upgrading to a 90 gallon reef ready from a 72 have a few ?

cassklar · 03/27/2013, 06:51 PM

as the title says I am upgrading my existing reef tank to a larger one I have quite a few sps doing really well I will be upgrading this in a day first I will plumb new tank it is going to go where my existing one is I plan to use all water and live rock from my old tank so the question is sand I have searched and I get different results some say use dry sand others live sand some say live sand is a crap shoot so what would be best and do you have any recomendations on sand or any suggestions presently my existing sand bed is old and maybe 2 inches thanks

thegrun · 03/27/2013, 07:54 PM

I would only use a couple of cups of the old sand to seed new (washed) dry sand. There is going to be quite a bit of trapped detritus after a few years, I wouldn't waste the time and effort to clean it. It is a good idea to cycle any new rock you plan on adding to the larger tank before the move, although you could move the tank first and wait to add additional rock later after it has been cycled, but I have found it much easier to aquascape at the time of the move and get it all over with at once. The process takes a lot longer than you would suspect (or at least it does for me), plan on a long day. Good luck!

03/27/2013, 06:51 PM	#1
cassklar Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Vacaville CA Posts: 648	upgrading to a 90 gallon reef ready from a 72 have a few ? as the title says I am upgrading my existing reef tank to a larger one I have quite a few sps doing really well I will be upgrading this in a day first I will plumb new tank it is going to go where my existing one is I plan to use all water and live rock from my old tank so the question is sand I have searched and I get different results some say use dry sand others live sand some say live sand is a crap shoot so what would be best and do you have any recomendations on sand or any suggestions presently my existing sand bed is old and maybe 2 inches thanks

03/27/2013, 07:54 PM	#2
thegrun Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Garden Grove, Ca Posts: 17,023	I would only use a couple of cups of the old sand to seed new (washed) dry sand. There is going to be quite a bit of trapped detritus after a few years, I wouldn't waste the time and effort to clean it. It is a good idea to cycle any new rock you plan on adding to the larger tank before the move, although you could move the tank first and wait to add additional rock later after it has been cycled, but I have found it much easier to aquascape at the time of the move and get it all over with at once. The process takes a lot longer than you would suspect (or at least it does for me), plan on a long day. Good luck!