Started the tear down on the 150g the following day. I used a series of heavy duty Rubbermaid containers (4 containers in total). The LR was placed in each Rubbermaid, all Rubbermaids had a heater and Powerhead to keep the water in check. Everything was removed and the fish were then able to be caught and placed in one of the Rubbermaid’s with a small amount of LR. Most my LR had corals encrusted and were placed the best I could to prevent them from breaking.
The tank was emptied preserving as much of my original water as possible for the transfer. The 150g was moved out of the way to make room for the new tank. I used a heavy duty exercise mat for the floor where the steel stand would be put in place. The new stand was set in place and levelled. The tank was placed on the stand, the sump was put in and all the plumbing connected (got to love unions).
All new Live Sand was used as I didn’t want to go through the trouble of washing the old sand and I simply couldn’t due to the take down and setup. Water was added...luckily I made up a bunch of extra saltwater as it didn’t hit how much more volume this tank would be until I started pumping the water. Salinity was matched up and everything was put in to the new tank. All the fish appeared to be very relaxed and all the steps to reduce stress appeared to work.
Everything was back in and the tank was now functional. The total time for the tear down and transfer was 12 hours...what a long day.
