Need advice switching a 24 to a 90

[davocean]

I'm helping a friend switch from his 24 to a 90 (another reefaholic!)
I'm already a little concerned about beneficial bacteria and cycling with that much new water, and we want to keep as much of his old sand (6mo. old) and rock, but he's also had a recent outbreak of aptasia.
Whats the best way to rid aptasia and keep all the good stuff?
His rock is so craggy there's no way to reach all the aptasia with kalk and hypo.
We're also trying to keep all the corals he has already with as few setbacks as possible.
Thanks in advance, Dave

[chip721]

I'm in the process of upgrading from a 29g to 90 too, so this one caught my eye. I've had some aptasia before too, but "few" enough that I could hit them with Joe's Juice. I've read that Peppermint shrimp are a natural predator of aptasia, but I can't confirm it from personal experience.

As for the lr and sand, I'm keeping all my rock and have more curing right now. All things considered, sand is relatively cheap. I'm tossing my 18 month old sand and starting my new tank with new sand while keeping enough of the old to "seed" it. Of course you'll try to match your current water parameters as closely as possible i.e. temp, SG, pH, Ca, Alk, etc. But IMO, the useful bacteria is going to come from the rock and sand, not much from the water column.

Not sure if you're doing a quick transfer of everything. I'm basically running 2 separate systems in this process. I'm going to cycle the new tank and "gradually" transfer corals and livestock from the 29 into the 90. I'm a little embarrassed to say I've been gathering things for the 90 for 7 months and just got water in it today! I hope to have it cycled in few weeks and maybe a cleanup crew sometime in August. Keep us posted with your progress and wish me luck too;) .

[gfk]

when i got rid of my 20 and got my 29, i got new sand, im glad i did.

just make sure all the liverock is fully cured and you should be fine... or cycle the new tank and transfer everything from the 29 after