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MOVING HOUSE AND UPGRADING TANK


davea

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hi all

 

i'm moving house soon and will be upgrading my tank from my old resun dms400 (10 gallon) to a fluval m90 (35 gallon) . I have put together a plan of action on how to do this but would like a few second opinions on whether i am going about it in the right way or not! anyway the following is my plan of action:

 

ITEMS NEEDED

Live rock new 13kg

Live rock old 10kg

Live sand 20kg

25ltr tubs for water 3

9ltr tubs for water 4

plastic bags for fish ?

BUCKET 1

 

NEW HOUSE

SETUP TANK IN NEW HOUSE

ADD LIVE SAND

ADD NEW WATER AND BRING UP TO TEMPERATURE

CHECK SALINITY AND TEMPERATURE

 

OLD HOUSE

REMOVE FISH, CORAL, INVERTEBRATES, LIVE ROCK FROM OLD TANK

PLACE LIVE ROCK IN A BUCKET WITH OLD FISH TANK WATER

SIPHON OLD WATER FROM OLD TANK INTO 25LTR TUBS

REMOVE OLD MEDIA FROM TANK

TRANSFER ALL TO NEW HOUSE

 

NEW HOUSE

ADD OLD WATER AND MEDIA TO NEW TANK

GET TEMPERATURE UP

ADD NEW LIVE ROCK AND OLD LIVE ROCK

ACCLIMATISE MARINE ANIMALS

ADD MARINE ANIMALS

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hi all. i'm moving house soon and will be upgrading my tank from my old resun dms400 (10 gallon) to a fluval m90 (35 gallon) . I have put together a plan of action on how to do this but would like a few second opinions on whether i am going about it in the right way or not! anyway the following is my plan of action:

Hi. Exciting.

 

plastic bags for fish ?

BUCKET 1

You could bag the fish; but usually, I just put them in a bucket (with a top) for transport.

 

OLD HOUSE

REMOVE FISH, CORAL, INVERTEBRATES, LIVE ROCK FROM OLD TANK

PLACE LIVE ROCK IN A BUCKET WITH OLD FISH TANK WATER

SIPHON OLD WATER FROM OLD TANK INTO 25LTR TUBS...

You often need more water than you think. Plus, once the substrate is disturbed (including removing the rock), don't use/save anymore old water. Take the old water that you want to use early (you can always use new water if you can't get enough).

 

ADD NEW LIVE ROCK AND OLD LIVE ROCK

Make sure the new rock has been fully cured (cycled) before adding it to a tank with livestock.

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Cheers for the advice seabass it's all a very daunting thought I just don't want to lose anything especially my fish

 

Also surely all live rock is cured else it wouldn't be live rock!?

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Also surely all live rock is cured else it wouldn't be live rock!?

Not really. Excess die off will cause an ammonia spike. You need to cure it in a separate bucket until the ammonia level becomes undetectable (before you put it in a tank with livestock).

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Not really. Excess die off will cause an ammonia spike. You need to cure it in a separate bucket until the ammonia level becomes undetectable (before you put it in a tank with livestock).

So if I bought live rock from my local aquatics centre I couldn't use it straight away?

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I wouldn't.

 

What you should do is essentially this...

drain water from tank to holding tubs

remove corals and rocks

catch fish

remove remainder of water

remove old sand

breakdown tank

 

at the new house, fill the tank 70-80% with new water

drip fish and inverts

temp acclimate corals

take this time to scrub off rocks of any pests or algae, peroxide dips, etc

place old rocks in tank

get fish and inverts in tank

place corals in tank

 

 

Discard most of your old water and sand, a 100% WC won't hurt and will likely help. Add lots of carbon to the new tank in case of warfare. With the new rock... throw it in a 5G bucket with a powerhead and a heater for a month and then it will likely be ready. Don't add rock to your tank directly, especially from an LFS (can carry pests or diseases like ich).

 

Ideally at the new house when you arrive with livestock you will already have all the new equipment set up and the tank is filled with new water set to the same SG as the old tank. This is the method I use for my 12G when I move it.

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As Halo stated, it's not certain that your local store's rock is fully cured. If your move is sooner than it will take to fully cure the new live rock, just use the old rock until the new rock is ready. Although you would have to re-aquascape.

 

When you have coral, (along with matching temp and salinity) it's helpful to have pH and alkalinity match when changing the majority of your tank's water. If need be, I'd slowly adjust the old water (to match) prior to the move. This could be done with successive large water changes prior to the move, or even by dosing.

 

Also, It's helpful to have some Seachem Prime (or equivalent) to detoxify ammonia, just in case you have a small ammonia spike.

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the rock i was going to get would be coming from a fully mature tank and the rock has been in that tank for a year

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the rock i was going to get would be coming from a fully mature tank and the rock has been in that tank for a year

 

 

In that case I would be even more concerned about adding it. Is it from your tank? If not, QT it.

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