moving out and up

[bonbon]

So, I am moving into a larger home on Wed. and I wanted to upgrade my fishies home as well;

I purchased a 210 gallon tank for them (moving out of a 55 gallon)

since I am closing on my current house at the same time as the new one, it will be very hard to transfer the fishies.

my 'plan' is to set up the new tank at the new house as quickly as I can with the 60lbs of LR from the 55 gallon, and then transfer the little guys in, am I doomed for disaster?

any moving advice is welcomed.

thanks.

[leebca]

Moving a FOWLR system can be quite a challenge. I'm afraid I don't have many success stories. The new tank is not mature (assuming the old 55 was mature). You don't mention the sand bed or substrate -- the kind in the 55 and how deep and what you're going to do with it. You don't mention the distance you'll be moving. The latter is important to determine what is the best 'packing' and transportation method.

For the most part the new tank will cycle, depending on how well you will keep the bacteria happy during the move (keep all tank contents moist, wet, or submerged), and how much other life (like live rock) that will be disrupted or killed (best to keep submerged if possible).

The successful moves I'm aware of are when either the aquarist turns the marine life over to a friend or LFS to hold until the new tank is ready for that life; or the new tank is allowed to cycle, settle in, and then making the move.

As a general rule, marine life doesn't like change, and least of all going from a mature system to a new system.

I hope it all goes well for you and the aquarium life.

[bonbon]

the sand bed in the current tank is 'just enough to cover the bottom of the 55 gallon , so apx 40 lbs.

I will be getting a bit more in the new tank aprox 1".

taking the little bit of sand that I have to set up the new tank plus some new stuff., and the 60lbs of the LR,

I was thinking,the rock isn't suffecient for a tank that size long run , it should be able to provide 'just enough' bacteria for my current tennants.

I have had all my fishies for about a year in the 55.

and needless to say, I will not add anyone else for some time.

and cured LR is my first priority.

the new home is 45 minutes from the one I am moving out of, so, I was thinking to set up the tank, check parrameters, drive 45 minutes for my fishies then 45 minutes back to 'settle' them in, and leave someone else to break down the 55.


I broke down my 130 gallon fresh water 2 days ago and moved them in, it was VERY hard for them! They had to wait in the buckets while I broke down the tank, the 45 minute drive and waited in the buckets while I set up, apx 3hrs in buckets, poor things

I wanted to set up the salt water tank today, but it won't be ready until 2 morrow.

I lost my favorite fish a 8 " black knife . I am heart broken.

I thank God everyone is doing well now.

[leebca]

I feel for your loss. It's hard to move let alone with pets that are very sensitive to change and handling.

What the new tank will be missing is all the bacteria that had taken up residence on the tank walls and the equipment (assuming you will be using new equipment, filters, etc., etc.). Although the theoretical concept that the LR bacteria will be fine, they can (and have) enter into a state of 'wait-and-see' or cease metabolism if the change isn't to their immediate liking. This leads to spikes in ammonia and/or nitrites. There is more that can go wrong than is likely to go correctly. So the move will give you less bacteria, and possibly bacteria that won't metabolize for a while.

I'd proceed with your plan but if you can, have ammonia and nitrite absorbents in a filter running or at least standing by and also have a lot more salt water mixed up and standing by.

Some thoughts:
Be sure the old sand sits on top of the new sand. This exposes the established bacteria.
Make sure there is good circulation in the new tank. Circulation will bring the waste products quicker to the bacteria that are still living and functioning.
Test the new tank for ammonia and nitrites at least three times a day for a few days, (especially about one hour after a feeding).
Have a backup plan and know what you will do if ammonia and/or nitrites go up.
The bacteria that process the nitrites to nitrates can be the most stubborn and reluctant to do their job in a relocation project. The effect will be to see a nitrite spike without any evidence of ammonia. Both must be tested for.
Assuming your fish are healthy and properly nourished, I'd cut back the amount of food you feed them for the first few days until you're sure the ammonia and nitrites won't spike.

Good luck!

[bonbon]

O.k. Thanks Lee, I'll take that advice,

I have a HOB AC 70 on the 55, I'll try to put it on the new tank, (if it fits) for any bacteria that might be living in there.

any little bit will help.

BTW my husband couldn't understand why I refused to clean my filters on my other tank when I moved it,

I didn't even try to explain .

[mistermikev]

probably too little too late, but I am perhaps the vice president of moving tanks. I have moved my reef tank several times. the last time was a 2.5 hr drive to new house. I lost nothing. Not one coral... not one fish. I have known some other reefers and a fowlr guy who moved across town and had half their tank die. here are the things I think helped me. kept every ounce of water from old tank. in fact I was moving to a bigger tank so i did a few water changes prior to the move and kept the old water going with an airstone. I changed my filters about 12 days b4 the move and let them get semi cycled. I drained almost all the water into several tupperware buckets to prevent the livesand (again reef tank - I know you fowlr guys hate sand) from fowling my water. with the water mostly gone it was easy to catch my fish - low stress. I have a hoevens wrasse, firefish, purple firefish, lawnmower blennie, fireshrimp, pistol shrimp and many corals. I placed each one in a sep container. Then I went after all the hermits and snails I could distinguish. I kept rotating an airstone between ea container until I had all the liverock in some bigger containers, and the sand in buckets. Now that I think about it I even changed to a new fluval canister when I made the move... I just used my bio filter from my old whisper. b4 you ask it has been three months and the only thing I have lost was one of my firefish bcuz he commited suicide about a week ago by jumping out of my new tank (no tight lid on this one). My amonia/nitrite/nitrate were a little bit high for a 4 or 5 day span the first week so I let my macroalgae grow out and resumed reg trimming once it tested good again. I did have a lot of practice moving my freinds tanks (4 dif ones in the last year and a half)... thats my 2cents.

