Upgrading tank: Move DSB or New DSB?

[Anonymous]

I have had a 46 bow tank setup for 2 years, it had a (shallow in most areas) sand bed and I added about 3 inches more of sand 3 months ago.

I am upgrading tank to a 58. I plan on moving all LR, corals and fish to the new tank all at once. The SB has alot of life in it.

Should I move the DSB or start from scratch?

Also what other precautions should I take, will the new tank still go through a complete cycle even if I move all contents to it icluding all of the water?

I dont want to miss anything while I am doing this conversion.

Thanks
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[Entacmaea]

Hi Rob- it is always a risk moving a DSB because you may release a lot of stored nutrients/pollutants that have stratified themselves within its layers. If you do move it, make sure you have water changes ready, and monitor levels- you will most likely go through a short cycle again, but hopefully will keep most of the life. I'd move the top 3/4 of the bed, and throw out the rest(laying down an inch or two of new sand in the 58, and putting the LS on top of it)

I would let that cycle in the new 58 without any rock or any livestock that might succumb to whatever the DSB kicks up.

The cool thing is that you will probably see critters you never knew you had!

 

[Newts]

When I upgraded tanks.I put new sand down first then put all the old on top.Thas will help clear the cloudy water faster.It will also help to minimise tank cycling.You may still experience some ammonia spike though so if you can I would wait a week and monitor the water to see if its safe to put in corals.The last time i did it I also saved up some water from some water changes and put that in new tank also.That tank never experience a tank cycle.That was when I switch from a 29gl AGA to a 54gl AGA corner tank.Just my,experience good luck. newts

 

[Anonymous]

I wasn't going to have the 58 running during the transfer. I am planning on moving all of the water, LR, fish, corals, DSB and etc. all at once. Will this be a problem?
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[Entacmaea]

It might be. The disturbance to the DSB will likely raise pollutant levels, including possibly releases hydrogen sulfide, which is toxic. If your DSB has black areas that you can see from its side, it might be H2S...

I would really advise moving the DSB first, keeping the other inhabitants in the former tank until you have tested water and know the DSB has settled/cycled...

 

[Anonymous]

So basically you are saying start the new tank from scratch with a new sandbed and do throug a complete cycle then move the LR the the remaining livestock. This is going to take months to cycle especially with nothing in it. If I have to do it this way I will have to get rid off all of my livestock and start over from scratch because the new tank is going where the old one is.
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[wombat1]

The way I did it was this: Siphon off as much water as you can without stirring anything up into a 30 or 50 gallon rubbermaid. Put all your LR, fish, corals, etc. inside. Move all the sand. It's impossible to keep the layers in the right place so don't even try. Fill your new tank with any remaining water and some new salt water halfway. Put a powerhead or two in the tank to keep the water moving over the sand, a heater, and replace evaporation. Also put a couple of powerheads and a heater in the rubbermaid with all your livestock, and replace evaporation. If you have a HOB skimmer or can figure out a way to plumb it in the rubbermaid all the better. Depends on what corals you have, but you'll probably need to set up your lights over the rubbermaid also. My friend's tank took two weeks to cycle doing this. Once nitrates are zero in the tank again, reacclimate all your LS and put them back in. HTH Good Luck!

 

[M.E.Milz]

I would figure on using 2/3 new sand and 1/3 old sand (depending on how deep the new DSB will be). If you can, add the new sand to the new tank. Do a water change in the old tank, and add the discarded water to the new tank so as to cover the new sand, and add a small powerhead or airstone to keep things moving. Let this sit for a few weeks. Then, when you are ready to move the old tank, drain most of the water out of the new tank and discard. Then move enough of the old sand (from the top of the sandbed) to give you another 1" or so of sand in the new tank. Finish by moving the water, live rock, and livestock. I would discard the rest of the old sand from the old tank.

The goal is save and move enough of the old sand to quickly populate the new sandbed without stirring up and moving all the crud accumulated in the deeper layers of the old sandbed.

 

[Dado]

I just upgraded from a 90 gallon to a 125 RR with a 55 gallon sump 3 weeks ago and it was flawless so here is what I did.

Day1
Bought 200 pounds of southdown and 80 pounds of live sand. I placed the southdown sand in the new 125 and added new water with mixed salt.

Day2
Placed the 80 pounds of live sand on top. Dropped like 10 silversides in there.

Day 4
Brought all the rocks and Skimmer (euroreef CS6-3) from the 90 gallon to the 125. Did a water test and there was just a bit of nitrite and nitrate.

Day 5
30 gallon water change and moved all the lights from the 90 to the 125.
Did water test and had 10ppm of nitrates. Moved all livestock to 125

Day 6
another 30 gallon water change and nitrates are non existent.

3 weeks later.
It has been three weeks now and the tank is doing excellent! Nitrates are barelly showing up and my livestock is heavy and I feed 3 times a day.

1 Naso Tang
1 Sailfin tang
6 Green Chromis
1 Royal Gramma
3 Fire Gobies
1 Midas Blenny
2 B. Cardinals
Mated pair of true percula
3 Peppermint Shrimp
2 cleaner shrimp
several hermit crabs and snails.

Corals
Long Tentacle Anemone (huge!)
malu Anemone
6 SPS Colonies
Xenia
Zoo's
Yellow Polyps

Everything is doing excellent and no one got sick during this move except for me

Good luck.

 

[Anonymous]

I got 100 lbs of Southdown yesterday.

I am planning on putting the sand into the new tank tonight. I will take 5 gallons from the existing tank from a water change. I will throw in some frozen shrimp.

Even though I have no lights(Coming from existing tank) will this start the cycle?

I am planning on moving the contents of the tank in 2 weeks or should I hold off longer?
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[Dado]

no need to have the lights for the first days. It will also help keep the algea growth low. I added the light on mine the 5th day.

 

[Anonymous]

I added the new SD sand to the tank on Saturday. I rinsed the sand a couple of times before adding it to the tank. I then added 10 gallons of saltwater.

After the sand settled there is alot of foaming and film on the surface.

Is this normal?
How should I remove this?

The tank is not filled all the way. Just trying to start the sands cycling.
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[Dado]

Looks like you didn't rinse it enough. I would get a strainer and pick that foam, if I remember correctly the southdown foam is pretty solid. Fill it up, mix the salt, get it to the right temperature, wait for the sand to settle, and add the live sand Good luck

A little updated on my tank. No nitrates detected