Consolidating 5 tanks into 1

[Vince]

After five years in the hobby I have decided to consolidate 5 reef tanks(220 180 155 120 46) into one. The reason for this is my new job requires me to travel a lot and my wife feels that taking care of all 5 tanks in my absence will be too overwhelming. I have ordered a 650 gallon tank(120x48x26) which will be delivered in three weeks. My plan is to setup the 650 with a 4 inches of HD sand and 150 lbs of new live rock and let it run for 2 to 3 weeks or until it cycles. I will then move all the live rock,live sand and animals from my old tanks at a rate of 1 tank a week over the next 5 weeks. I would appreciate any ideas or advice.

Thanks in advance
Vince

[GOOD (G)REEF]

Sounds great! What a great excuse for a huge tank! I would love it if you would take some pictures and post them somewhere! I want to see what this looks ike in the end!

[Deacon]

Originally posted by Vince
I would appreciate any ideas



When you start transferring tanks into the new one. I would start with the tank that has the lowest bioload. (presumably the 46 in this case). Then work up from there. I would assume that even in a 650 it is still possible to get an ammonia spike if you stock too fast.

By the way, I'm jealous.:) A tank that big I can only dream about. What kind of floor support are you using?

Deacon

[Mark]

One suggestion, which I am willing to bet you already thought of, is to use one of your old tanks(220 or 180) as a sump. Perhaps one as a refugium as well.

[Jaffo_botz]

Obviously, depending what is in each tanks, you may have to move/consolidate the tanks into the 650G depending on the specimans. Not necessarily by the entire contents of each tank. (ie.don't move all the inhabitants from 46 first, then the 120, etc....)

For the best success move the most peaceful, but hardiest fish/corals first from all the tanks, then progress from there...make a plan/order for moving the inhabitants to the new tank. It'll probably take longer than 5 weeks in my guess.

I did a simple consolidation of a 120 and 30 into a 250...mostly fish. And it's been over 3 months now and I've still got two inhabitants (fish) left to be moved.

[Agu]

Vince,
Sounds like a good plan, did the same thing moving four tanks into a 180 (sounds small all of a sudden). The two issues to take into account are lighting acclimation of corals and fish aggression. If you have a tank with dissimilar lighting I would move that/those tanks first and acclimate the corals to the new light before moving corals that don't need acclimation. Obviously the more passive fish should be moved first and allowed to establish territories before the more aggressive/assertive fish are added.
Also, if you have dsb's in the existing tanks you'll find that you'll end up with a bunch extra substrate after transfering each tank. I rinsed mine with the old saltwater and stored it still "live" in a spare tank with a skimmer and heater. When it came time to setup the refugium I just reused that sand, it still had a lot of life in it even though it came from the bottom of the old tanks.


Good luck and have fun !

Agu

[dsb1829]

Man I though I was bad running five tanks (72g,58g,55g,29g,6g), but Vince you put me to shame. I can't offer any more advice than what has already been said. But good luck with the swap. Definately give it time at every step along the way.

Doug

[Vince]

Thanks for all the replies. They all make good sense. One question I have is about lighting. All my tanks have metal halides and VHOs. 1 tank has 175s, 1 tank has 400s and the three tanks have 250s. I am planning to mount 10 metal halides and 8 VHOs in the new tank. Will it look right if I mix 400s and 250s together? Also the 120g is a dedicated SPS tank.I have never had success with SPSs mixed with softies.I am thinking that since the new tank is going to be much bigger, maybe I will have better luck. Any suggestions?

Thanks
Vince

P.S
I will be taking pictures as the project progresses and post them on my website if I ever get it done.

[Agu]

I'd guess that if you mix the 250's and 400's and alternate them (or do a front and back) no one will notice the difference except for the hard core reefers on this board. Regarding sps and softies, I probably don't have enough experience, but it hasn't been a problem for me.

Agu

Please post pics, it sounds awesome.

[Doug]

Hi Vince,

Sounds like an awesome setup!

As far as the mixture of lights goes, I have seen a few pictures of tanks on the net with mixed wattages of bulbs and could not really notice a big difference.

As far as the SPS and softies together goes, I would think that with a tank that large you would have a lot of options on coral placement so I don't think it would be an issue except that it will take some time to get things placed properly.

Best wishes.

Doug

[Vince]

I am planning to use a Rainbow Lifegard 11/2 hp pump rated at 7800 gph for circulation. The sump(150g Rubbermaid trough)and all other equipment are going to be located in the garage about 3 feet down and 60 feet away, I want to use the same pump to power 2 lifereef skimmers and 2 chillers to cut down my power bill which has been averaging about 700.00/mo. Will this pump be big enough? Any advice will be appreciated.

Vince

[Vince]

After almost 3 months of waiting, my 650 is almost ready. I decided to convert my garage into a fish room and ran into all sorts of delays. I have decided to mount the lights 24 inches above the tank. Lighting is going to be 10 metal halides(6 250s and 4 400s) and 6 5 foot VHOs. With the tank being 4 ft wide I felt that maintenance would be a lot easier with the lights out of the way. Does anyone see a problem with this setup. Any advice will be appreciated

[johnny]

Vince,

You may want to have the lights adjustable in the vertical direction.. your tank is so big you may actually have to all but CLIMB INTO it in which case you'll want the lights totally out of the way, like 36+ inches out of the way.

Also, post some pics when you can!!! :)

Nick

[Vince]

Hi Nick

Thanks for replying. I actually thought of suspending the canopy from the ceiling and rig up some sort of a winch to raise it up and down but the wife said it will not look nice so I decide on the 24 inch clearance If I am careful I figured I can reach the back of the tank without being burned by the halides. I guess my main cncern is losing some light because of the height. I will post pictures soon.

[grafxguy]

Did you win the powerball or something? 650G tank, $700/mo. electric bills. Holy shamolies!!!! eric

[Agu]

If she changes her mind this site has a pulley system for the lights

http://members.aol.com/scotsweet/aquarium/


Agu

[Vince]

Hey Agu thanks for the link. I will show her the pictures tonight.