My 40 gallon breeder thread - with pics

[Will]

Ok so i will be moving my tank tomorrow (should it all be done in one day?)

My current planned procedure:

Today: Rinsed new dead sand, and drained tank from leak test

1: install lighting suspension kit (ceiling) and fixture

2: remove sump from current tank and use power filter to continue water movement while i do all of the other work)

3: drain current sump (keeping all of the water i drain)

4: place sump in new stand (has to be done from the back), place stand in selected location, and put tank on stand

5: connect plumbing

6: Put sand in tank and cover with plastic trash bags weighted down with powerheads

7: fill tank with water that was in sump

I will be Making 15 gallon of salt water (mixed today) and will purchase the rest

8: fill the tank with salt water excluding the 15 gallons from the display.

9: drain display half way and pour in new tank.

10: move corals and fish from display to new tank.

11: drain display fully and pour into new tank

12: remove selected areas of old sand and seed new sand (should i just use it all? its only three months old?)

Please let me know if this looks good

One other question i have is that i currently have flat worms, could i do a flat worm exit dip, before putting my rock in the new tank?

[Timfish]

If your sand in your "old" tank is just 3 months old I'd use it all. Why the plastic bags in step 6? If you're adding water in #7 the sand isn't going to have time to dry out.

[Will]

To prevent the sand from clouding the tank

[Chrispar]

im guessing the bags are to help keep the sand from stirring up so bad

whoops to late.

[DaJMasta]

I've always read it's less stressful to reuse the vast majority of the water in a move and ideally keep the replacement down to 10-20% if possible.

Especially if you want to use FWE, try this:

Prepare a bucket of water with a high dose of FWE (at least single, if not double strength). Fill it maybe halfway.

Prepare a second bucket (more than one?) with clean water (undisturbed) and whatever else is needed is new for temporary coral storage.

Dip corals into the FWE bucket, let them sit for a bit, shake them off, move them to the second stage buckets with mostly tank water.

Dump the FWE bucket water.

Move livestock into a holding bucket leaving live rock in the display, or alternatively, move live rock into a bucket and leave livestock in the display (probably easier with netting) with enough water to cover it.

Add sand and some new water to the new tank.

FWE bomb the display or live rock bucket - where your live rock is residing - similar to the coral dip, but single dose may be enough.

Transfer live rock to the new display, discard the water used to FWE bomb it.

Transfer livestock and whatever water they were in to the new tank.

Add corals and their holding water to the new tank.

Top off remaining water with fresh saltwater as needed.

If you have the tank equipment setup beforehand, then this should get you to the point to just turn everything on and prime your overflow (or whatever you need to do). Since it's a small tank you shouldn't need many buckets or a whole lot of time to move things around in the buckets. Provided the entire transfer from the time you start moving things to buckets to the time you start up the new tank is 2 hours or less (shouldn't be a big problem), you probably don't even have to worry about flow or temp regulation in the buckets... though leaving the thermostat at 77-78 could help things.

Honestly I would just keep the originals sand bed unless there's a problem it's causing. I plan on moving both of my tanks on thursday (one at a time, to a new apartment) and plan on keeping my sand beds as intact as possible because i've got great growth of critters down there. Given the size of the tank and the time it will probably take to move things provided you can have your equipment at least mostly set up when you start to move the livestock, your move should be pretty straightforward. Reusing water is cheaper and less stressful on critters, but once you start stirring things up, it's probably no longer worth it. Siphon off the water you want to keep or use for dips first so you don't end up trying to use the stuff with all the debris from the moved rocks and sandbed.

[Derek]

It has been my experience that it is okay to do it all in one day. Just make sure that the fish have a good meal before moving them and most importantly take your time. Rushing can cause mistakes.

[Bill B]

The main thing I would do differently would be to move the livestock to a holding bucket (s), move all the sand and live rock; fill and then put the livestock back in, perhaps adding the corals first then the fish = less stress on the fish so their new habitat is just there and not getting assembled around them. I also subscribe to the thoughts that say you put you live rock in the sand not on the sand. If rock is sitting on the glass you don't have to worry about something burrowing under it, dislodging the rocks above and possibly crushing the critter.

Bill

[+Lamont]

I did my tank switch over in about 8 hours. I used lots of buckets. I fill three or four buckets halfway with some of the original tank water. Then i pulled the live rock out and place it in those bucket. Once all the live rock was out i fill up more buckets with the rest of the original water. I put aside three more buckets with about a gallon of water in each and use them for the fish and invertebrates. Make sure you separate them accordingly so you wont have any confrontations. I put some airlines in the buckets with the livestock so it could replenish the oxygen. I sifted through the sand with a fish net and remove any unwanted stuff.( This part took the longest) Once I was finished cleaning the sand bed i put the cleaned sand in the new tank. I then stacked the rock and did my aquascaping. Next i poured the water in the tank . But I poured it on top of the rocks instead of in the sand,( was trying to prevent a lot of cloudiness) When this was finished I only had about 90% of my original water. So I used some newly mixed water to top it off. I put some power heads in and let the water sit for about 45min then added my CUC. I studied the tank for another 45min trying to make sure the CUC is okay and if I needed to move anything around. Then I placed the corals in followed by the fish. I did not acclimate all the corals and fish. Just the ones I cared about the most.(didn't have enough bags) The only losses I had was a margarita snail and my sunrise dottyback. The only reason the fish died was because i left him in a bucket without an oxygen line. He was in a bucket by himself and I was not planning to add him to the new tank anyway.

