Upgrading tanks and acclimating live stock.

[3s1k]

So I'm upgrading to a IM Lagoon 25 and I'm not sure how to move the live stock from one tank to the other. What do you think is the easiest method or got any tips?

 

I only have 2 fish but about a dozen corals.

[seabass]

I save some water from the old tank to transfer it to the new tank.  Also, try to match the water temperature.

 

What I do is:

• The first step is to make lots of new saltwater.  You'll lose or discard much more of the old tank water than you think that you will.  Plan on being able to save only around 25% of your old water.  The new water should be heated to approximate the running tank.  Then I'll remove the heat (and also, shut off the heat on the running tank, so that all the water starts to cool).
• Then remove the some water from the old tank to hold the livestock (and to transfer to the new tank).  I use empty salt mix containers (5 gallon buckets).  I don't bother with heaters or flow.  I have a separate bucket for fish and snails, so that the rock doesn't crush anyone.
• Remove the rock and capture the livestock without disturbing the sand bed.  It's easiest to capture the fish after the rock has been removed (be careful when removing the rock, that a fish is not hiding in it).  Once you disturb the substrate you have to discard the remaining water, so make sure you save what you want before you remove the rock.
• After you have captured everything, it time to deal with your sand.  It's easiest to use new sand in the new tank.  However, it is possible to thoroughly wash it and transfer it (which is kind of time consuming).  If the sand is relatively free of non-bacterial life, you can use RO water and be rough when rinsing it (don't worry about the bacteria, it will be fine).  However, you'll have to be more careful if there it is full of non-bacterial micro inverts.
• Check the temperature of the new water against the holding buckets, and adjust if needed.
• Now it's time to transfer everything to the new tank.  I'll usually use some water I saved from the old tank.  I also tend to use some the water that the fish were in (but that could contain some ammonia depending on how long they were in the bucket).  Often, the bucket(s) holding the rock contains cloudy water, so I tend to discard it.

[samnaz]

A couple questions. What size tank are you transferring to? Will you be transferring the established rock? Adding any new dry or live rock?

 

I'm tranferring a tank soon as well, it'll be my first transfer so I don't have much to say in the way of advice.

[seabass]

2 hours ago, samnaz said:

Adding any new dry or live rock?

Good question.  I was going to address that in my response, but forgot.

 

If you move the existing rock, you know that it'll support your current livestock.  So I recommend moving all the existing rock.  In the case of a substantial tank size upgrade, you might want to add additional rock.  This is fine as long as the rock is fully cured.  Don't trust a LFS, and cure it yourself.  Do this for dry rock as well as live rock, as sometimes dry rock has dead organics on it, even if it looks clean, and even if it has been brushed clean.

 

If all goes well, you shouldn't see ammonia spike.  However, it's still not a good idea to add livestock when transferring tanks.  There is enough going on without that.  Plus, when disturbing and/or transferring you existing sand bed, there is a risk that you will release organics which can cause an ammonia spike.  There is also the risk of suffocating micro inverts which could also cause a spike.  There is no need to try to add additional livestock at this time (wait a least a week).

[Nixperience]

If possible, I like to set up new tank while old stuff is in another tank and add a few things each day gradually. 

[seabass]

17 minutes ago, Nixperience said:

If possible, I like to set up new tank while old stuff is in another tank and add a few things each day gradually. 

I agree, that works great when putting the new tank in a different location.

[3s1k]

8 hours ago, samnaz said:

A couple questions. What size tank are you transferring to? Will you be transferring the established rock? Adding any new dry or live rock?

 

I'm tranferring a tank soon as well, it'll be my first transfer so I don't have much to say in the way of advice.

 

I'm going from a standard 29g Petco tank to the IM Lagoon 25. I purchased brand new dry sand (rinsed it) and will be using most of of my existing live rock.

4 hours ago, seabass said:

I agree, that works great when putting the new tank in a different location.

 

4 hours ago, Nixperience said:

If possible, I like to set up new tank while old stuff is in another tank and add a few things each day gradually. 

