Ryans 55g - Moving Houses!

Hey guys,

Just wanted to let you know that in January I will be moving house. I had originally planned to downgrade my 55g into a Red Sea Max 130.

However, I want to keep ALL my fish, and if I went to Red Sea I would have had to take my tang back. That means, TAKE THE 55G!!!,

I think I have the moving sorted, I have two 60L or like 20-25G sitting in the shed. I am going to set these up and let them cycle, and move my 5 fish into these and coral into these.

I will take down my 55g and move it to the new house and set it up again, using new sand in the display tank, and refugium, and seed the display and refuge with a cup each of old tank sand. Then I am going to put afair bit of my live rock into this and let it cycle again. Once cycled I am going to move my fish and coral over slowly, with the bigger fish first (bristletooth and flame angel).

Now, here is my question for all of you. I really want to re-do the sump plumbing and get it right this time. I have a crappy CPR overflow which goes down into a filtersock in the skimmer chamber, then the water goes through the refugium chamber and then into the return chamber which goes up into the display. It seems abit cheapish..... if you sort of get what I mean, the overflow somtimes leaks and gets really dirty and clogged. I have also had a few problems with floods etc....

I dont think I can drill it as its a 55g and I have heard most are tempered.... I was wondering what is the best way to sort the plumbing out, is there any cool type of plumbing that you can do in a non drilled tank?

 

Well if you determine all panels are tempered (likely the case as you think), then I would personally go with a U-tube style overflow like an Eshopps.

Not really "cool" by any means, but here is how I plumbed my 55 when I set it up for some possible ideas for you: http://www.3reef.com/forums/show-off-your-fish-tanks/55-gallon-build-136099.html

 

Forgot to ask, any way you could take the opportunity to upgrade to a drilled 75 or 90? This would really be the way to go IMO, and take away any concerns with the Tang

It would make the move easier too, since you could keep the 55 up and running as long as needed.

Just throwing that out there...

 

I wish I could upgrade, but its more like i'm moving from house to shoebox. The place I am moving into is a tiny two bedroom, one small bathroom thing. Its so small, the fish tank will actually be going into the kitchen. So if I was to upgrade, I would have to lose the fridge or something ahhaha.

I like the style you have going there, its much better than what I have going on at the moment. I will just have to see if I could fit a double overflow. Its pretty tight in my sump as it is.

 

Nice to see you posting Ryan. Haven't heard from you in a bit. Glad to hear that you're able to keep your tank and current fish. If I remember correctly, you are moving in with your GF? She must be a keeper to have you set up the tank in the kitchen

 

I have been abit quiet. Really busy with my research at the moment. I will make an effort to abit louder!

She definately is a keeper. It was either move the existing tank into the kitchen, downgrade and put the new tank into the kitchen or take everything back to the LFS. So I think a good medium is moving the existing tank, but I will try and make a few subtle upgrades on it to make it abit more failsafe/userfriendly.

Im definately thinking about a new overflow box, I just need to have a look at the filter sock issue and sump space with running duals. I also need to figure out how to better attach my return pump to the PVC, because it isn't a tight fit at the moment. Just a piece of PVC sitting over the pump exhaust.

 

What about redo your sump and use a canister while you are redesigning the sump?

Sump: That way your return doesn't get clogged.
Inlet --> Return <-- Fuge
something like this.
Sump - Model E

 

OK team . I am soon to start getting ready for the move .

I am going to set up my two small tanks in the next week or two to get them ready to cycle for my quarantine tanks. Am I able to use sand from the main tank for this? or should I get new sand and let it cycle properly? Will that likely cause problems in the existing tank?

Once it is cycled, I will be moving my tang and flame angel to one tank, and the clownfish and cleaner wrasse to the other with some live rock and pvc piping.

I will then tare down the main tank, remove all the live rock into a drum full of salt water and completely clean the tank and sump top to bottom. I will be using Fiji Pink for the display tank sand and I will be replacing the DSB in the sump with Kent Marine Biosediment.

Then the plan is to move the tank and stand into its new spot and fill with sand and salt water, then re-add the live rock and beneficial bacterial supplements to get the cycle over and done with as soon as possible.

During this time I will also be extensively cleaning the tanks equipment. Possibly looking into a dual overflow (instead of the single CPR overflow now) and new skimmer (Reef Octopus Cone) - Depending on the space constraints of running a dual overflow or if I can get a really space saving high performace skimmer. Then will get it all running together. Once the cycle has finished I will add whats left of my coral and then slowly move the fish into it. With the clowns first, then the cleaner wrasse then the flame and the tang.

I have really let the tank go so far whilst I plan the move. But I will definately be working from nearly scratch on the coral side of things. I only have a clam, a few softies and a gorg left.

I will take pictures of the progress. Let me know what you think?

 

Welcome back Ryan! I think your plan sounds reasonable but I'll let others chime in on that. Only thing that stands out to me is the order you're putting the fish back in....perhaps the clowns should be first and not last?

 

Sorry, the tang and the flame angel will be in one QT and the clowns and cleaner wrasse in the other. But the clowns will be in the DT first before the others.