Correct Procedure for Switching Tanks? HELP

MitchM · #1 01-26-2011, 08:28 AM

Can you describe your setup?
Fish, coral, sand, live rock?

KushBubbles · #2 01-26-2011, 08:38 AM

A small bio load (regal tang, tomato clown, chromis), a frog spawn, small colony of zoa's.
About 50 lbs of live rock and about 30in x 12in x 3in of sand, with worms and microorganisms about 1-1.5 inches deep.

?? what would you suggest i do??

MitchM · #3 01-26-2011, 08:49 AM

-First drain some existing tank water into a pail or cooler and move the fish into that. Leave the corals for now.
-Second I would suggest taking all the live rock that is NOT sitting in any sand and moving it over to the new tank then siphon the existing tank water over to the new tank. Do not move the rocks sitting in the sand or disturb the sand itself.
-Third make sure your mechanical systems are running properly in your new setup
-Fourth transfer the fish into the new tank
-Fifth transfer the corals into the new tank

After that let your new setup settle down for a few days and the fish get used to their new place while you clean up the broken tank and deal with what is left in there.

Basically set up your new tank as a bare bottom live rock system.

MitchM · #4 01-26-2011, 08:56 AM

As for dealing with what is left behind -

If you want to reuse the sand it will need to be thoroughly rinsed before it can be put into the new tank. Never try to "move" a sandbed.
The live rock that is sitting in the sand will need to be placed in a separate container and left for a few weeks with a circulating powerhead and 10% water changes 1X/week because it probably has absorbed some H2S in the areas that were buried. You don't want that in your new tank.
Do weekly water tests to monitor it's water quality.

Binare · #5 01-26-2011, 12:35 PM

How long has your original setup been running?

KushBubbles · #6 01-29-2011, 02:58 AM

Its been about a year that a year. good lighing for about a month

instead of rinsing the sand i have been told to mix a it with 3x the amount of new sand? would you suggest that to kick start bacterial grow in the new sand?

MitchM · #7 01-29-2011, 08:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KushBubbles

Its been about a year that a year. good lighing for about a month

instead of rinsing the sand i have been told to mix a it with 3x the amount of new sand? would you suggest that to kick start bacterial grow in the new sand?

You would be transferring over all the organic matter and killing most of the soft bodied worms and critters if you just mixed it all up.
That organic matter would sit there and rot until new critters that kept the sandbed moving repopulated, which could take a few months.

If you want to seed some new sand I would set the new tank up with new sand only then use a cup or so from the old tank, skimmed off the first inch or so of the old sandbed.
I would still go ahead and rinse out the rest of the old sand before putting it in the new tank.