I finally received word that a friend is willing to trade her ex's 75g RR for my 55 non rr. I have a question about the switch. I have a 7 year old DSB that has been disturbed only once two years ago when I started the 55. Will I be able to move everything over to the 75 without issues? The move has to be done in the same day.
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Tank Switch
- Thread starter SirFragalot
- Start date
Move everything but the sand. Clean it thoroughly before reusing it. Using saltwater to clean it will enable you to move it in without having to worry about it cycling again once all the bad stuff has been removed from it. Keep a bottle of [cycle product of your choosing] handy JIC.
I've moved tanks that have been up 2+ years several times and they always fared just fine. Dealing with the DSB, you do need to be extra careful not to release contaminants though. Good luck with the move. Sounds like a great deal!
I've moved tanks that have been up 2+ years several times and they always fared just fine. Dealing with the DSB, you do need to be extra careful not to release contaminants though. Good luck with the move. Sounds like a great deal!
Both of you said the same thing but one with salt water and one with fresh. Would rinsing with fresh cause it to caycle again after putting it into the 75? I also just realized that it won't be a DSB anymore when I transfer to the 75. Would it be best to ditch the DSB?
Fresh water will kill off the bacteria living in your sand bed which could result in the tank cycling again as you have lost a big part of your bio-filter.
+1 on rinsing with saltwater. When we switched tanks for our 20g (the old one was scratched beyond belief) we pulled everything out and put it in another heated tank. We then rinsed the sand with saltwater which will keep it alive but wash out the nasty stuff. I have never dealt with a DSB, but it sounds like it can release a lot of nasties if disturbed.
mnat said:
Don't want that.
I dont have a spare tank so I will be doing this with probably a rubbermade container and buckets. It sounds like a PITA but it sounds like it needs to be done. Saltwater it is then.Make lots and lots of saltwater before hand, it actually wouldn't hurt if you condition your new saltwater with some of the old tank water (about 10-20%). Add a powerhead and heater as needed to stabilize temps.
Remove all your corals/fish and some rock carefully from the old tank and setup in a rubbermaid holding tub. Let old tank sit a bit with filtration still running. After the water has settled, start siphoning out the old sand into another container. Rinse with old tank water. It's easier to do this in small batches.
Continue the process until you have cleaned out all the nasties in the sand.
Transfer new sand in the tank along with the pre-conditoned new tank water. Let run for a few hours, then transfer the rocks, corals and fish.
At least that's what I did when I transferred from my 55 to my 75RR.
Total water used in transfer: about 125 gallons (I also didn't have sand; I swished the rocks vigorously instead to remove excess organics)
Remove all your corals/fish and some rock carefully from the old tank and setup in a rubbermaid holding tub. Let old tank sit a bit with filtration still running. After the water has settled, start siphoning out the old sand into another container. Rinse with old tank water. It's easier to do this in small batches.
Continue the process until you have cleaned out all the nasties in the sand.
Transfer new sand in the tank along with the pre-conditoned new tank water. Let run for a few hours, then transfer the rocks, corals and fish.
At least that's what I did when I transferred from my 55 to my 75RR.
Total water used in transfer: about 125 gallons (I also didn't have sand; I swished the rocks vigorously instead to remove excess organics)
Thanks for the tips. Keep them coming if anyone can think of any.
Am I risking too much dealing with the old DSB? Should I just lay a new one down and seed with a couple scoops from the old?
SirFragalot said:
I did this when I upgraded from my 55 to 180. The difference is...I didn't care about losing the bacteria in the sand. So I used freshwater to rinse. If you are thinking about re-doing the entire sand bed, then rinsing with fresh water will do the same thing. Keep some old sand to seed it....and your LR will seed the new "cleaned" sand.
The water coming out of my sand was black, so I just rinsed, rinsed and rinsed until it ran clear.
9supratt4 said:
On that note, if I do go that route, what would be good sand to use? Or does anyone have any extra that I could take off of thier hands?
I'm not looking forward to doing this tank swap but the deal is right.
9supratt4 said:
I'm not sure what type I have. It's from a previous system that I did not own. I do know that it isnt too fine. I am just trying to find a way around making all that saltwater to rinse the old bed out to save salt. Seems like a waste for someone who's wallet is tighter than a bull's a$$ in mating season these days. I'm thinking I could just take 1/4 or half of the old bed and rinse in sw, rinse dry sand (what brand?) with fw to achieve this. Am I thining too hard and making things difficult for myself? :