon arrival at destination, put the animals, a heater, and a bubbler into (a) buckets or (b) a brute container, and voila, safe temporary holding space while you are setting up the 55 and filling it up with the water you transported over.

As far as not cleaning the tank, that is up to you. Every time I have moved a tank, it has made friends with vinegar before it gets set up again. Does that kill microfauna? Yup. But (1) how likely was it that the microfauna was going to survive anyway and (2) what other nastyness was in an overflow, in plumbing, or otherwise out of sight.

You mentioned that the LFS told you not to clean the filters. What filters are you talking about exactly? Canister filters? Sump? Skimmer? The decisions you make to clean or not to clean a canister vs. a sump vs. a skimmer could have very different effects. Minimizing bacterial loss is great if it is going to arrive at your destination alive, and remain viable during your install, without dying and polluting your tank. I would be a bit skeptical there.

 

[BuGG]

The LFS suggested not cleaning the filter sock. Good idea on the 1" of water on the containers. I did not think of that.

 

[TanksNStuff]

I can't see how cleaning the filter sock would hurt. In fact, I'd recommend you clean it. The main purpose of a filter sock is to catch large particles floating in the water column. This is generally excess food or other nasties that made it down to the sump. There likely shouldn't be much if any beneficial bacteria in the filter sock.

I agree with all of Nikki's suggestions too... especially the tip to siphon as much water out before disturbing anything else. Moving/removing any of the rock will cloudy up the water and render it useless for the new setup.

As for the Dr. Tims, don't forget that when you use it you should put at least a fish or two in the tank with it right away so they can produce some waste to feed that bacteria you added. Otherwise it will just die off and be a waste of money. I'd suggest adding the more hearty fish with it (maybe the anthias and/or the clown) as they will be able to adapt better to the parameter changes that you will likely have initially.

Good luck with it! Hope everything goes smoothly.

 

[NikkiT]

Definitely clean that filter sock! Most reefers who use filter socks change them periodically, and clean them in between rotations.
As George said, the purpose of the sock is to remove detritus that is not disolved in the water, but freely floating. That sock is probably nasty, pick up some new ones before you move the system, and put a clean one on the system when you set the tank up again. If the LFS reasoning was to keep beneficial bacteria, rinse it "clean" with salt water, and put it in the sump. That said, I would not suggest reusing it. Keep in mind that most of your bacteria is coming from your live rock, your live sand, and the Dr. Tim's you are adding.

 

[BuGG]

Thanks for everyone's input during the upgrade. We can take our time with the cycle. The fish are all in the 55 gal holding tank and I still have to refinish the stand and canopy. After that, re-do the plumbing but it doesn't seem all that hard. Sorry for the blurry pics. I will start a tank thread that will detail the entire process.

Livestock pics





Tank an canopy. Stand is in the garage waiting to be sanded.