moving an existing setup

[devgru]

hello all,im currently setting up a 125g tank and want to move inhabitants,sand and LR from an existing 90g.
1) by using the existing water(90g and 55g in sump) will i get thrown into a whirlwind of parameter shifts?
2)by moving existing sand bed will it be detrimental to the fuana and again rocket me into a parameter shift?
3)any general advice as to doing this?
thanks, Mark.

[maroun.c]

1) by using the existing water(90g and 55g in sump) will i get thrown into a whirlwind of parameter shifts?

I would just worry about any spikes caused by disrupting your Sand bed. How thick is it and since when was it setup?

2)by moving existing sand bed will it be detrimental to the fuana and again rocket me into a parameter shift?

If your sand bed is old you might need to wash it before moving it in and that will kill most of your fauna. You cold always siphon the surface and move it without washing it to reseed your sand bed.

3)any general advice as to doing this?

Plan your steps well, have someone help you to do things quickly. is the new setup in teh same house? in that case it shold be easier. how much LR do you have?
Have some fresh mixed saltwaer ready for big water changes in case things go wrong and yo uhave any spikes. Get yourself some carbon and run it to prevent any spikes change it every few days just for prevention. do frequent testing. run yuor skimmer wet to try to take out the most possible nasties...
Check out the first pages of my build thread as I got good info on moving my tank especially with the sand cleaning issues...

[devgru]

thank you maroun.c...the sand in display is 1.5-2" and has been in use for 14+ mos(was just moved from old house 6mos ago,but did not disturb,sand was left in place).i have 6"dsb in fuge same time frame.

the 125g is on opposite wall in game room,about 22' so that does help a great deal.

ive been planning this move for about 3+mos.in fact just this morning i changed the setup again(125g has x5 drilled holes on bottom,can only accept 3/4 bulk's.original idea was x3 overflow(1 fuge,2 sump) and 2 returns but they are towards front of tank and didnt want to go to waterline so i was going to come up 2" and elbow to loclines).brain fart this morning was use left one as drain with strainer(2"high) and come down to elbow and over to external pump and then back up to elbow with loclines(instant closed loop and no worries about failed check valves)

i did think about siphoning top of sand and im still leaning towards that with your input.

i only have 2 32g brute cans(1 in garage on ro/di system so only holds 20g given the float valve) and im running out of containers to store water...already have 20g in 125g circulating.

sorry for long reply.....im getting faster at typing and get carried away....thanks again

[devgru]

trying to upload pics of the progress but resizing them is giving me trouble

[sk8rreefgeek]

I just moved, and setup a brand new tank using the same sand/rock.
I siphoned through it like crazy, about (3) 5 gallon bucket loads of black/brown water's worth, before taking it out of the old tank.

I didn't have any issues with water params, but I did get a little brown diatom/air bubble cycle. It's still slightly brownish in some spots, after 2 weeks

[devgru]

i upload photos but when i go to my gallery their not ther.is there a waiting period?

[mikeandjenn99]

For your sand, I'd siphon off the top inch or so and not rinse it so it can reseed. Then take all the rest of the sand out and rinse it to get it nice and clean. That will keep you from having to buy all new sand, but you still have some of your old sand to jump start the new bed.

[maroun.c]

Sorry can't help with the photos issue as I use photobucket for hosting my pics and no thte galery here. MAybe try that as its free and allows you much more storage area and larger images.
Guess it's important to keep some of your sand unrinsed to preserve some of your critters to seed your new sand bed. You could even make a small trap: small cu on the side on the sand bed and some piece of shrimp in it at night you shold collect some bristleworms... after some time and keep them aside with the sand you siphon out to reseend yuor tank again. with only 1-2 inch sand bed thikness it shoudn't be that dirty. I learned a good way of cleaning the sand from Melev. fill 1/3 of a bucket with sand and with a water hose start the water it will allow you to push the hose to the bottom of the bucket as the water displaces the sand particles keep pushing in and out till the bucket is full, empty it and repeat 2-3 times should give you clean enough water.

[devgru]

well today i did it...the 125g is filled with water,sand, and rock and fish(corals and inverts still in 90g)...murphy's law is a SOB.1st my return pump impellar shaft snapped.2nd my phosban150 cap seal isnt working.3rd i didnt have enough ro/di made up to fill the sump(doesnt matter really w/o a return pump.4th new 13k MH bulb fired up then went out(returning monday).even tho ive been planning this for almost 3mos...goes to show you your never prepared enough....