[leebca]

Hope you'll let us know how things went. Maybe you can post some tips of your own after having recently experienced it.

[Reefland]

Good luck on your move!

[bonbon]

thank you all for your well wishes.

I have the new tank at the new house and, I am growing very impatient
with trying to understand how to connect the stupid overflows to the stupid sump.

I will have to wait to see if the guy at the fish store can help me out;( 2morrow morning)

My fishies are safe at the old house , at least for the night, I hope I can figure out how to set this tank up before the new owners grow impatient with me!!!!!!!!

[leebca]

Hang in there!

[mistermikev]

forgot to mention... very important... to min the nutrients released into the water when you set up the new tank add the rock first, then add the sand around it, then add the water by pouring it slowly onto the rocks... this helps limit the cloudy effect you will ultimately get from sand. It also limits the ammount of nutrients you will release into the water right off the bat.

[bonbon]

Thanks for that tip mistermikev,
I just finished the plumbing.

I'm getting ready to do a water check, and then I'll fill er up.

if everything works out as scheduled, then I can run to the old house tonight for as much of the existing sand, and all the LR, prob. some of the water too.

and maybe it will be ready for my little fella's by Sunday????

[mistermikev]

I put in my lf then sand and slowly poured water on rocks to deflect the flow and once the level was up to my intake for my fluval I sarted filtering. got a lot of sand in my fluval but just cleaned her out shortly thereafter. I'd say 3hrs later my water was clear enough that I added all my guys back in. They did fine for me.

[bonbon]

update: My LR is in my tank, I put it in last night, and my water parameters are all reading 0 though........

I guess that all my LR isn't putting a dent in this big 'ol tank.

It looks kinda cloudy too, I guess I forgot everything I know about cycling

what should I do now?

[leebca]

You say all your readings are 0? Then why are you asking what to do? Am I missing something? Cloudy doesn't mean bad water. Cloudy just is unsightly to us humans. Some fish live in cloudy water all their lives. Is that the concern?

If you don't want to put the fish in while the water is cloudy, then you'll have to wait until it clears. You can hurry that process by putting on an auxiliary mechanical filter for the duration it takes to clarify the water. Nothing beats the diatom filter for that job! However, there are many others to choose from. It should only take a few days to clear quite a bit on its own, maybe a week to turn very clear.

You're definitely short on the LR to fill the larger tank. Did you plan on getting more?

[bonbon]

re readings indicate .25 ammonia
0 nitrite
0 nitrate

More LR is surely a plan.

I thought my LR would put in enough bacteria to skip the bloom.

I can't wait to much longer, until I have to get my fishies out of the old house;

How can I jump start this?

So my fishies will be safe?

[mistermikev]

Many will tell you to add table shrimp. Others might suggest bio-zym. I think the point is you "super-start" the bio filtration by adding a bunch of stuff that will decompose. I can't tell you how well this works or if it will speed things up or just boost your bio-filtering-capabilities. I have found that if you are carefull to not stirr up the sand much (assuming you use your old established water and bio filter) you can put the guys in right away. This must be followed by daily water changes of approx 5%. Even taking all these precautions my corals (esp waving hand) won't be happy for a while

[leebca]

?

Not sure what happened. I posted a reply several hours ago. I don't see it. Anyway, it went something like this. . .

I hadn't known about the ammonia reading. Mother Nature takes her own time and isn't likely to be rushed.

There are 'bacteria-in-a-bottle' sold to get the bio-filtration going, but I've had no success after trying several of them, nor have there been any consensus that they work. I had one instance I thought it may have sped up the process some, but I'm not sure. It seems that bacteria-in-a-bottle don't multiply and start metabolizing the wastes any faster than the bacteria already in the aquarium.

There are however absorbing materials that can be used to reduce or remove ammonia and nitrites. LFSs carry some, usually. I have only found Algone to work in my own QTs I've had to set up quickly. You need to obtain the absorbent material and setup a filter for it.

Nothing replaces time.

There was a pretty good chance the new tank would react like this. You didn't have on hand any of the absorbents I previously posted about as a fall-back plan?

[bonbon]

"You didn't have on hand any of the absorbents I previously posted about as a fall-back plan? "

yeah, I do.

But I like to go the natural way, as much as poss.

I brought more rock last night; and I put my yellow tail Damsel in along with a hermit crab, and teddybear crab. (hitchhikers)

I checked my parrameters today, readings are:
nitrite 0
nitrate 10
ammonia .25

I had no choice but to cross my fingers and bring my fishies in the morning, I have prolonged their arrival enough to test anyone's patience.

I introduced them as I would if they were new, adding a little new water, taking a little old out, did this for about an hour and then lowered the bucket into the water, so they can swim out ( to give them less stress )

And they are fine.

They didn't stress out at all , like my freshwater did;

That is already promising.

And if my water parameters don't go to out of wack, everyone will be happy.

So with all of my exsisting LR and as much of the old water as I could carry plus the old sand and the bacteria from the old filter; This may very well conclude a happy ending.

[mistermikev]

congrats on a healthy tank!. gorrilla crab, don't they try and eat fish? there are some posts I read about them... cool looking little guys though! anywho, congrats, love to hear happy endings!