moving tank question
- Thread starter egos4life
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diverphil71
Fragalicious
Go to home depot get a few rubbermaid tubs or a bunch of 5 gal. buckets. Put live rock into buckets fill with water. repeat until tank is empty of live rock. If it has fish fill a 5 gal. bucket with water (from tank) and purchase a batt. operated air pump. Catch fish once live rock is out of tank. try not to stir substrate up to much so you can see the fish to catch them. Save as much water as you think you can. Put sand in bucket if you want to save it. drain the tank, dismantel filters and plumbing. Load into vehicle.
There is no advantage to saving your old salt water, there is a reason we do water changes, also I would start with new sand with just about a cup or 2 of the old for reseeding. I have upgraded twice using only about 50% of the old water and 2 cups of the old sand. With the established lr, you should have no problems doing it this way. Start fresh.........
ashton
Well-known member
I agree with Holygral on this, each time i've done a tank swap I've used 50 % of the original tank water or maybe a bit less and then a few cups of the sand to help seed the new sand. But with good established Live rock you will be fine. Always have extra water on hand because you will probably end up using more then you planned. I did both times.
Herefishyfishy
Smart Bass
There is no advantage to any old water except for transport of existing livestock and rock. Once at new tank, toss the water. The bacteria is in the rock and sand, not the water. What is in the old water is pollution
diverphil71
Fragalicious
Gentleman... sorry i didn't write a novel to explain every detail. Holygral, Ashton, and HereFishyFishy, All three of you contradict your advice. All of you say not to save any of the old water, But suggest you save and use 50% of the old water??? There is no bacteria in the water? It's all in the live rock and sand? Why do we cycle a tank then when it's new? To build up the bacteria. I see you guys have done a few tank swaps. I'm not a hobbyist. I'm a professional, I do this for a living. In the last 8 years i've swapped and installed a few hundred aquariums. What it boils down to is test your water!! If you don't understand the Nitrate, Nitrite cycle you shouldn't be in the hobby.
treehugger
Well-known member
I guess it's time to chime in here...having just moved my 240g from seattle to san jose for the second time and having moved a heavily stocked tank 10 times in 9 years I'd say I have a bit of experience with this. That aside, everyone has brought up some very valid points. Moving extra water is definately a pain in the butt and has very limited added value. I still always use ~ 25-50% of the old water. The water in the bags that you move livestock is of no value once you move as most of the animals have polluted it up to the point that it does more harm then good (slime and poop YUCK). New water should match your old parameters EXACTLY (same s.g., temp, alk, Ca, Mg) I always rinse liverock off before I pack it for the move in a bucket or two of old tank water to remove detritus that's built up. I've used the old sand and started fresh. I think starting fresh with some old to seed is the best way. A trick I've learned is if you put a layer of new sand, layer of the old stuff and then a layer of new sand it helps jump start the cycle of the sand. No matter what you do there are always some spikes, bacterial die off, and mini cycles in the new tank but that's how the hobby goes. Understanding water chemistry and proper flow are probably two of the most important aspests of this hobby (even more then lighting!) The most IMPORTANT aspect however is that each tank is unique, everyone's approaches are unique. There are no real right or wrong or failsafe ways to do anything in this hobby but research and asking those who have made the mistakes already definately helps to make things more enjoyable and successful. IME
ps...diverphil71 helped me to make this last move one of my most successful to date!
ps...diverphil71 helped me to make this last move one of my most successful to date!
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tamarindthai
Well-known member
jeff,,,glad to see you back on this,,all i can is WOWW!!!,,that is the great moved,,glad to hear everythings is madeit save and sound.
i would just liek to say thanks to everyone I have a completely empty bow front the live rock is in tubs with some powerheads... I am going to transfer mostly eveything from 55 since i know my params are near perfect so the big day is tomorrow I shall let you know how it goes... keep your fingers crossed for me fellaz as this newb embarks on a new journey ha ha ha thanks a lot
treehugger
Well-known member
egos4life...where are you in cali? I'm in the bay area if you ever need some good looking frags or colonies...good luck with the move
well my room looked like a mess buckets tubs everywhere but it looks like everything is going to survive got up this morning put the screens over kicked the mh's on and walah everything started to open and i saw all my fish except my goby but this is a normal thing for him im sure he will pop up sooner or later
diverphil71
Fragalicious
Glad to hear the move went well egos4life!! Good job.
