djtodd Posted August 21, 2004 Share Posted August 21, 2004 Well, after losing a fish, and a lack of space, I've decided to migrate from a 12G Nanocube to a 20G High AGA. Since I'm using my filing cabinet as a stand I can't set the new one up and slowly move stuff over. Day 1, Saturday: Here's the Nanocube. all nicely modded. However, I can't get a skimmer in there, and any further upgrades would be very tricky. Here we have the AGA still in it's box along with the new lighting retro kit I got from Cooltouch Lighting. (Not pictured is a bag of Carib Sea Aragonite) Approx 6 gallons of RO/DI water getting aired out to add to the new tank. Tomorrow will be the construction of the canopy and the migration. I'll be siphoning off the water from the cube to use in the new tank and re-using as much of the old substrate as I can scoop out. A couple of hours before the move I'll shut the lights off so everyone gets all closed up, then move the LR over. Livestock will be moved over as quickly as I can, and hopefully I won't lose anything. Luckily all of my corals, fish, and inverts are good and hardy. I'll be using the same filter media and everything, so hopefully the die-off will be minimal. Link to comment
Kool-cat Posted August 21, 2004 Share Posted August 21, 2004 Why do you use an air pump to give air to ro/di water? Does it take out algae nutrients or something? Link to comment
djtodd Posted August 21, 2004 Author Share Posted August 21, 2004 Originally posted by Kool-cat Why do you use an air pump to give air to ro/di water? Does it take out algae nutrients or something? No. It adds air. There's no oxygen (or very little) in water when it comes out of the tap or out of the RO filter. Everything in our tanks have to breathe! (Or at least the fish do.) Link to comment
Kool-cat Posted August 21, 2004 Share Posted August 21, 2004 I just pour my ro/di water in my fuge a cup at a time. My tank has algae.... Link to comment
djtodd Posted August 23, 2004 Author Share Posted August 23, 2004 So far, so good. Fingers are crossed. Got everything moved to the new tank. The canopy will have to be rebuilt, as 1x4's instead of 1x8's were accidentally bought. Might be able to get away with it, but it's a bit of a pain for now. Speaking of pain, my back hurts and I'm too tried to post photos. Maybe tomorrow. Link to comment
djtodd Posted August 23, 2004 Author Share Posted August 23, 2004 Sunday, Day 2: Water partially drainsed from the nanocube. Corals and LR removed into this handy container before they make thier journey. New 20H all set up and waiting. Everything put in it's place. Water levels are a bit low, don't have enough RO aerated and mixed yet. Water is a murky mess, but some of the zoos actually opened in those condiitons. Monday, Day 3: The water has de-murkified. Nothing seems to have outright died overnight. A lot of the corals look MUCH better under 110W 50/50 instead of the modified cube with it's 56W. Even though the tank is bigger. Huh. The next few weeks will show if this was a success or not. I need to add several pounds more LR, so tomorrow I'm going to venture out and buy some base hunks to start re-aquascaping. Link to comment
artarmon42 Posted August 23, 2004 Share Posted August 23, 2004 Nice! Keep us updated! Look into the Aqua Clear surface skimmer attachment. It's awesome for cleaning the surface of the water, and slows down the flow rate so that you can setup a fuge in the HOB. Link to comment
jaguilar Posted August 23, 2004 Share Posted August 23, 2004 djtodd, i'll be making basically the same move within the next week or so. but i'm going from my eclipse12 to a 20h. i recently acquired a 175w mh fixture(24"), and it looks pretty funny sitting on top of my eclipse. i'll be faced with the same problems because my new tank is gonna have to go where my current tank is sitting. so everything will have to be emptied from the 12, then quickly moved to the 20. how much of your old sand bed were you able to use? i was thinking of getting a bag of the dry aragonite sand, and then seeding it with the top layer of sand from my 12, which is full of life(mini stars, pods, various worms). but your project seems to have come along just fine. i hope my move goes as smoothly as yours. if you have any tips or suggestions, just let me know. oh yeah, i also recommend the ac surface skimmer for your filter, it works wonders at keeping the water surface free from that nasty surface scum. i have one running on my ac200..... Link to comment
artarmon42 Posted August 23, 2004 Share Posted August 23, 2004 Jaguilar: Will your MH be a pendant or sit on top of your tank? I'm trying to figure out how to get MH without something hanging from my ceiling... Link to comment
jaguilar Posted August 23, 2004 Share Posted August 23, 2004 it's a hamilton hood fixture that will sit on top of the tank. Link to comment
djtodd Posted August 23, 2004 Author Share Posted August 23, 2004 Originally posted by jaguilar djtodd, i'll be making basically the same move within the next week or so. but i'm going from my eclipse12 to a 20h. i recently acquired a 175w mh fixture(24"), and it looks pretty funny sitting on top of my eclipse. i'll be faced with the same problems because my new tank is gonna have to go where my current tank is sitting. so everything will have to be emptied from the 12, then quickly moved to the 20. how much of your old sand bed were you able to use? i was thinking of getting a bag of the dry aragonite sand, and then seeding it with the top layer of sand from my 12, which is full of life(mini stars, pods, various worms). but your project seems to have come along just fine. i hope my move goes as smoothly as yours. if you have any tips or suggestions, just let me know. oh yeah, i also recommend the ac surface skimmer for your filter, it works wonders at keeping the water surface free from that nasty surface scum. i have one running on my ac200..... I used the entire sand bed except for maybe a cup's worth. I figured that getting the same water and substrate into the new tank would make a world of difference in die-off and water chemistry. Luckily by reading these forums for a few months I was able to avoid a mistake someone else around here made and I put the old sand on top of the new sand. I'll get the surface skimmer once I'm all finished. The water level isn't at it's peak yet. Link to comment
