Ok, need advice on a major tank rennovation...

[NeveSSL]

Hi all!

I posted on this a couple of months ago, but its even closer now. :)

Over Christmas break, I'm planning on redoing some of my tank.

When I first built my tank, genius me decided a 6" overflow would be great on a 12" tank... nope... turns out it blocks half of my light. I also am not happy with my plumbing and will also be adding a T5 retro kit.

So... here's my plan.

I will be borrowing two 20 gallon rubbermaid tubs from some guys in the club.

In one, I'm planning on putting my 4 fish (coral beauty, royal gramma, two ocellaris) in it with some live rock, maybe my skimmer, and maybe a powerhead.

In the second one, I am planning on putting my coral and most of my snails and whats left of the live rock in there along with a powerhead.

I've also got a 10 gallon tank that already has some stuff in it... I'm not sure if I'm going to use it or not, though. Here's one of my big questions: I have a cleaner shrimp, porcelain crab, and emerald crab. Do you guys think I should put them in with the corals, the fish, or in the 10 gallon by themselves? I'm thinking they'll need to be in water from the tank in whatever tank they go into, so I'd prefer they all go in with the corals and snails. Do you guys think there would be any conflicts in a small space?

Also, what about my snails... will they be ok without any developed algae to consume? What about the nassarius? I'm thinking they probably don't have to have sand, but just to be sure, what do you guys think? :)

Ultimately, I'll be replacing the overflow and redoing the plumbing, so I'm hoping this doesn't take more than 5 days including 2 days of curing time.

Any thoughts and advice would be MUCH appreciated.

Thanks!

Brandon

[NeveSSL]

Also, what should I do about my sump? I was thinking of just putting a powerhead in there and leaving the heater in it. Do you guys think this would be ok for 5 days?

Thanks much!

Brandon

[NeveSSL]

No one, huh? Did I type too much? :)

Brandon

[Phillybean]

Just to be on the safe side, I would just set up a Quartine tank for everything. You should have one anyway.

If you cant do that, the set up you mentioned should be fine. Depending on the size of the crabs, either one should be fine.

[NeveSSL]

Thanks for the reply.

I do have a Quarantine (the aforementioned 10g), but needless to say its much to small to fit all of my livestock into... I wouldn't be comfortable, anyway... :)

I may split the crabs up just to be sure. I may leave all of the hermits in the sump. :)

Brandon

[demonsp]

Why remove them just to redo plumming?
Are you redoing anything else?

[NeveSSL]

I am redoing my overflow, which involves silicone... thats why I'm taking them out. I'll also be drilling new holes for new bulkheads.

I'm also redoing my lighting... actually replacing it... but thats not for a couple of weeks after. :)

Brandon

[demonsp]

5 days is awile but do able. I would seperate CUC from fish and give CUC more LR. Add the flow for all and feed all. I would also accumulate as they will be stressed.

On another note whene you upgrade the lights dont run your main light at the full time.This may in most cases cause an algea bloom. Start with a few hours and increase slowly.

[NeveSSL]

Gotcha... thanks! That makes a lot of sense. I'll probably have a Koralia 3 in with the LR and CUC. I'll probably put just a small "wal mart" powerhead in with the fish... unless you guys think a Koralia 3 would be beneficial, too. :)

On the lights, I'll keep it low hours to begin with. I'm also going to do the thing where you put a couple of layers of screen on top of the tank to "dim" the lights and take a piece off every 2 days or so to acclimate the tank to the new light. :)

Thanks for the reply.

What about my corals? Where do you think I should put them?

Now I'm thinking this... Fish in their own 20g with a little bit of LR... part of CuC in the other 20g with most of the rock... corals and some CuC in the 10g quarantine tank. :)

Brandon