Change of plans with Moving - New Tank!

So I was originally going to stick with my 46 gallon bow when moving, but my girlfriend persuaded me to upgrade to a 90gal! So almost double the capacity is very nice8), but I'm going to have to be slow on this since the cash isn't all there, so no more fish for a bit but I have to work on upgrading a lot of Equipment sooner. I have a short list of questions that maybe some people could help with.

1. I have a Aqua Remora C skimmer (up to 75gal), I'm going to still use this until I get more fish (I have 4 fish, and 2 inverts) so I don't believe I'll have any issues right if the bioload is not increasing?

2. I have a 36 inch light T5 light 2 bulbs. The tank is 48 inches long. Is this too short for a tank without any corals? I will upgrade eventually, but I'd prefer to wait maybe 6 months on this. (Just bought the T5s in Dec).

3. I want to buy a UV sterilizer. I was thinking about buying the Turbo twist 3X. Any one own it or have a good recommendation on anything less than 140ish?

- I've figured I'll also need a new powerhead(koralia 3?) and heater so those are things I will buy immediately.


My new plan is to fill the 90 gal up with 50% of my current tank's water(can't do this at once, so I'm going to start storing buckets) then 50% new water. Add in a brand new sand bed, 60lbs of live sand, 20 lbs of sand. I'll seed the sand with my current gravel(8 months old). I have less than a month before I have to transport all the fish to the 90gal. So I would have the 90-tank set up around May 7th with just water and sand. Begin adding cured live rock and base rock for the next two weeks or so, then add the fish around May 30th. I figure that there will be a small to medium sized cycle going on in the 90-tank but I'm not sure if less than 3 weeks is enough time to finish out. I could use Amquel+ if the levels are not good, but I really would prefer not to. If anyone has experienced this or has some good advice it would be nice to hear.

Thanks!

 

congrats smackrock - sounds great to me

1 - you will be fine with the existing skimmer in the larger tank whilst your bioload is identical to how it is now IMHO

2 - If you have no corals you will be fine with whatever light you have as its for viewing pleasure - tank might look a bit shaded far left and far right, but it would be OK IMHO

3 - cant help with UV steriliser - sorry

your changeover plans sound OK to me, using sand, rock etc from existing tank will certainly help with the cycling process IME

Steve

 

Save your money on the sand and get only dry sand. Everything else sounds good.

 

I would fill the 90 with fresh salt water and 60#'s of dry sand. Add a cup of your established sand over the top of that, and add all the base rock and 1 large piece of the cured live rock. run this for 2 weks while doing your parameter checks for ammonia,nitrite, and nitrate. as the nitrite levels drop to zero add the rest of the cured rock, check the levels for any mini cycle and finish the move.

 

Oh, I was going to buy another 30lbs of live rock. Only 1 big chunk with the rest base would be much cheaper haha.

And 2 K4s is a lot but I'll do that if thats not too much flow.

 

I have a Coralife Turbo Twist 6x and it works great....Its like a safety net for me...I like them.

Your skimmer will be fine for a while as well as your lights....save up and upgrade them when you can.

If you have the money pickup a ReefKeeper Lite to control your lights, heat, etc...its worth the $99.00

 

How big of a tank do you have for the 6x? I was thinking the 6x would be worth it since its only another 40 bucks and most of the reviews say they wished they bought the 6X even though they had less than a 120gal tank.

reefKeeper Lite is def a good idea, so perhaps in a few months I can pick one up. It's 99$ for the base, but doesn't each probe cost a lot too?