Aquarium transfer

[IndianMaidn]

Another question already and my first one hasn't even been answered yet ! My daughter decided last night that she wants to trade me her 20 gal. salt water aquarium for my 30 gal. freshwater aquarium. I can use all the equipment from the 30 fresh one the 30 salt with the addition of a couple items. My question is. . . . . what is the best way to transfer the water and fish between tanks. I know I can put the feshwater fish in a bucket for as long as it takes. Could I just siphon the water, scoop the sand out of the 20 gal. into the 30 and just add extra sand and water to the 30 gal. ? Would this stress her clown fish too much ? Could I put her clown fish in a bucket or container until I do the tranfer and get the water up to temp along with all the other readings ? I plan on doing this when I can do it start to finish. Or would it be best to put her water, a little sand in a 5 gal aquarium with filter, etc. for her clown until I have the 30 set up with saltwater for at least 24 hrs or longer ? I know the tank will have to go through at least a mini cycle, am I right on that ?
She just started adding live rock about 3 weeks ago, there is only about 7-8 lbs right now, could she keep adding piece by piece possibly during water changes until we get the desired amount ? Don't want to stress the poor little clown (false perc.) too much, he has been in the tank for about a year now.

[leebca]

You need to think in micro terms. That is, the process you want to perform has to be done in order to keep the bacteria alive and happy. That is, the biological filter must not be disturbed.

Start by reading what I have suggested in your other post:
Setting Up a FOWLR Aquarium This post will provide basic information of what I'll touch upon. Once you have ALL the equipment you will need, the following is the thing to do in an outline form:

First, take chemical readings on the old setup: You want to know the water's: pH, temperature, salinity, Alkalinity, Magnesium, and Calcium content.
Setup the new tank where it will be.
Put in the live rock and decorations that is needed above and beyond what is coming into the tank from the old one.
Add new saltwater to the tank.
Add the new substrate you'll need to supplement what you will need.
Run the new system, with new equipment for at least three or four days to check that all is working well and give the chance for the new salt water to crystal clear.
Once the water is crystal clear (you may need to change out the mechanical filter more than once), it is ready for testing.
Verify that the water matches the same: pH, Magnesium, Calcium, Alkalinity, specific gravity, and temperature of the old tank water. Make adjustments.
Put fish into a clean bucket that is food grade and never have contained chemicals, in the water they are now in. Save as much old water as possible.
Transfer the filter equipment from the old tank to the new tank.
Run the old equipment on the new tank -- even though you have new equipment on the new tank, you want the old equipment there running in/on the new tank for a few weeks after the transfer.
Transfer live rock and decorations you want to the new tank.
Transfer the substrate to the new tank, layering it on top of the supplemental substrate that you already put in there.
Remove any excess water and throw it away, such that when you put the fish in and all the old water it should top off the tank.
Now do it. Move fish and old tank water into the new setup.
Test water twice a day for signs of ammonia and nitrite. Make sure you use a test kit (not a test strip) for these checks. Continue these checks for three days, then once a day for a week.
After 6 weeks, remove the old filter is chemistry is proper.
After the removal of the old filter, check for ammonia and nitrite twice a day for a few days, then once a day for a week.
If all tests come out right, then it worked!

You'll need test kits and chemical controls and if you perform the above slowly and carefully not leaving out any step or part of something, the fish should be fine.

[IndianMaidn]

Thank you so much. Reading it step by step makes it sound alot easier than just thinking about it. I had myself overwhelmed, making it harder than what it actually is. I def. feel more confident now, thanks a bunch.