Tank Upgrade/Move

[swill]

So my husband and I are super excited for a new tank that we will be getting on Friday/Saturday next week. We currently have a 300 gallon FOWLR, a 40 gallon reef and 20 gallon Seahorse tank and a 90 gallon reef. We will be selling our 90 gallon and upgrading to a new 190 gallon reef. I've been in this hobby for a really long time but in the past I have always kept things simple and have found it to worked ok for me but when this opportunity came up we just couldn't let it pass us by. I've never seen anything like this tank except maybe in a fish store and even then I don't think I've seen a tank as amazing as this one. This upgrade for us is HUGE!!!

So I thought I would start by listing what we have right now in our 90 gallon:

Fluval Osaka Aquarium and Stand.
T5 Lighting with actinics.
Reef Octopus hang on Protein Skimmer (No Sump)
2 Seio super Flow Aqua Pump 2600-Gallon Per Hour
JALLI JT1000 Titanium Heater with Controller
100 pounds live rock
1 Ocellaris Clownfish
1 Bengai Cardinal
1 Pistol Shrimp and Yellow Watchmen Goby paired
1 long Spine Sea Urchin
2 Pink Skunk Clowns
1 Yellow Wrasse
Corals:
Xenia, various Polyps, Green Candy Cane and a few other mushrooms.

Now, I know there is nothing in that list that is too exciting and it's not the type of tank you'd die to see but like I mentioned earlier I always just kept things simple...and for us this tank was perfect....UNTIL NOW!!!

Here is what we will be getting this week:

Custom built 190 Gallon aquarium and stand made with edged starphire glass.
Metal Halide, VHO and LED lighting.
It comes with a sump, stand and canopy.
The protein skimmer is a recirculating MRC.
The main pump is a red dragon pump, also used are Echotech marine vortechs
Heating with Ebo Jager heaterReeftank controller: Reef keeper II
comes with a pH monitor
Kalkwasser reactor
Chiller
Reverse Osmosis system (we just ordered one online)
Automatic top up system

Approx 300 pds of live rock
Corals: LPS, SPS, clams
Fish: Achilles tang, blue tang and 2 breeding pair of semi-snowflake perculas!!!

NOW IS THAT AN UPGRADE OR WHAT???

We are so super pumped and we can't wait to get it. Luckily the couple selling it are local and live only about a 10 minute drive from here. We will start Friday night by going over and getting the livestock which we plan on putting in with our livestock, minus the fish which will go into our quarantine tank. Then on Saturday we will complete the move by bringing over the equipment.

So far I don't have any questions but would love to hear from anyone who has done this type of move before to see if you have any suggestions or tips.

I will post pictures of the old tank/new tank and the whole process of moving it. Also I will post how things are going for future reference in case someone else down the road does this same sort of move.

[swill]

First 2 pictures are of old aquarium and last 2 are of new aquarium!!

[nitro069]

congrats on the upgrade. one of the first things i noticed was a bare bottom tank in the new tank. That's awesome. May help avoid phosphate, silica, nitrate spikes with not stirring up the sand. Just remember to plan it out, go slow, take your time and do things right. Try not to leave your rock out in the air too long to avoid any die off. In any move I've done i have always seen a small cycle, but I have always had sand.

Oh and save as much water as you can. Have some extra water ready for water changes available. I Like to do quite a few more water changes than normal when i first move a tank to help remove all the crap that was stirred up.

[swill]

Yes the previous owners swear by bare bottom tank setup so we are going to continue with that. It'll take me some time to get use to no sand as I too, have always had sand but it totally makes sense. I won't have to worry about scratching the tank either when I clean the glass along with keeping the nitrates low and everything else.

We will for sure have some new water here but are going to try and take as much of the water with us as possible. We were already given a big drum to hold new water which is what he used so we will start making new saltwater here soon so we are all ready and prepared.

Thanks for the advice.

[Ken]

Swill it's always exciting to hear of new tanks, especially since you done so well with your other tanks, keep it simple, that's the sucess. So excited to see pics, thanks. Regards Ken

[Leah]

Wow! Nice tank... can't wait to see some pictures. Good-luck with the move.

[swill]

Our new tank is all moved in and is looking good!! It took most of the day to move and my husband and I were exhausted after it was all done and what I've learned the most from this experience is no substrate is the way to go!!! I will post a picture of our aquarium the day after the move and you'll see what I am talking about. You would never know it was moved. I've been in this hobby for over 15 years and use to be a renter with a 75 gallon reef so I knew from past experiences that moving an aquarium is stressful for everything inside so it takes awhile for things to look normal and healthy again but not this tank. It looks just as good as it did before the move.

We didn't loose any coral or fish but have lots of frags now since there was a bit of breakage with some of the acropora and monti cap coral.

We are now trying to figure out what other fish we want to add to this tank. It only has two semi-snowflake clowns, a Achilles Tang and a Regal Tang so we want to add a few more bottom dwellers and maybe an Fathead Anthias or two.

Our only issue right now is we are struggling with the heat, the reef keeper is programed so the the MH lights will shut off if it raises to 81.1F but it seems to be raising to that everyday. This setup did come with a chiller so I may have to plug that in The lights come on at 11:30am but today I noticed at 10:30am the heat was already 79.9F so I am guessing my house is just too warm to run this tank without a chiller.

In the picture you can see the Kaulk Reactor on the side which will soon be placed in the basement. My husband just needs to drill a hole in the floor for the top up tube.