Best Way to Do This

[Midus]

Ok, I have several things that I need to do at once right now. I had originally planned to do it one at a time, but it seems better to do it all at once. I just need to know the best way.

I need a real stand for the tank. Right now I'm using a TV stand(...lol), but i really need a real stand. Planning on buying one sometime soon. I also have Crushed Coral in my tank that I wish to get rid of along with a pretty bad Hair algae problem that I need to be rid of. On top of that I wish to Re-Aquascape to make the tank easier to clean and I still need to paint the back of my tank.

The tank itself is 7 months old and is a 30 Gallon tank. I have around 40lbs of Substrate(CC and Aragmax sand mixture) and around 40lbs of Live Rock. Inside of my tank I have around 20 snails, 10 Hermit crabs, 2 Tomato Clowns, and Lawnmower Blenny.

Could anyone give me a step by step guide of some sort on how I should go about doing what I need to do? Along with equipment and the such.

[SeanT]

As for your substrate removal, I would go this route:
Make up a good 20 gallons of SW.
Siphon as much water out as you can into buckets.
Then remove the rock and livestock into rubbermaid containers or buckets.
Empty out the tank and rinse it out.
Add new saltwater and some of your remaining old water (none that has been used for swishing - see below). Add heaters to get water to temp.
Manually remove as much of the algae from the rocks and brush the rest off.
Give the rocks a GOOD swishing in the old salt water to get as much detritus out as you can.
Reaquascape.
Once water is up to temp AND salinity add your livestock.

But before doing all this I would have the new stand ready.
It would be a big hassle to do it all again.

hth,
Sean

[jake32010]

take every thing out and scrob it and but it back

[bertoni]

I'd add that keeping the live rock in saltwater as much as possible might help a bit. The process is fairly safe, but not without risk.

[phish guy]

SeanT's way will work but like bertoni said it is always risky moving things. i did the same when i went from my 29g to my 54g corner. luckily i didnt lose anything.

GOOD LUCK!

[hmello@bermexin]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11121158#post11121158 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Midus
Ok, I have several things that I need to do at once right now. I had originally planned to do it one at a time, but it seems better to do it all at once. I just need to know the best way.

I need a real stand for the tank. Right now I'm using a TV stand(...lol), but i really need a real stand. Planning on buying one sometime soon. I also have Crushed Coral in my tank that I wish to get rid of along with a pretty bad Hair algae problem that I need to be rid of. On top of that I wish to Re-Aquascape to make the tank easier to clean and I still need to paint the back of my tank.

The tank itself is 7 months old and is a 30 Gallon tank. I have around 40lbs of Substrate(CC and Aragmax sand mixture) and around 40lbs of Live Rock. Inside of my tank I have around 20 snails, 10 Hermit crabs, 2 Tomato Clowns, and Lawnmower Blenny.

Could anyone give me a step by step guide of some sort on how I should go about doing what I need to do? Along with equipment and the such.

1. Purchase real stand and have it assembled and ready to go into place. Mix up 20 gals. of new salt water.
2. Siphon about half of the water into a clean rubbermaid tote.
3. Siphon as much of the remaining water as you can into another tote.
4. Put the all live stock into the tote with half of the water. Put in a powerhead and a heater.
5. remove and discard alll but about 1 cup of the substrate.
6. Clean the tank.
7. Paint the back with Krylon Fusion paint.
8. Place the new stand in place.
9. Place the newly cleanded and painted tank on the new stand.
10. Clean the old rockwork of as much algae as you can and swish it around in the tote #2 to get the loose stuff off. Place the rockwork into tank in the scape you want.
11. Fill in around the rockwork with the new substrate (if you are using some)
12. Seed the new substrate by sprinkling cup full of old substrate on top.
13. Take as much of the water out of tote#1 as you can and put it into the tank.
14. Fill the remainder with the newly mixed saltwater.
15. Ensure temp and Ph are the same as the remaining water the the fish etc are.
16. Replace fish and inverts.
17. Clean up because at this point your wife\significant other will be at their wits end because of the mess you have make.
18 Get yourself an adult beverage and sit back and enjoy a job well done.

This worked for me when I removed my substrate to go bare bottom. I did not lose anything.
Your results may be different.

JMO FWIW

[meco65]

You can also get a QT tank ready just incase you need it. So if you do have a spike you can move the fish & inverts, that way they do not have to go through a new cycle. Not saying that you will have a new cycle but just to be on the safe side, for the sake of your critters.

[otrlynn]

I was about to post almost the same question...I have a 29 gallon tank, with crushed coral substrate, and the tank is sitting on an old fashioned cast iron stand. I want to replace the stand and the substrate but after going through all that work am also thinking of upgrading to a slightly bigger tank. I was wondering whether I should expect the tank to cycle if I transferred the live rock (about 40 lbs) and most of the water. I also wondered if I could use a small amount of the crushed coral to seed the new sand. I guess the answer to the cycle question is "probably not but be prepared". Regarding using a cup of the crushed coral to seed the sand, does it need to be placed on top of the sand? I'd rather not see it. I wonder if we set up our tanks with advice from the same LFS...LOL

[bertoni]

I wouldn't bother seeding the sand with crushed coral. That might transfer some bacteria, but bacteria show up on their own.

[meco65]

You can put some of your CC in a mesh bag and lay it in the tank for a week or longer to help with the cycle, when done remove bag CC and all.
Or get some LS (2 or 3lbs) from a LFS you trust (if there is one)or a fellow reefer to seed the tank..

[hmello@bermexin]

Yeah if you don't want to use your crushed coral for seed stock you can ask you LFS for a cup of the substrate that settles to the bottom of their curing tanks for live rock. This is usually jam packed with active bacteria.

[Midus]

Thanks for the responses. I wasn't really expecting this many since the topic went to the second page so quickly. Looks to be great advice.

On a sidenote, I've just discovered some Bubble Algae on one piece of rock along with Aitapsia. Will scrubbing get rid of both?