Help with tank upgrade

I bought a used 40 gallon breeder with sump today. I have a 36 bowfront that's been running for almost 2 years. So how would I switch everything over to the 40g? And the sump was really dirty how clean does it have to before I can use it?

 

I would recommend that you really clean the sump well - give it a soak in vinegar and rinse really good. You don't want any nasties from the sump to become a part of your new system.

In terms of moving over, I might suggest that you start with a new sand bed. You can buy dry sand and wash really well and then add in a cup of your current sand to seed it. When I moved from my 54 to a 65 with sump, I used most of the existing water minus about 5 gallons (considered it a water change) and all of the rock. I kept livestock in spare aquarium that I had and put my rocks from the tank with corals on them in with the fish. I kept the rock in a couple of buckets with the rest of the water. Emptied the tank and then added in my sand (I'd use something on top of the sand when you pour in water - like a plate or something to minimize stirring it up) and added in the rock and water and brought that up to temp, matched salinity with the livestock tank and then added in the rest. Obviously you have to make more water to have enough to fill the new tank and sump.

I didn't have a cycle and everything made it. I didn't do the plate thing and wished I would have because I had a lot of settling on top of the sand because I just poured in the water.

HTH!

 

Leak test,clean,rinse, get new sand, and drain most the water for the new tank. After that just transfer everything over.

 

If there is coralline algae in the sump.. Like fishkeeper said use some vinegar to clean it.
You can dilute it with water so it goes a long way. Or just put some on a sponge and wipe the coralline. It will soften up and come off pretty easy.

 

I collected 30 gallons a week from my old tank and put it in brute bins with my new sand bed , added power head and the new lights, I continued adding water until I had what I needed, then pumped the water into my new tank from the brute tubs, popped the sand in, left it a couple of hours to settle, tested the temp and params, and then just moved the fish and rocks over. and the rocks straight in, probably took longer than other ways, but to me it made perfect sense and the fish basically got into their old water

 

Thank you everyone for the help. How long can my live rock be out of water for? And can I add some dry rock? I plan on cutting some of the live rock to create a nice aquascape.

 

Also my sump came with a hob remora skimmer. Id prefer a in sump skimmer what would be a good skimmer to look at for my setup?

 

Oh the sump is a eshopps r-200 refugium