[Bill B]

Well, too late now but the only other thing I shoulda added is it always takes longer than you think it is going to.

Bill

[Will]

well its all done, and the mess has finally been cleaned up. I will post pics soon.

future investments (yea right!)

New skimmer (in the sub 200 range)

Vortek mp10

Replacing one of my PC actenic lights with a 50/50 (my phoenix is very very blue to me)

2 more leaf fish (2"-3")

2 swimming fish

1 that will eat flat worms (i didnt end up using the FWE as i was worried about conserving water due to my ammonia issue)

1 Algae eater (may be over sized for the tank but will buy a juvi and replace once it gets bigger)

Still iffy if i want to do any more fish but if i do it will be a scorpion of some type.

Inverts:

More lps

Some sparce sps

ricorida

2-3 clams

Possibly a mini-maxi anemone

[Will]

Pics

actenics only

[+Lamont]

Huh, that sure looks familiar! Lol Its looking really nice Will. Are you going to take those legs off the fixture.

[Will]

yes, i just wanted to make sure that if the ceiling came crashing down they would have a place to land

ill probably take them off tomorrow (its been a long day, the sun roof in my truck has a leak and my whole interior upholstery was soaked when i get in it this morning, so i have been dealing with that all day)

BTW my phoenix light is really blue, do they whiten up a bit as they burn in?

[Will]

btw how do yall like this skimmer http://premiumaquatics.com/store/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=PA&Product_Code=BM-NAC6A&Category_Code=BubbleMagus

i still want to see if i can find a good skimmer used for around 100, but if now im going with this

[diabeetus]

haha that looks silly with the legs still on the fixture like that!! this thread was very helpful because im about to be moving and was in need of some good tips!! the trash bag trick sounds awesome!!! i always hated waiting for the cloudiness to go away before i could actually see or move everything to where i wanted it exactly.

[+Lamont]

yes, i just wanted to make sure that if the ceiling came crashing down they would have a place to land

ill probably take them off tomorrow (its been a long day, the sun roof in my trunk has a leak and my whole interior upholstery was soaked when i get in it this morning, so i have been dealing with that all day)

BTW my phoenix light is really blue, do they whiten up a bit as they burn in?

The phoenix lights are very blue at first. it will tone down just a little as they age. Phoenix 14000k bulbs are closer to 20k than 14k. I learned to like it. I also have an Aqua C Remora skimmer for sale. it also comes with the pre-filter box. I'm selling it for $100. the pre-filter box cost $30 by itself. LMK I will be posting tonight with pics.

[Will]

Do you think that would be a strong enough skimmer? i have always heard that you should triple your tank volume and thats the size skimmer you should get.

[+Lamont]

Do you think that would be a strong enough skimmer? i have always heard that you should triple your tank volume and thats the size skimmer you should get.

Heck yeah, that's a very good Skimmer for a 40g breeder and up. Check reviews all around the net and ARC. You can also use it in sumps. The only reason I took it out my tank is because the box on it is in the way of my wave maker. I may take the box off and continue to use it. My other Skimmer has a smaller footprint that why I kept it on the tank. i really dont want to sell it. I loved using two Skimmer. I think that's why I'm having great success with my tank.

[Will]

Here are some pic updates with new scape.

i also got a new ballast for my mh and the color looks alot better, still blue though

[Toxiq Reef]

Clean

[Will]

Eventully the seio will go (old relic from when i used to have tanks) and it will be replaced by an MP 10 and a koralia 2-3, when i can afford it.

[Will]

Updates (photos), also how do i adjust the white balance?

also a pic of my old aquarium from when i was in highschool (now its a fowlr)

[+Lamont]

Thats some nice aquascaping Will!

[Teresa]

I also enjoyed this thread as I am getting rid of my 29 gal and wanting to move down to a nano 12 or 14 gal tank (I will get a new larger tank once I move to my new house). My question is regarding nuisance anemones and algae currently in my 29 gal tank. I have some remaining corals and fish that I want to sell, but still need a home, so I was going to move them to the nano tank for now. Unfortunately I have a lot of aiptasia and hair algae on the LR, in between zoas and in the sand. I don't want to move this into my nano tank. However, I do not want to start completely fresh since my current livestock will probably not appreciate the shock. Any suggestions?

[Will]

GUse a butane torch on the aptasia and the GHA where you can(out of the water of course). also scrub it in a separate container. if there is no coral on the rock, try putting it in a dark container for a couple of weeks.