How to do a tank upgrade

[MACH5]

Would like to hear opinions on how to best perform a tank upgrade. I have a 78 gal. and want to do a slight upgrade to a 90 gal. The new tank will be located just about 3' from the old one. I have mostly all acros and I am very concerned about this. I plan to transfer everything except the sand to the 90. I definitely need advice on how to best achieve this, obviously without killing the animals and with the least amount of stress possible

I would highly appreciate any advice given or pointed towards a related thread

Thanks in advance!!

[dhammers06]

allow alot of time. i upgraded from a 75 to a 120 but i had to put the 120 were the 75 was. i bought a bunch of totes and transferred everything. i made over a 100 gal of water. your sps should be fine the only thing i lost was my elegance. allow alot of time it took me a good 12hrs. im glad to hear your using new sand.

[jtgrimes]

I am also in the process of moving my 30 gallon to a 75 about the same location but will be a peninsula. I have been helping this guy upgrade his from a 75 to a 156. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=1680380 Hopefully this will help you if your looking to do any changes/building as well.

I was at first going to do what dhammers06 stated but found that it would be to much of a headache in the end.

[thomasp123]

it seems like a lot of work for only a small increase in volume. Is there something wrong with the 78?

[sedor]

1) Clean and add the new sand to the 90
2) Start add about 20G of fresh SW to the tank and put a heater in to bring the temp to the same as your other tank.
3) Fill a couple buckets, or rubbermaids or whatever with water from the 78 and put a powerhead in each as well then start putting your LR, coral and fish in here. You shouldn't need a heater as long as you move quickly. Don't leave the rock out of water for much time at all.
4) Start draining the 78 and adding the water to the 90. When its 3/4 full or so add the rock, fish and coral to the new tank with the powerheads.
5) Continue draining water and fill the rest of the tank up.

It shouldn't be hard to move everything over and could probably be done within a couple hours. New sand won't start a cycle so you don't have to worry about that, but you want to make sure your LR stays wet and move it quickly so you don't have any die off. I have done this before and the fish and coral barely seems to notice.

[glenns]

+1

Originally Posted by dhammers06

allow alot of time. i upgraded from a 75 to a 120 but i had to put the 120 were the 75 was. i bought a bunch of totes and transferred everything. i made over a 100 gal of water. your sps should be fine the only thing i lost was my elegance. allow alot of time it took me a good 12hrs. im glad to hear your using new sand.

Don't forget to include a heater and a powerhead or steam pump to provide heat and plenty of flow. This includes the rocks.

[MACH5]

Originally Posted by dhammers06

allow alot of time. i upgraded from a 75 to a 120 but i had to put the 120 were the 75 was. i bought a bunch of totes and transferred everything. i made over a 100 gal of water. your sps should be fine the only thing i lost was my elegance. allow alot of time it took me a good 12hrs. im glad to hear your using new sand.

Thanks dhammer06! Yes I will allow plenty of time for this. I'm planning to block off an entire day if not two just in case

Originally Posted by jtgrimes

I am also in the process of moving my 30 gallon to a 75 about the same location but will be a peninsula. I have been helping this guy upgrade his from a 75 to a 156. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=1680380 Hopefully this will help you if your looking to do any changes/building as well.

I was at first going to do what dhammers06 stated but found that it would be to much of a headache in the end.

Good luck on your own upgrade! Thanks for the link I will check it out.

Originally Posted by thomasp123

it seems like a lot of work for only a small increase in volume. Is there something wrong with the 78?

Yes it certainly does!! Nothing wrong with my 78. Everything in the new system (tank, sump, plumbing, equipment, stand) will be much better than what I currently have. A few years of experience have taught me a thing or two

Originally Posted by sedor

1) Clean and add the new sand to the 90
2) Start add about 20G of fresh SW to the tank and put a heater in to bring the temp to the same as your other tank.
3) Fill a couple buckets, or rubbermaids or whatever with water from the 78 and put a powerhead in each as well then start putting your LR, coral and fish in here. You shouldn't need a heater as long as you move quickly. Don't leave the rock out of water for much time at all.
4) Start draining the 78 and adding the water to the 90. When its 3/4 full or so add the rock, fish and coral to the new tank with the powerheads.
5) Continue draining water and fill the rest of the tank up.

It shouldn't be hard to move everything over and could probably be done within a couple hours. New sand won't start a cycle so you don't have to worry about that, but you want to make sure your LR stays wet and move it quickly so you don't have any die off. I have done this before and the fish and coral barely seems to notice.

Sedor thank you so much for your step by step directions It makes sense to me. I needed someone to brake it down for me in clear terms. Should I worry that the water will be cloudy from removing all the LR from the system?? Sand will be disturbed.

Originally Posted by glenns

+1

Don't forget to include a heater and a powerhead or steam pump to provide heat and plenty of flow. This includes the rocks.

Got it. Thanks glenns!!



Please anyone else feel free to chime in. Particularly if you have done an upgrade yourself I'd love to hear about it

[MACH5]

New Year's Day bump!

[Dtronic]

I moved from a 125 to 225. Took from 4:30PM to 1:30AM with 1 other person.

Drained the water and put livestock in the cleanest old water in 5 gal buckets.
Drained the rest of the water into two 30 gal brute trashcans.
I discarded about 20 gal of the dirtiest old water.
Broke down the 125, slid the 225 in it's place on tile floors (it was already on it's stand from 1 week before, that took 5 people).
Added all the new and old substrate.
Added about 50 gal old water.
Added all old live rock and new rock.
Added all old water, then added all livestock.
Put all the new water in.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=1756493

It's been almost 1 month and no cycle at all.

[ecureefer]

Im getting ready to transfer tanks as well except im adding new live sand to the tank and setting it in a new location. I have a big water container that im going to add old tank water when i do 10 gallon water changes everyday till i get about 50-60gallons and make the rest in new water. While i wait to have enough recycled water i will put a powerhead and heater in the container to keep the water moving and aerated. When the day comes to add the water i will level the tank and start adding water and maybe a few pieces of my live rock. Over a period of a week or so i will test the water and add more rock everyday. Ill start adding my livestock as i get less and less live rock left in my original tank. Just my 2 cent plan

[MACH5]

Originally Posted by Dtronic

I moved from a 125 to 225. Took from 4:30PM to 1:30AM with 1 other person.

Drained the water and put livestock in the cleanest old water in 5 gal buckets.
Drained the rest of the water into two 30 gal brute trashcans.
I discarded about 20 gal of the dirtiest old water.
Broke down the 125, slid the 225 in it's place on tile floors (it was already on it's stand from 1 week before, that took 5 people).
Added all the new and old substrate.
Added about 50 gal old water.
Added all old live rock and new rock.
Added all old water, then added all livestock.
Put all the new water in.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=1756493

It's been almost 1 month and no cycle at all.

Thanks Dtronic, this is also very helpful! Thanks for the thread link as well

Originally Posted by ecureefer

Im getting ready to transfer tanks as well except im adding new live sand to the tank and setting it in a new location. I have a big water container that im going to add old tank water when i do 10 gallon water changes everyday till i get about 50-60gallons and make the rest in new water. While i wait to have enough recycled water i will put a powerhead and heater in the container to keep the water moving and aerated. When the day comes to add the water i will level the tank and start adding water and maybe a few pieces of my live rock. Over a period of a week or so i will test the water and add more rock everyday. Ill start adding my livestock as i get less and less live rock left in my original tank. Just my 2 cent plan

Thanks for sharing your plan ecureefer