Almost Upgrade Time !

[CD]

So much for taking the tank down.
Wendy and I have pretty much decided on upgrading to a Oceanic 150RR once the tax return arrives.
We have a few questions about the change-over of the sand, rock, corals, etc. .
It seems that we read a thread here, not too long ago, where somebody was having problems with livestock dying after a similar change. Specifically, possible sand bed issues.

We will have the original 75 that everything is in at the present and a DAS 45 that we are still getting into shape. These will be available during the change-over process but the 75 must be emptied and moved as it sits where the 150 will be going.
We would really appreciate any info that you upgraders could offer to us to avoid as many casualties as possible.
How long might the sand bed create problems after being stirred up/moved? The sand bed in the 75 is about 3" .

Thanks for any suggestions on how to make this transition as smooth as possible.

Chris

[duc]

So much for taking the tank down.
Wendy and I have pretty much decided on upgrading to a Oceanic 150RR once the tax return arrives.
We have a few questions about the change-over of the sand, rock, corals, etc. .
It seems that we read a thread here, not too long ago, where somebody was having problems with livestock dying after a similar change. Specifically, possible sand bed issues.

We will have the original 75 that everything is in at the present and a DAS 45 that we are still getting into shape. These will be available during the change-over process but the 75 must be emptied and moved as it sits where the 150 will be going.
We would really appreciate any info that you upgraders could offer to us to avoid as many casualties as possible.
How long might the sand bed create problems after being stirred up/moved? The sand bed in the 75 is about 3" .

Thanks for any suggestions on how to make this transition as smooth as possible.

Chris
I am the guy who lost 3 fish in the tank swap, several things probably contributed to the loss. I would say the biggest was the fact that I moved the sand bed (3") without rinsing it only minutes before the fish. Everyone/ thing is doing fine now, it has been two weeks since the move. 3 fish alive and eating like pigs, that is what I know for what it is worth.
Clif

[NaCl_H2O]

I moved LR & livestock from my old 125g to my new system. I put 100% new sandbed in the new tanks, and seeded it with sand from the top 1" or so of the old tank. the remaining old sand I placed in my refugium after rinsing it out fairly well in the saltwater left in the old tank. I also had the ability to let the new system cycle for about 2 months before adding livestock.

There are "Bad Things" deep in your old sandbed according to the prior post you referenced. Maybe Larry or Gary can chime in here?

Given the cost you are already investing in the new system, I would play it safe and go with a new sand bed and seed it with a little from your old tank.

[CD]

We only had the tank up for a year, but we weren't willing to risk it with our livestock


That's about how long our 75G has been up and running, and I knew the sand s/b rinsed...I had found that thread on Reef Central for Clif and posted it, but I failed to relay that info to my hubby. :lol:
The only thing that they (RC) didn't mention, was about all the worms, etc. living in the sand. I would want to try and save these creatures, as I'm sure the FW rinsing will kill them. I would try to use water from the old tank, but we will need to use that for holding corals and the like during the transition. What my major worry will be, as Chris mentioned, that the new tank will be placed where the 75G currently sits. This is driving me nuts trying to figure out how to do this without losing any livestock! Where to put the fish? Well, we have a QT tank we could use (rather small...about 20G, and a 45G DAS that we never set up, so we could feasibly split the fish/inverts between the two, however, we would probably need to use the old water from the existing tank for that too, right? Wouldn't 100% freshly mixed (by freshly mixed, I mean circulating for at least a week or more in the mixing barrel) be detrimental to the fish? The thought of this move is both exciting and stressful to me already!!

Also, I was wondering if maybe I used a strainer of some sort on the live sand, if that would enable me to get most of the creatures out (worms, etc.)? I really didn't want to lose them. We will also obviously have to be very careful with the LR too. I will not want to rinse any of the LR, as there is not only corals growing on them, but *many* creatures...we seem to have a LOT of critters on the LR considering it is only roughly a year old. We will probably use what we have and buy more LR as we can afford...a little at a time.

I was thinking we should use roughly half of the live sand from our old tank, and the rest would be new...since we will be doubling the tank size, I knew we would need a *lot* more sand.

Wendy