[saltjunkie]

I have a 50 gallon undrilled with over 4 inches of live sand bed....
100 pounds or so of live rock...
thinking of getting a 65 drilled...

I am getting really tired of this sand bed......



If i were to go get a new tank, use all my water, live rock refugium, etc... would i experience a big cycle, or do you think i could just transfer everything over to a bare bottom tank???

with the amount of live rock and a full active fuge....would i experience a big biological crash???

[cesar]

I had the same question regarding this issue. What I was told was that if you are able to save as much as possible of the old tank that would be good. To my understanding you can have a bit of a nitrate spike but you know you can control that. It's just like moving your tank from one location of your house to another location. You have to take it apart too. I was told by a LFS that there would be a little cycle needed but not a drastic one.

[James]

I switch my 50gal undrilled to a 50gal drilled with no problem. Moved my sand bed, live rock and all in one day. Everything worked out fine. A little die off and nitrate spike, but no recycle.

[cesar]

James, what do you mean with a little die off? See I actually never changed mine because of the questioning I had. But since you had no problem, then maybe I will change/ upgrade my tank as well

[Samper]

I've read that moving a sandbed can cause huge problems. The reason behind this is you stir up all sorts of muck that normally doesn't get tossed around much then all kinds of ugly things can happen. Have read that starting over and using some of your old sand as seed sand is the best way to go.

[saltjunkie]

humm... i didnt reread my post... but when i move my tank, if i get a new one.. i want to ELIMINATE my sand bed completely, besides what is in my refuge..... i may add the top layer of my tank sand to my fuge,, but i am seriously tired of sand storms, and not being able to get enough water flow with out a sand storm....

i am trying to figure out if will have big biological crash due to not moving the sand with all my live rock and coral???

[Sueet]

Originally Posted by saltjunkie

humm... i didnt reread my post... but when i move my tank, if i get a new one.. i want to ELIMINATE my sand bed completely, besides what is in my refuge..... i may add the top layer of my tank sand to my fuge,, but i am seriously tired of sand storms, and not being able to get enough water flow with out a sand storm....

i am trying to figure out if will have big biological crash due to not moving the sand with all my live rock and coral???

Do you have fish, or only corals? If only corals, you should be fine with very little spiking even...... If you have fishes, you might have more trouble. I think if you keep the same water, still have your fuge, and even the top inch or so of sand in your fuge from your tank, I think you'll be fine. (with little or no die-off, assuming you can move things from one tank to the other fairly quickly or at least into some sort of holding system with circulation and heat)

Only trouble I see coming your way is trying to get your live rock out of the tank withOUT the sand

[saltjunkie]

yeah i got 4 fish....
but what i would do .. is a water change...... just a day or 2 before the move.... and keep the old water.... and rinse all the rocks off in the old water before it is put in the new tank...

that way i wouldnt kill any bacteria or animals in the live rock.........................

Thanks..........

[Sueet]

Originally Posted by saltjunkie

yeah i got 4 fish....
but what i would do .. is a water change...... just a day or 2 before the move.... and keep the old water.... and rinse all the rocks off in the old water before it is put in the new tank...

that way i wouldnt kill any bacteria or animals in the live rock.........................

Thanks..........

I think your plan will work aces! Good luck

[saltjunkie]

Thanks.. now to decide if i should wait for the hurricane to blow me first.. or just go ahead and get it....

[Sueet]

Originally Posted by saltjunkie

Thanks.. now to decide if i should wait for the hurricane to blow me first.. or just go ahead and get it....

Yanno.. I'm thinkin that's a decision that I am VERY glad I'll never have to make... Makes Michigan weather with all it's headaches seem so nice and friendly.

[saltjunkie]

i dont know.. these dont happen every year..
but when you have 15 foot waves frozen in place every year........... lol

[Sueet]

Originally Posted by saltjunkie

i dont know.. these dont happen every year..
but when you have 15 foot waves frozen in place every year........... lol

lol, but they're so pretty to look at! And all that sparkly shining *for a few minutes anyway* salt and snow! Who wouldn't love it?

