Bought a new house / tank - Need advice

Chaserjim · 01/06/2015, 11:40 AM

Good morning,

I recently bought a new house and will be upgrading my 36gal bowfront to a 60gal cube. I have my own Rodi machine and plenty of buckets. I am trying to determine the best course of action to set up my new tank at the new house, and transport my existing corals, live rock into this newly (non cycled tank ). I have heard .. "Oh just take a cup of your existing sand and place it in the new tank / sand." I'm not sure if I can trust it. If any of you kind souls can give me a link to a resource, or post your own experiences and let me know I would be forever in your debt.

Thanks so much -

P.S - My tank consists of softies, LPS and SPS with 3 fish total - clown, flame angel and damsel. I'm more concerned about my corals than anything.

Compliance · 01/06/2015, 01:18 PM

How deep is the sand. If it's more than 2 inches or it's been set up for a long time (2+ years) it's probably better to not disturb the old sand and use the "cup of sand" method you refer to.

d2mini · 01/06/2015, 01:31 PM

If possible, the best course of action would be to set the new tank up well before moving to get it cycling.
As stated above, you really don't want to use your current sand if it's been set up a while. And it will take a while for that cup of old sand to have an effect on your entire new sand bed.
Water won't matter, it holds no bacteria, so don't bother with that unless you just need the volume.
So all your left with is your rock.
And it will take a while for all the new surfaces on the tank, plumbing, etc to become populated in bacteria.
So in the end, expect at least a mini cycle.
The more you can set up beforehand, the better.

The other thing that might help is picking up a MarinePure block. Put it in your tank or sump NOW, letting it get seeded with bacteria for a few weeks at least. Then bring that over to the new house in a bucket and put in the new tank. That will definitely help.

Also, it would be best to not have to rush the new tank setup to make sure things are done right, no mistakes are made and nothing is overlooked. But I realize we don't always have the luxury of that much time when moving homes.

jonwright · 01/07/2015, 09:49 AM

At a minimum I'd like to have the new tank setup And running before critters are removed from their current home. I'd rather not have the clock ticking with critters in tubs while I'm working out kinks in new tank.

Many opinions on the sand, rock etc. I've set up a couple tanks with rock from previous tank with little issue. Now my Bioload was light. Ymmv.

But other realities will drive what you can do. It would also be good to have plenty of sea water ready when you do your transfer.

So in my move plan set up the new tank (with some rock sand from old if possible) would be my first step. Iron out kinks. Let new tank run while moving household. Last item out would be old tank critters.

01/06/2015, 11:40 AM	#1
Chaserjim Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2014 Posts: 2	Bought a new house / tank - Need advice Good morning, I recently bought a new house and will be upgrading my 36gal bowfront to a 60gal cube. I have my own Rodi machine and plenty of buckets. I am trying to determine the best course of action to set up my new tank at the new house, and transport my existing corals, live rock into this newly (non cycled tank ). I have heard .. "Oh just take a cup of your existing sand and place it in the new tank / sand." I'm not sure if I can trust it. If any of you kind souls can give me a link to a resource, or post your own experiences and let me know I would be forever in your debt. Thanks so much - P.S - My tank consists of softies, LPS and SPS with 3 fish total - clown, flame angel and damsel. I'm more concerned about my corals than anything.

01/06/2015, 01:31 PM	#3
d2mini Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 10,344	If possible, the best course of action would be to set the new tank up well before moving to get it cycling. As stated above, you really don't want to use your current sand if it's been set up a while. And it will take a while for that cup of old sand to have an effect on your entire new sand bed. Water won't matter, it holds no bacteria, so don't bother with that unless you just need the volume. So all your left with is your rock. And it will take a while for all the new surfaces on the tank, plumbing, etc to become populated in bacteria. So in the end, expect at least a mini cycle. The more you can set up beforehand, the better. The other thing that might help is picking up a MarinePure block. Put it in your tank or sump NOW, letting it get seeded with bacteria for a few weeks at least. Then bring that over to the new house in a bucket and put in the new tank. That will definitely help. Also, it would be best to not have to rush the new tank setup to make sure things are done right, no mistakes are made and nothing is overlooked. But I realize we don't always have the luxury of that much time when moving homes. __________________ -dennis Elos Diamond 120xl \| Elos Stand \| Radion G4 Pros \| GHL Profilux Controller \| LifeReef Skimmer \| LifeReef Sump Photos taken with a Nikon D750 or Leica M.

01/06/2015, 01:18 PM	#2
Compliance Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2015 Posts: 144	How deep is the sand. If it's more than 2 inches or it's been set up for a long time (2+ years) it's probably better to not disturb the old sand and use the "cup of sand" method you refer to.

01/07/2015, 09:49 AM	#4
jonwright Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: Little Rock, AR Posts: 658	At a minimum I'd like to have the new tank setup And running before critters are removed from their current home. I'd rather not have the clock ticking with critters in tubs while I'm working out kinks in new tank. Many opinions on the sand, rock etc. I've set up a couple tanks with rock from previous tank with little issue. Now my Bioload was light. Ymmv. But other realities will drive what you can do. It would also be good to have plenty of sea water ready when you do your transfer. So in my move plan set up the new tank (with some rock sand from old if possible) would be my first step. Iron out kinks. Let new tank run while moving household. Last item out would be old tank critters.