Newb with a new nano on it's way, how to make the switch?

[breebauer]

Hi folks!

I've been lurking and researching here for quite a while, but rarely ask any questions. (Usually I found my answers, so there was no need to.) This time is different, I'll give you a little background:

I restarted my tank a few months ago, long story short, it became a nano reef tank, even though that wasn't the plan. Lighting has always been a problem, and now I've finally bought myself a present- a 12gal AquaPod w/ 70 watt HQI lighting t ofix that problem. It's not here yet, I just bought it online an hour ago, but I'm already worrying about how I'm going to switch everything over from the original tank to the new tank, without spending a fortune, and letting it cycle for a month. I'm also concerned about light acclimiating the corals to the new strong lighting. (I only have 36watts in a 10 gal now.)

My livestock currently consists of:
15lbs or more of LR
a bunch of zoas
some hairy mushrooms
a torch coral
a frogspawn
2 hammers
a kenya tree
a very sad bubble coral
an open brain
a feather duster
1 flowerpot coral, assuming I keep it alive long enough
a few hermits
2 firefish

My question is- how do you suggest that I transition everything to my new tank, without killing what I already have?

Fortunately (or not) we do have another semi-established SW tank that I can use temporarily, providing that I put up a wall or some thing to put the fish in, and the corals too, if I need to.

The semi-established SW tank is our 'local tank' that I've had no part in building or maintaining, but I have no problem using half of it for a few days if I have to. The fish in there are an unknown species, so I'd be reluctant to house my livestock in there without some type of barrier. (I'm sure that I can make some kind of open barrier.)

Should I move and acclimate all of the live stock to a temporary section of the 'local tank' and then move my LR, and LS to the new tank, and then wait a few days, and then move the livestock in? That's my only idea so far...

I got so excited about the new tank, that I forgot to plan the whole switch. I think I need to figure this out before it shows up on my doorstep.

I'm very open and appreciative of any suggestions!!

[sjfishguy]

Given the two tanks are about the same size, you can literally just move everything from one tank to the other, I don't really see the issue. With the lighting, just start the halide at 6hrs a day and increase it one hr per week til you have it on for 10hrs a day (how long you keep it on is an opinion that varies from person to person). I have done a poll here on RC and most people seemed to keep their halides 8-10 hrs, but I can't see only keeping it on for 8 hrs.

I think you are more worried about this transition than you need to be, good luck.

[breebauer]

If there's one thing I learned, it's that I have a very delicate balance here, and I need to be extra careful not to mess that up.

Thanks for relieving the anxiety with this whole thing. I didn't want to assume that it might be that easy. But maybe it is.

I'm curious about one more thing:

I've noticed a few HUGE, and I mean HUGE, bristle worms in my tank lately. I know that they can be beneficial, but they really are big. I'm sure there are many more smaller ones, but the big ones in my opinion are just waaaay to big for this size tank. And I'm sure they won't be getting any smaller.

I was thinking that during the switch, I could possibly 'strain' my live sand and maybe (if I'm lucky) remove the HUGE bristle worms, before loading my LS in the new tank.

It would be nice to have a new tank without these things lurking, and growing. I'm sure there are many smaller ones in there that can take up the slack if the huge ones were removed.

Bad idea, or not?
What do you think?

While I'm at it, is there any other type of maintenance that I should or could do to my existing material during the transfer, that might be beneficial?

Thanks!

[sjfishguy]

Yeah, get rid of those big bristleworms. I got a few out of my 10g nano when I moved it one time. Those big ones are disgusting and give me the willies.

[Cldormer]

Wouldn't the Sunpod fit over the 10g while you set-up and cycle some sand and some of the rocks that don't have corals attached?

I was always under the impression that messing with the sand in such a drastic way wasn't a good thing and it could cause a cycle or even a possible crash.

What I would do is get the AP 12 and

1. Put new sand in the bottom-even the Carib-Sea "live" sand is like <$20 at my LFS. Or just used dry sand for even cheaper.

2. Make fresh saltwater up and fill the tank like 75% up. Do a 25% water change on the old tank. Use the 25% out of the old tank and finish filling up the new tank.

3. Place any LR that is available in the new tank even if it's just small or rubble pieces.

4. WAIT for any cycle to take place.

This is just what I'd do. JMHO.

Good luck

[breebauer]

The problem that I have is that my 10 gal is a hex, so the Sunpod definately won't fit.

I was assuming that the live sand that I have in the established tank was part of the little 'ecobalance' that I don't want to disrupt, and buying new live sand would just start a whole cycle over again, even though I have all of the LR.

I've pretty much got my mind set on getting rid of the huge nasty worms, though. I can't stand the thought of them in there.

[tigereye37]

How deep is your sand bed? Like the previous post mentions, disurbing a sand bed can be way more hazardous than starting with new sand. Besides, you can always take a cup of your old sand to seed your new sand bed. there is alot of info on this site about sand beds and the pros and cons of transferring one, i'd check it out first if i were you.

[MikePowell]

i would use a 75 percent new 25 percent old sand. aslong as you are using new live sand there won't be a cycle. asfar as the worms look for them at night time and pull them off with your hands or tweasers. mine only come out at night when i feed.