jaguilar Posted August 23, 2004 Share Posted August 23, 2004 was your new sand dry, or was it "live sand"?.?... Link to comment
djtodd Posted August 23, 2004 Author Share Posted August 23, 2004 Originally posted by jaguilar was your new sand dry, or was it "live sand"?.?... It was Carib Sea Aragonite. Dry stuff. Link to comment
jaguilar Posted August 23, 2004 Share Posted August 23, 2004 that's exactly what i was thinking of using. it's available pretty cheap at the local petsmart. one more question: did you have to rinse the new sand off, or did you just throw it in the tank as is?.? the bags that i've seen seem to have a lot of dust particles which would probalby contribute to extra-murky water. thx Link to comment
Withers Posted August 23, 2004 Share Posted August 23, 2004 rinse it out as much as you possibly can. it made my tank murky for more than a day, and i washed it out 10 times, took about 4 hours. djtodd, looks like everything made the trip are you planning on painting the back of the tank? and are you planning on adding a skimmer? Link to comment
3gEclipseGuy Posted August 23, 2004 Share Posted August 23, 2004 Originally posted by artarmon42 Nice! Keep us updated! Look into the Aqua Clear surface skimmer attachment. It's awesome for cleaning the surface of the water, and slows down the flow rate so that you can setup a fuge in the HOB. I haven't been able to find one of those anywhere to purchase.... any suggestions? Link to comment
3gEclipseGuy Posted August 23, 2004 Share Posted August 23, 2004 Originally posted by VicSkimmr rinse it out as much as you possibly can. it made my tank murky for more than a day, and i washed it out 10 times, took about 4 hours. djtodd, looks like everything made the trip are you planning on painting the back of the tank? and are you planning on adding a skimmer? Did you rinse with tap or RO water? Link to comment
djtodd Posted August 23, 2004 Author Share Posted August 23, 2004 Originally posted by VicSkimmr rinse it out as much as you possibly can. it made my tank murky for more than a day, and i washed it out 10 times, took about 4 hours. djtodd, looks like everything made the trip are you planning on painting the back of the tank? and are you planning on adding a skimmer? Yup, everything made the trip. The Monti still looks a little pissed, but he'll be better once I've moved him closer to the surface and away from most of the flow. As for the Aragonite, I didn't bother rinsing it at all. Didn't cloud one bit. Of course I was careful to use the dinner plate method of adding water. I got lazy and decided to skip painting for now. I'm going to experiment with different colours of Bristol Board at the back to help choose which colour to paint it. White/Blue/Black or whatever. I'll be adding a skimmer once my bank balance has recovered a bit. I think I want to continue waiting for AquaC to release the Nano-Remora. Link to comment
djtodd Posted August 25, 2004 Author Share Posted August 25, 2004 Finished. Until I get my hands on a skimmer that is. Got a proper glass top this morning, some plain blue backing, and another 9 pounds or so of Fiji LR. Link to comment
Withers Posted August 25, 2004 Share Posted August 25, 2004 cool, looks great. 3geclipseguy, i rinsed mine with tapwater, and then drained it, and let all the water evaporate back out. i can't say whether or not all the crap in the tap water stayed with the sand, but it was in very minute quantities. Jason Link to comment
Megalomaniac Posted August 28, 2004 Share Posted August 28, 2004 nice tank! what are you gonna do with your nano cube? Link to comment
djtodd Posted August 29, 2004 Author Share Posted August 29, 2004 It'll be set up again in a few months when my wallet recovers. Either that or I'll just sell it. Link to comment
TiGs Posted August 29, 2004 Share Posted August 29, 2004 Looking good. Depending on how old and how deep the sand bed is would determine if you should keep it. Established DSB usually has a lot of nasties that will be released back into the water when disturbed and it could cause a crash. When I did my tank swap I ditched my sand bed and saved one cup of sand from the top layer to seed my new sand. If you use aragonite sand you should immerse it in some old tank water for a couple of days so the aragonite doesn't affect your alkalinity when adding to to your tank. Link to comment
djtodd Posted August 29, 2004 Author Share Posted August 29, 2004 Originally posted by TiGs Looking good. Depending on how old and how deep the sand bed is would determine if you should keep it. Established DSB usually has a lot of nasties that will be released back into the water when disturbed and it could cause a crash. When I did my tank swap I ditched my sand bed and saved one cup of sand from the top layer to seed my new sand. If you use aragonite sand you should immerse it in some old tank water for a couple of days so the aragonite doesn't affect your alkalinity when adding to to your tank. Heh. NOW he tells me. The sand bed was only 1/2" to 1/3" deep and now covers the aragonite to a depth of about 1/4". However, the tank still looks healthy, and I'm adding my BakPak2 skimmer this afternoon. That should help things immensely. Link to comment
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