Moving & Upgrading! Help with Plan! (55 -> 90)

bla403 · 12/09/2013, 09:48 AM

Hi All,

I am moving to a new apartment and in the process will be setting up a new tank and wanted everyone's thoughts.

I currently have a 55 gallon full reef that has been thriving for about 4 years. It only has a few fish (clowns, Chromis, lawnmower) but is jam packed with corals that have been growing for a while.

I will be setting up the new 90 gallon tank at the new place this Friday and have a 10 day overlap between the 2 places. I will plumb the tank, fill it with ro and salt and get it circulating on Friday.

Difficult part: I have some new BRS pukani rock (40lbs) that I want to use in the new tank which I have rinsed a few times with ro water which is in the bath tub.

My plan was to do the following:
- Setup the new tank and get it circulating with saltwater
- Add the new Pukani rock to that tank
- Add in 2 large pieces of rock from my current tank along with ~10 gallons of water from my established reef
- Run my skimmer, carbon and GFO (Change every few days)
- I can do water changes on the new tank whenever needed or add in more saltwater from my existing tank.
- When I go to add the existing fish and remaining rock, I will take all the remaining saltwater from my old tank and dump it into the new tank. (Try to use as much of the existing rock, water, etc. for stability)

I'm thinking that the rock will leach out some phosphates and probably a mini-cycle but the established rock & water from my current system should get that in order (should i add more existing rock earlier on?) in the short timeframe.

Let me know your thoughts on this process and if you have any suggestions. I wish I had another week or 2 but these are the cards I was dealt.

I also have ~20lbs of new refugium live rock from BRS which I can add or add later to the sump. I also don't plan on disturbing the sand in the current tank and will probably discard it or clean it before it is ever added to the new tank.

I could (although my wife might kill me), run the current tank in a brute container on the floor of the new place on "life support" (Powerheads & heater) to extend the timeframe a bit.

thegrun · 12/09/2013, 10:34 AM

If you have the new tank set up with the new rock in place you will most likely see an ammonia spike during that 10 day time frame if there is going to be one at all. If you do see ammonia I would set up the Brute trash can as a second tank with all your current live rock, fish and corals. If you don't see ammonia, I would gamble and assume any ammonia produced after the ten days will be light enough to be handled by your live rock that you will be placing in the new tank.

bla403 · 12/09/2013, 08:50 PM

Would it be recommended to add amquel in that situation to get the ammonia down as long as I have the skimmer and good aeration going? I have good establish bacteria on my current rock and will have an ammonia source (my fish) fairly soon again so I just need to get past the first amount of decay (if i get anything major)

bla403 · 12/10/2013, 10:33 PM

bump

ReefPharmer · 12/11/2013, 01:59 AM

Let me share some personal experience ... Upgrade to a 150-180 now and save yourself another upgrade from the 90 in a year. Cheaper to just get it done now

bla403 · 12/11/2013, 09:19 AM

Actually the cost for upgrading wasnt that bad since I am reusing almost every piece of equipment except for the glass tank. I wanted to upgrade the furniture anyway for the new apartment but everything is being reused.
A 150-180 upgrade would force me to buy a ton more stuff and replace other things on top of the fact that this is still a condo I'm moving into and space is a premium.

Yesterday, I started prepping my pvc for the install so I wanted to know if anyone had thoughts on my plans that are above.

12/09/2013, 09:48 AM	#1
bla403 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Posts: 196	Moving & Upgrading! Help with Plan! (55 -> 90) Hi All, I am moving to a new apartment and in the process will be setting up a new tank and wanted everyone's thoughts. I currently have a 55 gallon full reef that has been thriving for about 4 years. It only has a few fish (clowns, Chromis, lawnmower) but is jam packed with corals that have been growing for a while. I will be setting up the new 90 gallon tank at the new place this Friday and have a 10 day overlap between the 2 places. I will plumb the tank, fill it with ro and salt and get it circulating on Friday. Difficult part: I have some new BRS pukani rock (40lbs) that I want to use in the new tank which I have rinsed a few times with ro water which is in the bath tub. My plan was to do the following: - Setup the new tank and get it circulating with saltwater - Add the new Pukani rock to that tank - Add in 2 large pieces of rock from my current tank along with ~10 gallons of water from my established reef - Run my skimmer, carbon and GFO (Change every few days) - I can do water changes on the new tank whenever needed or add in more saltwater from my existing tank. - When I go to add the existing fish and remaining rock, I will take all the remaining saltwater from my old tank and dump it into the new tank. (Try to use as much of the existing rock, water, etc. for stability) I'm thinking that the rock will leach out some phosphates and probably a mini-cycle but the established rock & water from my current system should get that in order (should i add more existing rock earlier on?) in the short timeframe. Let me know your thoughts on this process and if you have any suggestions. I wish I had another week or 2 but these are the cards I was dealt. I also have ~20lbs of new refugium live rock from BRS which I can add or add later to the sump. I also don't plan on disturbing the sand in the current tank and will probably discard it or clean it before it is ever added to the new tank. I could (although my wife might kill me), run the current tank in a brute container on the floor of the new place on "life support" (Powerheads & heater) to extend the timeframe a bit.

12/09/2013, 10:34 AM	#2
thegrun Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Garden Grove, Ca Posts: 17,023	If you have the new tank set up with the new rock in place you will most likely see an ammonia spike during that 10 day time frame if there is going to be one at all. If you do see ammonia I would set up the Brute trash can as a second tank with all your current live rock, fish and corals. If you don't see ammonia, I would gamble and assume any ammonia produced after the ten days will be light enough to be handled by your live rock that you will be placing in the new tank.

12/09/2013, 08:50 PM	#3
bla403 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Posts: 196	Would it be recommended to add amquel in that situation to get the ammonia down as long as I have the skimmer and good aeration going? I have good establish bacteria on my current rock and will have an ammonia source (my fish) fairly soon again so I just need to get past the first amount of decay (if i get anything major)

12/10/2013, 10:33 PM	#4
bla403 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Posts: 196	bump

12/11/2013, 01:59 AM	#5
ReefPharmer Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: los angeles Posts: 1,836	Let me share some personal experience ... Upgrade to a 150-180 now and save yourself another upgrade from the 90 in a year. Cheaper to just get it done now

12/11/2013, 09:19 AM	#6
bla403 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Posts: 196	Actually the cost for upgrading wasnt that bad since I am reusing almost every piece of equipment except for the glass tank. I wanted to upgrade the furniture anyway for the new apartment but everything is being reused. A 150-180 upgrade would force me to buy a ton more stuff and replace other things on top of the fact that this is still a condo I'm moving into and space is a premium. Yesterday, I started prepping my pvc for the install so I wanted to know if anyone had thoughts on my plans that are above.