How do I upgrade from 90 to 220
 

Hi I am new to this forum. I was wondering how and if I should go about transferring my 90 gallon reef to a 200 gallon reef. The new tank is 72x 24x 24 with a custom sump 55 x 18 x 16. I have about 150 lbs of live rock in my 90 gallon and I recently purchased a 150 gallon tank with over 220 lbs of live rock Now I am trying to move everything from the 90 gallon on the same day into the 220 gallon tank. Is that possible for me to do without losing anything or causing a cycle if I do not add any new fish to the tank until I'm sure it's stable as I have an ample amount of live rock. My 90 gallon has been up and running for over a year and the person I got the 150 gallon from has had their tank running for about 4 years. I won't add any of The water from the 150 gallon as after the move the sand bed was stirred up a bit and i found that after two days there was a crazy spike in ammonia and very high nitrates. I would only be using the live rock from the 150 gallon tank and probably not all of it since I have so much in my 90.

If it's possible to do so without going through another cycle, what is the best way to move everything from my 90 gallon over to the 220 gallon? There is also a fish that will not be getting transferred over to the 220 gallon as he is a viscous anemone killer and he bullies my juvenile blue face angel ... Koran angel.... I love the fish but he has killed way too many anemones and I have some that I will eventually transfer to the new tank.

Any advice is welcome... :wavehand:

Yes, IF you make absolutely damned sure your Nitrites and Ammonia are at zero and have stayed there for at least a week after cycling, AND you put some PRODiBIO bacteria in that tank 3-5 days before introduction of your fish.
Monitor your Nitrites, nitrates and ammonia carefully afterward for several weeks.

Good.

I'd be worried about hitch hiking ich here - possibly getting into your new 200 and infecting your fish.

I just did an upgrade from a 29 gallon to a 75 gallon. I replaced all of the sand and most of the water. If I were you I would throw away all water from the new tank. I would also use about 50 gallons of the water from the 90 in the 220 and use newly made saltwater for the rest. I wouldn't use the rock from the 150 yet. Use all the rock from the 90 while you cook the rock from the 150 for a month. Then add it in the 220 after the month is over.

To save money you could buy quikrete pool filter sand for substrate. It is about $6.50 for 50lbs at Lowes/Home Depot. I used a mix of 50lbs quikrete pool filter sand and 20lbs white aquarium sand. It looks really good in my tank.

Bigger is better
 

I know it's hard not to want to go bigger it just looks so much better. Lol

72x24x24 is a 180 gallon tank. When I moved 30 minutes away I lost some coral and one fish

Yes it's possible. The new tank going where the old tank is now or another location?

Can you use the 150 temporarily? It would be good to have as much new water ready to go as possible. Do you have other large containers? What is your RO situation?

The 4 year old rock - how does it look? pink and purple, or green, brown, and fuzzy?

I like new sand - but if you are happy with the way your sand looks I'd keep it.

IMO elixirs skew toward snake oil.

It's a project. Have lots of towels on hand. eat a light meal. brew some good beans if you're into that sort of thing.

HTH

Sorry. It's 72x24x30

Right so I can't add my fish immediately. lol

I want to put the new tank where the old tank is but I think that will be too much of a hassle so it will just be in the same room until I am able to add everything to the new tank.

The rocks from the 150 gallon some are purplish some are greenish. But a lot of them seem to have coralline algae. There are bristleworms in the 150 gallon tank. Idk if I should worry there. Why cook the rocks? His tank " looked" very healthy when it was up and running. We tore it down the day I picked it up

Oh and I have an ro/di. 100 gpd so I will have 300 gallons of new rodi water ready to go when I set up tank. I really just want to know if there is a way for me to avoid a cycle on the tank and why I shouldn't just add the rocks from the guys 150 gallon tanks?

I didn't have a cycle in mine. But I moved from a 29 to a 75, not a 90 to a 220

When I did my transfer from 60 to a 112 gallon(total) I just took the rocks scape & poor the water into the new tank. Extra water(salt) was purchased to cover difference. Small cycle, followed by a water change after a week. bleach the rocks

Correction 116 gallon total volume

So would it be a bad idea to transfer my fish and corals over to the 220 on the same day that I set up the 220?

Follow, i need to move a 36g to a 90g, and adding some newe rock and sand


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The thing is my small tank is about 1 year old


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Alisha, it will be ok for you to transfer all of your stuff in the same day. However there are some steps you should take first.

1. Clean out new tank, get all dirt dust and hairs out to has clean glass.
2. Thouroughly rinse new sand, separately from the tank before putting it in. You can use your old sand but you must thoroughly rinse that sand as well. Rinse the sand until the water is completely clear. I used regular tap water until clear, then did a final rinse with ro water.
3. Add rinsed sand to tank.
4. Add new saltwater until the new tank is about 75% full.
5. Make sure the new water matches the same temperature, SG, and Alkalinity as the old tank. If you can match the magnesium and calcium.
6. One the new water in the new tank matches the parameters of the old tank, fill up the rest of the water from the old tank.
7. Add live rock from the old tank and make an aquascape you like.
8. At this point you should be able to add all of your fish and corals. You should be able to drop them right in if the parameters match.

That's how I moved my tank. Everything lived and no cycle occurred. I did get some diatoms though. Aside from that, all is well in my tank.

Your 150, the rocks are still in water right?

You should be fine. Put up the new tank, and move your stuff.

I only asked about the rock because sometimes it's worth cleaning them good before re-using them.

The worms are on your side. keep them. nothing to worry about.

Ok. I keep getting told that my fish corals and inverts will die due to the cycle if I do this. If I set it up that way to avoid an ammonia spike is there anything that I need to do?


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Aside from testing parameters regularly? Because I was also told it's a bad idea to use old water as well.


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So this is all just my opinion so I hope no one gets to crazy about it lol! In my experience you can use some of your old water maybe 50-75 gallons of it but majority you want to use is new. replenish all the trace minerals and such!

Now for this, is there a chance your fish and inverts will die if you transfer all at once YES, does it mean they all will definitely die NO! let me explain, there are WAY to many factors for any of us to give you a definitive answer. If the live rock has a lot of organisms in it and there is a ton of die off in the transfer could hurt your parameters? that's a chance you take in doing it in one day!
Now the safest way if you have the space/time to do it is fill the new tank with new water and some of your rock let it cycle like any new tank then slowly move your livestock over. If you don't have the space or the time to do so maybe see if your LFS can hold your livestock in QT while you cycle your new tank!
Congrats on the new tank and hope this helps!

I have the space I guess. I'm just in a rush. I know I shouldn't be but I am excited to get it up and running and I guess my other tank will look sorry with no rocks only fish n corals. Also no place for fish to hide either. I worry it will stress them b


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LOL the one thing that you have to be in this hobby is patient! And for your concern with your livestock, glad to see your thinking about them to start! But that's how all QT tanks are setup in the hobby, they shouldn't get stressed it will be a large QT tank lol!
if you have to room my advice would be to go slow and safe, rather then trying to do it in one day and you wake up and your fish are dead? the other concern is you don't know what is on that live rock and cant really account for the die off from the transfer which could definitely throw your parameters all around!

I guess waiting will be the game. Having someone help me setup the 220 on Saturday. Feel like it will take over a month to cycle [emoji30][emoji31]. It'll be almost 300 gallons including water from sump.


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shouldn't take to long especially if your using some of your old water and live rock you have a pretty good start! who knows could take 2 weeks could take a month but post some pics of your progress could turn into a cool thread!