Triplemom's and Jwin's 90 Gallon Upgrade

Let the saltwater mixing begin! The RO/DI unit is working overtime, getting ready for Saturday. The QT has been started and I'll be doing a "water change" from the old tank into it tomorrow. I'm trying to get the saltwater mixed ahead of time and have the temperature/salinity in the various tubs regulated so I don't have to panic Saturday morning when something is off.

I'm also going to pull the Octopus skimmer that's going from the old tank to the new tank and will give it a good vinegar cleaning tomorrow.

 

Here's some karma your way that your transition goes smoothly! It's a lot of work

 

Thanks so much! I have tubs scattered everywhere...it's nerve wracking!

 

It's transfer day! =Jwin=, wake up!!!! Maybe a nice splash of cold water in the face will do the trick...

Saltwater is mixed, salinity and temperature checked in all the tubs. QT is ready to house the fish for a few hours. RO unit is still working overtime.

One regret of mine is not getting heavy-duty tubs. I was being practical and thinking I would use them for storage after the transfer, but after one of the tubs started bowing out big time after filling it with water, I had to rethink this one.

One thing I'm glad of is having multiple heaters! I've had a variety of aquariums for many years and managed to keep all the old working heaters. I almost gave them away! I have four going right now in the QT and saltwater tubs, plus I also have a backup heater in the 46 that I can pull and use if needed. So glad I didn't give away those heaters! I also have a few air stones/water pumps running.

Miss Nosy Husky is right in the middle of everything, of course!

 

Good luck, hope it all goes well!

 

I've got to do the same thing soon, going from 125-180.

I got some heaters off someone for a decent price, who needed some money and was selling off old junk.

 

The transfer is done and fish/ornamental shrimp/pistol shrimp moved into the new tank. The lights are out to let everybody "destress" a bit. The tank was still a bit cloudy this evening. I can't wait to see it in the morning! =Jwin= worked really hard, along with another one of my sons and my daughter-in-law. They were real troopers! We hauled rock and corals, captured and transferred fish to the QT, pumped water out, moved tanks, monitored temperatures of various tubs, added rock/sand, pumped water in, moved corals in, acclimated fish to the new tank, etc. We started around 9:30 this morning and finished around 4:30 this evening. I will document more tomorrow and put up pictures (of course). We had a few glitches along the way, but managed to brainstorm solutions. It was quite a day!

I hope I NEVER do this again (but never say never)! ;D

 

NEVER. AGAIN. That was the messiest, stress inducing, water everywhere day of my life.

Ok, maybe not that bad. But it was still quite the adventure. Not only did we need enough containers to hold the old water and all the corals and rock, but we had to have even more containers filled up with new saltwater ready to go. We went from a system of about 60 total gallons to a system of about 115 or more. Heaters and cords everywhere, water everywhere, corals and rocks and fish and shrimp all flying around. It was a crazy day.

Thankfully putting all fish and inverts into the QT that was filled with display tank water was a great idea. We had plenty of PVC scrap in there for fish to hide in, and the QT maintained temperature and had good water circulation. They just got to chill out in the dark while we ran around like maniacs. Then we put all of our prized/favorite corals in one tub of water, and monitored it the most I think.

I will say that finding both pistol shrimp and the yellow watchman goby was a huge pain in the butt. We couldn't net goby until literally every rock was out of the old tank. He would find anything and everything to hide under.

 

so glad to hear that everything made it through, including all of you

 

Ha. I've been there. Nice summary. Look forward to seeing the pics as well. Congrats!