Upgrading to bigger tank...questions.

[Kalikikibebe]

Hey everyone, so the inevitable happened and we found a 25g tank with stand that was low enough for me to be able to perform tasks without extra stools and ladders (I’m pretty short, and we had the tank on one of our highest countertops.) Our current tank is 13.5 gallons. I’m not sure how fast or slow I should be transfering livestock over once I have the tank in the right spot, cords contained & ensured everything is how I want it before livestock. 

 

We will not be adding any additional licestock at this time to try to minimize the risk.

 

Currently livestock: 

-two clown fish 

-cleaner shrimp

-6 crabs (hermit and regular)

-6 snails

- 1 ricordea rock

- a montipora cap

- one acapora

- one stag

- one torch

- one xenia 

- 6 zoa mini colonies of different colors. Some Fragged 

 

I want to use the live rock that is currently in the 13.5 tank plus more as necessary (which will probably go in the refugium). I bought new sand to use as well. 

 

Any suggestions on how to best approach this? I am also thinking maybe going sandless but not sure. I like the look of the sand much more then the glass bottom. 

[Clown79]

You can do it all in 1 day.

 

Replace the sand or completely wash your old sand. Buying new and rinsing it beforehand is much easier on the day of transfer.

 

Sand is the one thing that makes transferring or moving a tank an issue. Old sand even when vacuumed is nasty and that's where ppl run into ammonia spikes, nitrate and phos issues.

 

I listed step by step directions on my 25g upgrade/transfer journal, it may be helpful. 

 

It went very smoothly so I decided to document it to help others.

[seabass]

Make sure that you fully cure any new rock prior to adding it to a tank with livestock in it.  And if you do add sand, rinse it well to avoid cloudiness.

[RustyRocket]

12 hours ago, Clown79 said:

You can do it all in 1 day.

 

Replace the sand or completely wash your old sand. Buying new and rinsing it beforehand is much easier on the day of transfer.

 

Sand is the one thing that makes transferring or moving a tank an issue. Old sand even when vacuumed is nasty and that's where ppl run into ammonia spikes, nitrate and phos issues.

 

I listed step by step directions on my 25g upgrade/transfer journal, it may be helpful. 

 

It went very smoothly so I decided to document it to help others.

I pretty much followed Clown's instructions where applicable going from a 30 to a 65. Didn't loose a thing. You'll be fine as long as you're able to keep parameters similar. 

[Kalikikibebe]

Thank you everyone! The transition was successful! We haven't lost anything yet, and we are on day 6 in the new tank.