Buying new setup..Best way to transfer?

Hello everyone, I am planning on purchasing 57 gallon deep blue rimless tank to be replacing a 54 gallon corner that I have had nothing but problems with. My first question is whether or not i would be able to use the sand that is in my 54 to transfer to the 57 without rinsing it like crazy since the 54 corner is roughly only 3 months old. I know that it is a bad idea to use old sand but its not that old and I hate to spend the extra money on new sand if the old would be fine. Second, I am getting over a little battle with cyano and wasnt sure of the precautions to take make sure i dont have such a huge cyano problem with the new tank. Also, I welcome all and any advice associated with transferring from tank to tank. Thanks in advance

 

Well if your old tank is only 3 months old you can probably expect all the same problems again!!! Its called new tank syndome!! The cycle to get rid of ammonia and nitrites is just the begining! It takes many more months for the nitrates to drop usually and then you will also have your diatom blooms and cyano blooms as the tank becomes established. Unless you have byropsis or dino, it is nothing out of the ordinary.

As for transferring the sand over, depending what your problems were it might be ok. If you had disease or problem algae than it will be in the sand and reseed your new tank with the same problems. Im not sure why you are giving up and transferring so quickly. Its takes 6months to a year for a reef tank to be considered stable and seasoned. Some even think that is a little premature. Best way to minimize the problems is use RO/DI water, do consistant water changes, have a well stocked CUC, and do not overstock or overfeed. You can also use a skimmer, biopellets, gfo, carbon, or whatever else you chose to help as a chemical means of filtration. I use carbon and phosguard and recently started using a skimmer.

 

The main reason I'm switching tanks is because of the deal im getting on the new one which is a huge upgrade on looks and equipment and i think most of my problems in the 54 corner stem from a lack of proper flow. I also have 55 gallon that is roughly 6 months old and never had the cyano problems or any for that matter so i wanted to switch to a more conventional tank so to speak since ive had better luck with them. With the sand i had a bit of a cyano problem on the top layer and the tang brought ich in with it but i havent seen any signs of with my last remaining fish.Not sure if ich would still be embedded in the sand and transfer to the new tank, but i guess ich is always present its just whether or not the fish are stressed enough to shed there slime coats and become infected.

 

Corners and bowfronts are known for flow problems. Cant ever seem to get it right!

If you treat and QT everything than you do not have ich in your system. The ich is in your sand though and on your other fish in a dormant phase. To get it out of the system you need to run fishless for 8 weeks.

I would not use the sand or rock since it has ich on it. If you do I would set up the new tank with no fish for a couple months and treat whatever fish you have in a QT system to rid your system of ich.

Also I did nto get my cyano outbreak on my setup until around the 1 year mark. Mine started when I started to use GFO and would coat the entire sandbed and look terrible!!. Took awhile but i got it back under control.

 

http://www.3reef.com/forums/algae/battling-cyano-need-help-151745.html

Here is a link to my previous thread on cyano tips. I have pics of my 54 corner and the 55

 

BTW..I looked over your 46 bowfront thread and its amazing...well done

 

I ran a 54 gallon corner for many years as FO. When I switched to a reef, I know it was VERY difficult to get the flow I needed and it's really obvious now that I do have good flow. I love the look of a rimless tank and if you're getting a good deal, sounds like a good time to switch. I would still rinse your sand, I don't think you need to go hog wild on it, but it will help to get the detritus out of it otherwise it settles when you transfer and is a pain. I would rinse with salt water but keep about a cup or so unrinsed to help seed.

This is what I did, I put my corals and fish in a 20 gallon long tank I have with a heater and power head. I put my rock in tubs and emptied the water. Since you are pretty close in terms of gallons, you may want to make up about 10-20 gallons of new water so this can be pretty much equivalent to big water change. Empty the rock, water, and sand. You can then put your new tank up and put the sand in (use a plate once you've added the sand) and pour your water onto the plate, it will help keep sand from flying around. You can put your rock in and then add the rest of your water (siphoned from the tank that has settled so use from the top down and leave the water at the bottom). Bring the water up to temperature and match your salinity with your livestock tank and once things settle in, you can slowly add in your livestock.

It's a pain in the arse and a lot of work, but this is what I did (minus the plate which I wish I would have done ) and I didn't lose any livestock. I needed more new water though because I was upgrading to a 65 with a 29 sump from a 54 corner sumpless.

I won't address the ich issue because that's a whole other topic with limitless threads and opinions about

Congrats on the upgrade and good luck on the transfer!

 

Did you use the water from your old tank to put in the 20 gallon? I have a 20 gal long sitting around that i could use just wasn't sure how to set it up to hold the fish during the transfer

 

Thanks, I have actually not updated that thread in a looong time! This summer was hard without centrail AC and I had a few issues pop up. Moved last month too and upgraded from the 46gallon to a 65gallon. Was a real pain and took a whole day to do but pretty happy with the results.

A little different because I moved whole houses but I set up the 65gallon at the new house with all new water, a heater, and a HOB filter. I added a few pieces of live rock that didnt have coral on them and used old filter floss. Also added a HOB skimmer. I than moved the boulders one by one with corals attached and placed them int he new system. Aquascaped them how I wanted and then brought over the corals and fish to add to the new tank. I added sand last and went all new. I dont use the plate method but instead use a funnel and a turkey baster. I have the washed sand in a 5gal pail and dump a bit of tank water in there. I use a glass to scoop it out and pour it into the funnel and let it travel down to the bloor via the baster. I used sugar grain sand and within a few hours tank was pretty clear.

 

yes, I filled it with existing water from the tank. I put in the pieces of my live rock that had my corals. I also tried to put as many inverts in the 20 as well. I had the powerhead pointed toward the surface for agitation.