I was thinking this, as my 2 tanks are less than a foot from each other. I'm just not sure if it's wise to just pull something out of one tank and set it inside the new tank.

[seabass]

8 minutes ago, 3s1k said:

I'm just not sure if it's wise to just pull something out of one tank and set it inside the new tank.

Should be alright.  Just make sure the specific gravity and temperature are pretty close.

[Nixperience]

If you have any rock without corals, move those first. Transfer the most sensitive livestock last. 

[3s1k]

Most of the corals are on frag plugs still except some GSP and Xenia's. I do have 2 small Anemones though that I'm not sure how to move.

 

The 2 fish are Banghai Cardinal and Blue Chromis.

[seabass]

8 minutes ago, 3s1k said:

I do have 2 small Anemones though that I'm not sure how to move.

If they are on a rock, leave them on the rock and transfer the whole thing.  Don't try to pry an anemone off of a rock.  If they are on the side of the glass, it's possible to carefully pry them off the glass; however, let me know if this is the case, and I'll discuss this procedure more fully.

[3s1k]

One is on a rock but the other is on the front of the glass near the bottom. He's the size of a silver dollar.

[Clown79]

1 hour ago, 3s1k said:

 

I'm going from a standard 29g Petco tank to the IM Lagoon 25. I purchased brand new dry sand (rinsed it) and will be using most of of my existing live rock.

 

I was thinking this, as my 2 tanks are less than a foot from each other. I'm just not sure if it's wise to just pull something out of one tank and set it inside the new tank.

If the tank is in a new place and doesn't require moving then moving the items from one tank to another is fine as long as temp and sg matches

[3s1k]

7 minutes ago, Clown79 said:

If the tank is in a new place and doesn't require moving then moving the items from one tank to another is fine as long as temp and sg matches

Yes, both tanks are setup and side by side. I just added water to the new tank last night. I'd like to coral RX dip if I can as I have some Asterina stars i'm trying to get rid of.

[seabass]

1 hour ago, 3s1k said:

One is on a rock but the other is on the front of the glass near the bottom. He's the size of a silver dollar.

What type of anemone is it?

 

Here I slowly, carefully, worked a plastic scraper under a rock flower anemone's foot:

I doubt it will come back to the display section on it's own. To move them, I normally take a small plastic scraper and slowly work around the foot until it releases.

 

Getting too close to my MP10.

 

Using a plastic scraper to slowly release the foot.

 

Here I've left one scraper under the foot, and started work on the other side with another scraper.

 

Shot of the foot.

 

New home.

 

Obviously this wouldn't work to remove a RFA from rock, but it should work on yours, which is attached to a baffle.

[3s1k]

It's an RBT. I moved him last night. He was actually attached to the base of another coral and came off when I move that coral.

 

I made sure the water temp and salinity were the as close as I can get them and put the the Nem in a cup to move him to the new tank. He seemed to open up shortly after I put him in.

[Nidilsky]

When I transferred to a new tank, I used approx 1/4 of my old bed. I read that using entirely new sand can sometimes stall the cycle.

Don't use it all, it is filthy.

[3s1k]

3 minutes ago, Nidilsky said:

When I transferred to a new tank, I used approx 1/4 of my old bed. I read that using entirely new sand can sometimes stall the cycle.

Don't use it all, it is filthy.

It was filthy so I used all new sand. I got stirred up a little when I was trying to remove a rock anemone and it looked dirty haha.

[3s1k]

Here's some photos of the new and old tank. I left the old tank running in case I find some snails or other critters.

 

I do have some Xenia's and GSP that spread to adjacent rocks but I don't have space for the large rock they are on. Not sure what I'll do with them just yet.

[Clown79]

Good call on the new sand. It shouldn't cause a cycle. Many change out their sand yearly or when moving, upgrading.

The tank looks great.

 

You can drag xenia easily and sell/trade what you don't use. 

 

The gap can be peeled off the rock and either frag it or trade in the whole rock.