Moving tanks

[avoidtheboyd]

Ok so I've had a biocube set up for a little over a year now and things are pretty good. I have a nuvo 16 that i wanna switch to for aesthetics and a little more wider tank instead of the cube.

Heres my problem, I have a goby, shrimp and a small clown in my cube right now along with an assortment of different corals. I want to set up the nuvo and transfer everything but I don't know how to go about it.

I was thinking about having new live sand in the nuvo along with dry rock seeded with some live rock because a couple pieces in my cube aren't very aesthetically pleasing. If i let it cycle completely before adding everything, even after its cycled i can't just add everything in my cube to the nuvo since i don't want to overdo the bioload.

However is there a way to move everything over while adding a couple pieces of dry rock and new sand so there isn't a huge cycle or crash?

[CoolNameGoesHere]

**edit: woops, didn't see how old the OP was. oh well.

 

having broken down and transferred at least a half-dozen times due to moving, upgrading, downsizing, here's my suggestion:

 

1. you already have cured live rock in your biocube, go to step 6 if the majority of your cured live rock is going into the nuvo, otherwise go to step 2.

2. set up your nuvo and add a couple of the ugly pieces of LR you don't intend to keep into the nuvo to seed the dead rock and let it cycle for 6ish weeks or till tests come back 0 ammonia/0 nitrite.

3. if you can't run 2 tanks simultaneously b/c of space limitations, then put half your old tank water into a rubbermaid or similar bin that's about 10gal in size (or a 5gal bucket if that's big enough).

4. take out your cured live rock and corals from your biocube and put it in the bin/bucket with the old tank water.

5. catch your fish and shrimp and add to the bin. use an airstone and powerhead to aerate and circulate the water. don't forget the heater. if they are going to be in the bin more than a few hours, i'd add some carbon in a filter bag to the bin. if it's going to be in the bin for more than a day or two definitely add carbon. i'd also add a skimmer if possible and do 1 gallon water changes with new water every day. if you're making/buying new water for your nuvo, make/buy a few extra gallons (also, don't forget to top it off.)

6. relax and go slow. make sure you have towels on the floor for spills.

7. discard the ugly seed rock you used to seed your live (formerly dead) rock.

8. take the cured live rock and corals out and position them how you want in the nuvo along with the new rock.

9. catch your livestock and put them into the nuvo.

10. wait for nuvo to clear.

11. ???

12. profit.

 

i did the above, or pretty close, at least 2 or 3 times because of space issues (new tank going in same place as old tank; new tank not ready yet, etc etc). i've had my corals and livestock in bins for weeks until the new tank was setup and ready, without any losses. a bin is basically just another tank. gotta maintain it.

 

since your biocube has been running a year, your current rock is cured and is the biofilter for your livestock. i'd say if the majority of your cured liverock is making its way over to the nuvo then i'd just do a direct transfer from the biocube to the nuvo. but if the nuvo is going to mostly be new dead rock, then you should cycle it and follow the above list.

 

a small clown and a goby - that's such a small bioload that once the cycle is over in the nuvo i wouldn't worry too much about putting them both in there at once. especially if you're going to use most of your old cured live rock from the cube. the corals don't put ammonia into the water so don't worry about adding all of them all at once either. be more concerned with matching salinity and temp and lighting for the corals.

 

that's my 2 cents. hope it helps. i'm sure others will chime in.