cleverbs
04/06/2015, 11:25 AM
On thursday I will be getting my new 220g tank. My current 220g had a brace crack so they company replaced it for me. The only issue is I have to bring the new one home and take the old one back. I dont need to do it at the same time if I dont want however I am just trying to think of the best path to take.
So heres some details about the system and what I am going to do.
The display is a 220g tank. I have removed all the corals and moved them to a frag tank that is part of the same system. In the old tank I have about 150lbs of live rock and some fish including: 5x Chromis, 2x Cardinals, 2x Picasso Clowns, 1x Yellow Tang, 1x Sailfin Tang, Target Mandarin, Starry Blenny, Coral Beauty and a six line wrasse. Also I have 2 harlequin shrimp and 4 Serpent stars that are all about a foot across. My LFS told me they would be happy to hold on to the tangs for me and I thought the rest of them I could just put in a 35g Trash can I have that I mix saltwater in with some live rock, heater, and power head. Then I could take down the old tank and put the new one up. The only issue is there are some changes I would like to make to the new tank before I refill it.
1st - I am putting in an HDPE bottom 1/2 white HDPE.
2nd I am going to totally redo my aquascape and make something out of acrylic rods. This could take me a few days to do.
3rd - The new tank is Reef ready and my old one wasnt so I will have to totally redo the plumbing on the system.
I am one worried about a mini cycle in the tank because I will be doing so much with the rock outside of water. I will keep it wet and make sure while its out its got wet towels or something on it but theres just that risk of die off and creating that mini cycle and the last thing I want are my fish going through that. Im sure I could just keep them in the Brute trashcan for a few weeks if needed I could just keep up with water changes as a form of export and beings it would only be fish and no corals that would probably be fine. I could do the same with my frag tank and just keep it offline from the main system while it recycles.
I am trying to figure out if I should drain my tank this week and get everything out of it before thursday and move all the fish into their new home. I am thinking I can keep my frag tank online until I plumb the new tank.
I dont think I will use all the rock for my aquascape so maybe I will stack up the rock I dont use in the back for the time being to help with bioload and slowly remove it.
So heres some what of a step by step that it would take.
1st - remove all live rock from display and put in 55g container. Its what I store my R/O water in.
2nd - Cover it with water from display tank along with heater and powerhead.
3rd - Remove fish from display in 35g Brute and fill that with water from display along with some Live rock. Add heater and powerhead.
4th - cap off retuns on old tank so that the frag tank can still have a skimmer/sump. (will have to redo all the plumbing anyways so doing this will just cost me a 1.00 to buy 2 caps to cap the pvc)
5th - Get new tank and take old tank back.
6th - Get HDPE and Cut it for tank and plumb new tank - and take frag tank offline.
7th - Create Aquascape
8th - Refill with water
9th - Add ammonia to see if it mini cycles
10th - After making sure tank doesnt mini cycle add fish and put frag tank back online.
So heres some details about the system and what I am going to do.
The display is a 220g tank. I have removed all the corals and moved them to a frag tank that is part of the same system. In the old tank I have about 150lbs of live rock and some fish including: 5x Chromis, 2x Cardinals, 2x Picasso Clowns, 1x Yellow Tang, 1x Sailfin Tang, Target Mandarin, Starry Blenny, Coral Beauty and a six line wrasse. Also I have 2 harlequin shrimp and 4 Serpent stars that are all about a foot across. My LFS told me they would be happy to hold on to the tangs for me and I thought the rest of them I could just put in a 35g Trash can I have that I mix saltwater in with some live rock, heater, and power head. Then I could take down the old tank and put the new one up. The only issue is there are some changes I would like to make to the new tank before I refill it.
1st - I am putting in an HDPE bottom 1/2 white HDPE.
2nd I am going to totally redo my aquascape and make something out of acrylic rods. This could take me a few days to do.
3rd - The new tank is Reef ready and my old one wasnt so I will have to totally redo the plumbing on the system.
I am one worried about a mini cycle in the tank because I will be doing so much with the rock outside of water. I will keep it wet and make sure while its out its got wet towels or something on it but theres just that risk of die off and creating that mini cycle and the last thing I want are my fish going through that. Im sure I could just keep them in the Brute trashcan for a few weeks if needed I could just keep up with water changes as a form of export and beings it would only be fish and no corals that would probably be fine. I could do the same with my frag tank and just keep it offline from the main system while it recycles.
I am trying to figure out if I should drain my tank this week and get everything out of it before thursday and move all the fish into their new home. I am thinking I can keep my frag tank online until I plumb the new tank.
I dont think I will use all the rock for my aquascape so maybe I will stack up the rock I dont use in the back for the time being to help with bioload and slowly remove it.
So heres some what of a step by step that it would take.
1st - remove all live rock from display and put in 55g container. Its what I store my R/O water in.
2nd - Cover it with water from display tank along with heater and powerhead.
3rd - Remove fish from display in 35g Brute and fill that with water from display along with some Live rock. Add heater and powerhead.
4th - cap off retuns on old tank so that the frag tank can still have a skimmer/sump. (will have to redo all the plumbing anyways so doing this will just cost me a 1.00 to buy 2 caps to cap the pvc)
5th - Get new tank and take old tank back.
6th - Get HDPE and Cut it for tank and plumb new tank - and take frag tank offline.
7th - Create Aquascape
8th - Refill with water
9th - Add ammonia to see if it mini cycles
10th - After making sure tank doesnt mini cycle add fish and put frag tank back online.