Upgrading to a larger tank(40 gal) Questions

[lion-clown]

Okay so I have been working on a new tank for over a year now and I'm getting close to having the canopy complete. The current tank I have is a 28 gal JBJ tank. I have about 20 lbs of live rock and 2 clown fish and 2 bar goby fish. I will be upgrading to a 40 gal breader tank with a 40 gal breader sump. I will be switching to LEDs and upgrading to a SCA 302 Protein skimmer.

1) My first question is with my current tank I am having an algea problem ( not sure of the type but it is really thick and matty). So I bought some dead rock about 75 lbs worth and I will buy new live sand to cover the bottom of the tank. What is the best way to start the new tank? Do I run the new tank for a couple of weeks, months and just add 1 or 2 pieces of the old rock, Or do I add all of the old rock and slowly add new rock, or should I be curing the old rock now? Not sure on what the best way is to do this. I want to make sure I make it as good as I can for my current fish.

2) My second question is if I can keep all the fish I want in this tank and what order to add them into the tank. So The fish I want to keep in the new tank is: My 2 clown fish ( I will be selling the bar gobies), 2 Bangaii Cardinals, 2 green clown gobies, flame angel, a flasher or fairy wrasse, Midas blenny, and later on a Mandarin Goby. Will any of these fish not get along?

I appriciate all the help, I won't be able to do anything for a little because I am out of town but want to get all the research in while I can so that I have a good plan when I get home.

 

[reefman069]

well my first question to you. is there algea on your old rock. is so. in the past i would take all rock out of the tank. put it on the driveway and pressure wash all the rock. from there i have put the rock in a 55 gallon drum and put fresh water in it with a few power heads. flush out the old water and put new water in a few times a week. if you do not have algea on your old rock i would put your old rock and new rock in at the same time. with the list of fish you have. you should be able to add all your fish at the same time. maybe add the flame angel last. hope this helps you. if you have any more questions. ask away. there is alot of people here to help you.

 

[tike]

well my first question to you. is there algea on your old rock. is so. in the past i would take all rock out of the tank. put it on the driveway and pressure wash all the rock. from there i have put the rock in a 55 gallon drum and put fresh water in it with a few power heads. flush out the old water and put new water in a few times a week. if you do not have algea on your old rock i would put your old rock and new rock in at the same time. with the list of fish you have. you should be able to add all your fish at the same time. maybe add the flame angel last. hope this helps you. if you have any more questions. ask away. there is alot of people here to help you.

I like this advice! I am curious how the sca skimmer works for you. i have been thinking about using one on a coral grow out tank.

 

[lion-clown]

The old rock has algea on it. I don't think I can take it all out unless I just start up the new tank seperatly and treat it like a brand new tank. I was under the impression that you shouldn't add that many fish at once. Is my list of fish on the max amount of fish that it could hold or is this normal? Also I am open to sugestions on fish that would be good for that size tank.

I have been watching the SCA skimmers for awhile and I think for the money that it will work great for the size tank I have plus the foot print is great for my tank.

I also ordered a Jebao WP-25 because I think that I have had a water flow problem that contributed to the algea problem and the pump looked fun to try.

 

[lion-clown]

No one else has any ideas?

 

[conradryaan]

add the mandarin last. and wait a while for your sump(if it has a fuge) to get a good colony of pods. what color is the algae? are you using r/o water?
and just to be on the safe side I would add one fish at a time and wait a week or two. with a new set up it could be pretty easy to overwhelm it and that could cause a huge fish massacre lol.
once we figure out what kind of algae you are rocking(get it?) we can determine what to do with the rock!

 

[Gryphon]

Do yourself a favor and buy dry sand. You never know how long that "live" sand has sat in stores/warehouses, and it likely not "alive" any more. It will turn live over time once it is in the tank, quicker if you're seeding with the live rock you already have.

 

[lion-clown]

The Mandarin will be last, I do want to make sure it has enough pods going to get off on the right foot
The Algea is a darker green and really thick. I am using R/O water but I have been a little behind on keeping up with water changes. Okay so I looked it up I think it is a green turf algea and I also have some bubble algea.

 

[lion-clown]

Dry sand is better? It makes sense that the live sand could have sat too long but I thought that it was better to get the live sand. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[Gryphon]

Dry sand will become live over time. Not to mention it is cheaper than the "live" sand you can get in the store. Unless you're getting a really really fresh bag all you're getting from live sand at the store is a bag of wet sand with some dead stuff in it.

 

[micah]

I have always had issues with live sand having dead material in it and making my nitrates skyrocketing. When i filled my 75 i did 80lbs of dry sand and add a 5 lb bag of live sand in hopes it would seed the rest. I had really good luck with that setup.

 

[micah]

Water changes are your best friend if you are having an algae problem. Also check to make sure you have adequate flow in all areas.

 

[lion-clown]

I haven't had the best flow in the tank but I am going to have a Jebao WP-25 in the new tank. I am trying to change the water as much as possible but I keep taking my extra time to build the new tank and get ready for it and neglected the old tank a little.

 

[micah]

I can relate, when i was getting my tank ready my smaller tank was neglected. It made for a harder transition to the big tank. I would try to keep up with to make the move easier on the livestock.

 

[conradryaan]

I agree buy "dead" sand and then go to your LFS and buy and pound of there sand out of their tank(if the have nice tanks lol)

 

[micah]

I agree buy "dead" sand and then go to your LFS and buy and pound of there sand out of their tank(if the have nice tanks lol)

hahaha i love the (if they have nice tanks lol). Good point for sure.

 

[conradryaan]

I've seen some bad ones before lol.

 

[lion-clown]

Thanks for the info on the sand that should save me some money.

Any more input on how to transfer to the new tank should 1) Treat it like a new tank and just let it cyclee, 2) Move some of the rock over and let it cycle, or 3) move all the rock and fish over and let it do its thing?

And any one else know about the amount of fish I want to add being okay for that size tank? Is there better fish, I would like some active fish for the kids?

 

[Gryphon]

I would go with #2, move some rock over to help seed the dry rock. That is what I am doing with my 90g. I had kept about 18-20 lbs of live rock in a 10g tank (that now only has my corals in it ATM) and moved all of that live rock over on top of the dry once I got the 90g filled.

 

[micah]

I agree i would go with #2. Move it over slowly. Once the rock is in for a while start adding the livestock.