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Can I swap tanks all in one day?


ZR2

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Ok, this may sound crazy but I need to ask before investing the money and time. My current tank is a Fluval Evo 13.5 and recently I have been having issues with my OC Clownfish and my Royal Gramma. Both of the fish have been in the tank since it was new, which is almost a year at this point. Recently, the clown started really picking on the royal to the point I thought it was going to die because its coloring looked so bad and it was always hiding. 

 

Some of you on here suggested putting the clown in a breeder net to keep it away from the royal. Sure enough, the coloring is looking much better on the royal and he has started eating some mysis shrimp again (Not many, but it's a start) and he is still hiding in his caves but will come out now and then. The clown is still in the breeder, and I know he can't stay there forever. I am just trying to get the royal healthy while I figure out what to do next. 

 

I have been thinking about buying a slightly larger tank to give the clown some more room and hopefully he will leave the royal alone. (This gave me an excuse to look for a bigger tank) I can't purchase too large of a tank because the dresser the tank sits on is only so deep, so it does limit my options and I also have to be careful with the weight of the tank. I was looking at the JBJ 20 Gallon Cubey Tank, really like the overall look and design and its taller and much deeper than my fluval evo which would give the fish more space. 

 

Anyone have experience with this tank? I really like the design of my evo, wish they made a larger tank with the same design. 

 

Another question I have is about the JBJ size, 18.26" length X 16.25" width X 18.70" high. Is the length the front of the tank or is this how deep the tank is? 

 

So, the real question is: if I decided to buy this tank, could I move all my livestock over to the new tank in the same day?

 

My current livestock: 

 

OC Clown 

Hawaiian Crab

Emerald Crab 

2 Blue Neon Gobies 

Some snails 

Hermit Crab 

Some soft corals (Pretty small) 

 

I have heard of people doing one day tank moves, I just want to make sure and have a plan. From what I understand it is best to buy new sand and not use the old sand even though it has good bacteria in it? 

 

I have two large rocks in the tank that were dry rock when I bought them on amazon, and I still have extra if I need to add more rock to the new tank. The dry rock has been in the tank for almost a year now so I think its safe to say its not dead like it was when I bought it. Very minimal coraline algae but it must have good backertia in it because I have never had an ammonia spike since the tank first cycled. I also thought I could throw in the ceramic plugs from the fluval to help add some more good bacteria.

 

So, if I put new sand in with my current rocks and add some more rock as needed with some water from my current tank and new water, would this work without causing a cycle that would harm the livestock?

 

Any advice would be appreciated and I apologize in advanced for asking 100 questions haha. 

 

 

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Hey we can go into a mile long thread on moving tanks! I took everything out of a 15g and upgraded to a 20g long.

 

I did the same thing and you will (unless the scientists want to chime in) have a cycle. I used totally new sand and plus transferred my existing rocks and I was fine...

 

Until I added the new rocks about two months later I had a massive algae outbreak shortly after. I even “cured” the new rocks for two months prior because I was afraid to just drop the new dry rock in and cause a cycle.

 

By curing I put a powerhead and salt water in a bucket for 2 months with no lights and did a few water changes during that time.


Still even after curing threw everything way off and had a cycle. 

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21 hours ago, I'm Batman said:

Hey we can go into a mile long thread on moving tanks! I took everything out of a 15g and upgraded to a 20g long.

 

I did the same thing and you will (unless the scientists want to chime in) have a cycle. I used totally new sand and plus transferred my existing rocks and I was fine...

 

Until I added the new rocks about two months later I had a massive algae outbreak shortly after. I even “cured” the new rocks for two months prior because I was afraid to just drop the new dry rock in and cause a cycle.

 

By curing I put a powerhead and salt water in a bucket for 2 months with no lights and did a few water changes during that time.


Still even after curing threw everything way off and had a cycle. 

I went ahead and bought the Fiji Cube 22.4 gallon and it arrived today. It is a really nice tank and the build quality is insane for the money. The entire sump area is tinted glass compared to my evo that has a plastic sump area. The glass is also much thicker, but man is it hard to move, it’s heavy. 
 

luckily the rocks I have now in my evo should me more than enough for the new tank, I will not need to add any more dry rock, so hopefully that will help me avoid the algae outbreak. When I first started my evo I had the worse case of green Cyano, it looked radioactive. I was able to get through it by throwing everything thing I could think of at it and ended up winning. 
 

The only real change will be the sand. I will be using the same live sand as before and seeding it with some sand from my evo and hopefully that will be enough with the rocks to keep the ammonia and everything else in check. I use nutri seawater for my tank which also already has bacteria in it and it has never steered me wrong yet. Mixing new water with some tank water and putting as much of the good bacteria in the new rank should hopefully be good enough to avoid any spikes. 
 

Doing this all in one day will be a challenge for sure. I will post an update with how it goes. 

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