Preventative measures

So I bought a new 90g from craigslist and will be planning its setup over the next few months. While I am incredibly eager to get it up and running, I do not trust that the floor in my apartment will hold it. I will be graduating college in May (knock on wood) and will be moving to a new apartment. I currently have a 37g running, but have experienced common issues with my tank.

Several of my problems are pretty much impossible for me to fix right now. For example, there is the possibility of zoopox in my tank. Yes, I know there are treatments available. The problem is that several species of zoas are attached to my live rock. To make it worse, several of these live rocks are either supporting the entire aquascape, or embedded in the sand. This makes it impossible to move these rocks to a quarantine without disturbing the entire tank. Since it is probably in the water as well, the next recommendation would be to treat the tank itself. However, I value my SPS higher than I do my zoas. Next problem, possibility of red bugs on acros. Ugh, this is a very recent problem that I am still in denial about. Since many of my corals are totally unattachable from the LR, I will be moving the LR to the new tank as well. Buying new live rock would pose similar risks, and I'd rather know what I am up against!

To solve the problem of unremovable live rocks, I will have a shallow (or shallower) sand bed in this 90g. I will also be setting up a quarantine system. I may opt to treat for the red bugs with interceptor before this whole transfer ordeal occurs, however, I have many inverts that will be very difficult to catch (pistol shrimp, fire shrimp, pods, etc). I know it will be pretty difficult to keep certain algaes from being transferred, but thats another situation that I am currently battling.

If anyone has any experience with simultaneous tank AND location transfers, I am looking for advice. I have learned many lessons with this tank, and have had a lot of success (beginners luck . Any other advice with preventative measures would be greatly appreciated.

I think I forgot a few things that I wanted to mention in this thread, I may add on later.

 

I can't offer you any help, sorry. I'm still new at all of this as well and will be following to see what the more experienced people have to say. Good luck to you.

 

With a 90g, you'll have roughly half a ton of weight. As long as you place it perpendicular to the floor joists (parallel with the building) and near a load-bearing (center or outside) wall, you'll be fine.

You're most likely planning on adding more rock, so the safest way would be to set up the 90 with new sand and rock, cycle it, then make the transfer. Since you're moving all your established rock into it as well, you can set it up and move everything in the same day as long as you use dry sand and base rock, but I would suggest you feed lightly, keep a close eye on ammonia, and be prepared to make water changes as necessary for the first couple of weeks.

Congrats, and good luck.

 

My apartment is in an old house that was turned into seven apartments with additions and stuff. I am on the third floor, and the easiest exit is a fire escape lol. Otherwise it would have to fit through skinny doors and make about 10 turns down several sets of stairs. There has been a water leak through the fire escape door that they have unsuccessfully come to fix twice now. There is no way that tank is coming in here lol. On a more positive note its a great apartment right off campus.

Anyway, do you have any advice for prepping the dry rock and sand before adding it to the tank? I will also be setting up a 30g sump, so there will be a lot more water volume to work with. But don't worry, I have brand new RO/DI filters/membrane that were set up a few days ago based on AZDesertRat's recommendations, and I will have new prefilters and lots of salt on hand. So I will be very prepared for immediate WC's. Lets just say that I am planning on being extremely over-prepared for any emergency situation. Call me crazy but I was even thinking of fragging every piece of coral I have and temporarily storing it in a frag tank that I recently set up. Or at least the ones I really love.

Would it be a better idea to just make the initial transfer with dry sand and base dry rocks - Then over the next few weeks slowly add more of the dry rock? I couldn't see it making a huge difference because it will take a while for the dry sand/rock to be seeded anyway.. Maybe that isn't necessary, just an idea. I've never worked with the dry stuff, so I am not familiar with the common problems associated with it.

 

You'll want to rinse the rock and sand to remove loose dust. Since it's clean (no life forms), there's no reason why you can't add all of it at once. You can also seed your new sand with a cup or two of the old- just skim it from near the surface.

 

I wouldn't use any of the rocks from your current tank only the treated corals should get transferred. The older tank should sit fallow or just put the rocks out to dry out. There are too many potential problems with the current (old) tank.