[breebauer]

I bought the 20lb Caribsea live sand when I started the tank. In the hex, it's about 3" deep, and has been there for about 5 or 6 months.

I read up on the Caribsea sand before I bought it, and it seemed there was alot of debate as to how 'live' the sand really was. That's another reason why I was thinking new sand wasn't such a good idea, eventhough I have all of my LR.

But, I never thought about seeding the new sand with my old sand. That makes the most sense, I think. And it would look better, and I could definately get rid of the huge worms.

Thanks!

[MikePowell]

try to get all the worms off. they will eventually grow and save you alot of time and frustration later.

[breebauer]

I'm hoping to get rid of all of the worms. The two that I found in my tank a few weeks ago still give me the creeps.

Some people say that they can be helpful in getting rid of detritus, but I don't really care anymore.

These things are so big that I wouldn't be suprised to see one sitting on my couch drinking a cup of coffee one morning.

Hopefully they live in the sand and not the rocks. Or do they?

If they do, what do I need to do to get them out of the rocks before putting them in my new tank? Is a FW dip a bad idea for LR? (I'm clueless)

Thanks!

[Cldormer]

It stinks that the 10g is a HEX.....IMO these weird shaped tanks should be banned from reefing!

I'm gonna say forgoe the FW dip if you want the LIVE rock to stay ALIVE-its mostly live because of the bacterial colonies that FW could destroy. Any corals/coralines would likely make it through a FW dip but not too sure on anything else.

But if you chose to dip the LR I wouldn't worry about the sand amymore, cause I'm sure the entire tank would cycle again.....lol.

Seriously if you decide to move the entire sandbed I personally think you should go ahead and rinse the sand in RO/DI water to remove detrius and let it cycle completely again-as the beneficial bacteria grow in diffrent layers-(depths) throughout the sandbed and moving them can never be done intact and will only cause problems IMO!

HTH!

[sjfishguy]

You can freshwater dip the rocks and most of the critters will come wriggling out into the bucket. You probably wont get all the worms because some will be deep in the rocks, but you will get a lot.

Your tank won't cycle again, I promise you. I have freshwater dipped my entire tank of LR before with no ill effect. It won't be in the water long enough for the FW to penetrate the majority of the pores/surface area of the rock.

I agree with the others, replace your sand, or at least take it out and clean it. Also, I would lose the 3'' sand bed. In that small of a tank and only 3'' that sandbed will do nothing except collect junk in the long run; I am speaking from experience with a 3'' sand bed in a 10g. After about 18 months I was having terrible nutrient problems; ditched the sand bed and never went back, things looked SO much better. Most people that say DSBs are great either havent had them long enough to see them turn into funk or have large tanks with 7''+ DSBs (the depth you acutally need to work properly) and they maintain the DSB well.

[breebauer]

Ok, I'm getting new sand for the 12 gal.

But you're saying 3" is too deep? What's the best depth? Or do I need to layer it with different types of sand?

Thanks for the help, I want to try to get it right this time.

[sjfishguy]

I am saying that deep sand beds are kind of an old fad that most people have gotten away from. They are not as useful as they were once thought to be. Especially in a 10g, you just can't have a successful DSB long term. Just use enough sand to coat the bottom so it looks nice. Your rock will provide plenty of biological filtration, no need to get lots of sand in there that is merely going to trap waste in the long run.

[sjfishguy]

Woah, 1000 posts for me! That just tells me I am on here WAY too much, haha (but I guess 1000 posts in 5 years isnt too bad

[breebauer]

Congradulations!!!

And thanks for the help! I'm just going with a thin layer of sand.

[madamo]

Did you get the discontinued price for your Aquapod HQI system

[Cldormer]

Originally posted by madamo
Did you get the discontinued price for your Aquapod HQI system

Didn't we all....

BTW- thatfishplace.com has them for $150 now I think.

[Cldormer]

Originally posted by sjfishguy
You can freshwater dip the rocks and most of the critters will come wriggling out into the bucket. You probably wont get all the worms because some will be deep in the rocks, but you will get a lot.

Your tank won't cycle again, I promise you. I have freshwater dipped my entire tank of LR before with no ill effect. It won't be in the water long enough for the FW to penetrate the majority of the pores/surface area of the rock.

How long did you dip the rocks?

Just wandering what the purpose of that would be then if she's looking to remove the BIG bristleworm-why would you want to flush out all the smaller worms/critters too?

I understand a quick freshwater dip won't necessarily hurt the LR but I doubt it would help her in getting the big bristleworms out either. I was just sayin a longer dip in FW may be necessary to get those boogers out but then you'd be risking the LR itself.

Anyhow have you ever thought of a bristleworm trap? Those will work on occassion.

[breebauer]

Originally posted by madamo
Did you get the discontinued price for your Aquapod HQI system

Yup, got the 12AP 70HQI for the ultimate sale price, with shipping it's a little less than $185, and should be here tomorrow. Thanks to ThatFishPalce.com

(Hopefully it will come in one piece.)

That's actually the reason I started this thread. I want to do this whole switch right the first time, and hopefully kill the big ugly worms at the same time.

[breebauer]

PS- I didn't dip or do anything yet.

I'm still waiting, and researching on how to get rid of the ugly stuff without killing the good stuff on my livestock.

A trap might be my last option...