[saltjunkie]

heck, i hated it and i was there for only part of the winter....

i mean i know that is 9 months..... but anyhow.......

[Sueet]

Originally Posted by saltjunkie

heck, i hated it and i was there for only part of the winter....

i mean i know that is 9 months..... but anyhow.......

[James]

Originally Posted by cesar

James, what do you mean with a little die off? See I actually never changed mine because of the questioning I had. But since you had no problem, then maybe I will change/ upgrade my tank as well

Sorry I took so long to get back to you. You will experience a little die off of what ever is growing on your live rock, but not much, only because you'll have to add more clean water than your normal water change. Don't, or try not to move your sand bed around in the old tank until you have removed your reef (live rock), live stock, and as much of your old tank water as possible. Place your old water in the new tank, put in your live rock, try to put your reef back the same way it was before (as much as possible). that way your fish will adapt to the new tank faster. Then place your sand bed in as you did then you first got it. Let the sand bed settle. Your protient skimmer will kick into overdrive because of your sand bed being turned over and dead micro's, fish waist, and uneaten food is brought to its surface, thats ok. Don't add your fish or corals untill the skimmer settles down and your water clears up (about an hour) test your water prams, they'll be a little off, shouldn't be major. then add your livestock. test your water daily for the next two to three days for nitrates. They will go up. No way around this. If they rise above 2.0 do a partial water change. Your Ph shouldn't change, but test it daily also for about a week, if it drops below 8.2, 8.0, This will be your warning sign that a major bio crash may occur, But this is rare and you would really have to mess up to have this occur. good luck

[acropora]

I would start making as much new salt water as possible.Your idea for a water change is a good one.As well as using this water to rinse off the detritus and scrub off any algae from the existing rock.If you make extra water you can move the l.R. to the new tank with the excess water to make up for the absence of the sand bed and to make water changes if needed.I would also use some of the old water for a temporary holding tank/vessel for your fish while you make the move.You can use a new plastic garbage pail with tank water and a powerhead for circulation and water movement. This will relieve the stress of the move for you and the fishes.

[RUSSELL]

Heres somthing to think about ,I recently upgraded from a 55 gal, just to make sure there was no problem I used the live sand that was in my 55 gal as well as the filters just so I would have no problems
Well guess what no matter what you do your tank will go into a cycle stage so if you have fish in there your in for allot of work trying to keep them alive
I was doing water changes every couple of days plus adding in all kinds of chemicals to de activate the amonia and nitrites, took about a month for things to settle and get back to normal ,before you go threw all this you may want to ask your self is it worth it to go from a 50 to a sixty five
If your running out of room now would be the time to upgrade to something that will last you a while, might want to at least go to a 90 gal or even a 125 if you have room because its not something you want to keep doing

Originally Posted by saltjunkie

I have a 50 gallon undrilled with over 4 inches of live sand bed....
100 pounds or so of live rock...
thinking of getting a 65 drilled...

I am getting really tired of this sand bed......



If i were to go get a new tank, use all my water, live rock refugium, etc... would i experience a big cycle, or do you think i could just transfer everything over to a bare bottom tank???

with the amount of live rock and a full active fuge....would i experience a big biological crash???

[saltjunkie]

naw, im not running out of room...
i just want a drilled tank...
and get rid of the sandbed.......
i love the 65 gallon tanks.. im not looking for anything bigger at this point

[RUSSELL]

do you have any fish in your tank now?
If so its going to be like started over ,your tank will go into a cycle whcih may cause you to loose a fish or two

Originally Posted by saltjunkie

naw, im not running out of room...
i just want a drilled tank...
and get rid of the sandbed.......
i love the 65 gallon tanks.. im not looking for anything bigger at this point