Nano upgrade: How to transfer?

[autofish]

Hi folks,

I've been running a 3 gallon nano with 18 watts of 50/50 light for ~8 months now. Have lots of live rock, a couple of small corals, a true perc clown and a BTA. System is doing great but my corals are growing like mad and they're starting to crowd the anemone, and I'd like to get another clown.

So I'm bumping up to a 20g long. Tank is in place & pumping water as of December 1st. Coralife 30" (130w) fixture will be here Tuesday.

The big question: How do I make the switch?

My initial inclination is to do it immediately, all at once. I figured I'd acclimate by transferring small amounts of water between the two tanks every x minutes for a day, then move everything including the filter media. New filter is completely different but I can run the old filter simultaneously for awhile to keep the bio filter stable. Also, I'd be adding several additional pieces of fully cured live rock at the same time to assist with bio filtration.

The new tank has a sand bottom (CaribSea Aragonite) and the old has crushed coral; I figured I'd put the crushed coral in a shallow tub and put that in the new tank so all the critters & such living in it can continue their existance. I'm going to build a small hang-on fuge eventually and will move the crushed coral to that when it's done. After the final move, I'd also dump all of the old water out of the 3g and into the 20.

What do you think? Doable? Or is this a recipe for disaster?

Any advice would be appreciated!

[GSMguy]

dont use the old sand maybee just a lil of it get the new rock in the new tank wait a couple days then move everything over use the old water to do a water change once everything is in the tank
what kind of filter are you using
glad your moving everthing the 3 gal is no place for a clownfish

[autofish]

Thanks for the reply. I actually don't have any old sand, the 3 gallon only has crushed coral, I used that instead of sand because I didn't have room for a fuge and the crushed coral is great for pods, etc, to hide in. The new 20g has all brand new, fresh sand. I'm just going to move the crushed coral over so the pods, etc, will ride along with it and populate the new tank.

I put a HOT magnum on the 20g, with a carbon chamber. 250gph. Provides really nice flow.

glad your moving everthing the 3 gal is no place for a clownfish
You might think so, but he's doing extremely well. He's been in there since I set the tank up ~8 months ago. Very healthy and happy, comes running out of his anemone to the top of the tank when he sees me come in the room (knows he's going to get food). I haven't had a single problem with this tank, other than a lack of space: Corals are growing like crazy, I don't want to cut them back (I like 'em) but they're bothering the BTA (and vice versa).

It's really a sweet little setup. I have pictures around here somewhere, I'll post 'em later. If I'd stuck with just the anemone and the clown like I was going to originally, it'd be fine still, but I want more space for corals and the clown could use a playmate. :)

[autofish]

*bump*

Would love to hear from others. I'm going to move everything over Wednesday. Hoping to know now if this is a terrible idea destined for failure, or any more tips to help make things smooth. :)

[geno606]

i wouldn't worry too much about the pods in the crished coral, theres plenty of it in the rocks you have and the new rocks and theyll multiply soon. i would wait a little more until the tank has cycled before you add anything, specially if you're adding more rock. if its cured and if you're using luve sand then the cycle shouldnt take too long. hopefully all will be ok and good luck.

[DJChesnutRabbit]

Another thing to consider is going from 18w to 130w of light, you may need to acclimate your corals to the brighter light so they dont burn. I'm not sure how the 2 tanks will compare, but maybe something to watch.
-Rabbit

[autofish]

Thanks for the info. So, your thought is that I should actually cycle the new tank? I was under the (perhaps false?) impression that since my current tank is stable, moving everything over would keep the new tank stable from the start and so it would not go through a cycle. I'm not adding any more bio load, just a bunch more water, essentially. Figure if I run the old filter on the new tank for awhile, too, that will keep things stable.

The light is a good thought, I'll watch the corals closely (I don't have many) and see how they do.

[reeferchickdc]

so what happened?

[autofish]

I moved it all at once on the 6th. Did large water changes back and forth between the two tanks for several hours beforehand, then moved everything. So far, everyone is happy. Corals came right back out and look better than they ever have. Anemone looks good, clown was scared at first but figured things out.

So, I'm going to sit tight, monitor everything real close for awhile and hope the tank doesn't go through a cycle.

[seacowboy]

can we see some pictures of old and new?

[autofish]

Absolutely!

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/765243gal.jpg

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/7652420gal.jpg

The anemone is in there; he's hiding around the rock cluster in the center. He was shrunk up and unhappy with me. He's out now and looking much better.

[GSMguy]

sweet the clown wil get used to it
you need more rock for bio filter
the cansiter can be filled with liverock im about to do it to my HOBmagnum
nice looking tank

[autofish]

Actually the clown has been in the anemone for quite some time now. The first picture up there, I'd just bought the anemone and the clown was still scared of it. Second picture, the anemone was unhappy from being moved and was all shrunk up and hiding, so the clown was roaming the tank. :) Right now, the anemone is out and happy again and the clown is sitting in the middle of it, as usual.

Yeah, I need lots more live rock. I've added another couple of small pieces since that picture was taken, and will continue to build upon it. However, this tank is still stocked (critter-wise) the same as my 3 gallon was except I added a tiny Engineer Goby, all I'm dealing with right now is a bunch of extra water, so it should still be as stable as the 3g I'd expect. As I build up the live rock and the cleaner crew, etc, I'll be able to stock a bit more fish. (Not much, though. I intend to add another clown next month if things stay stable, but after that, it will probably be mostly corals. Three fish should be plenty for this size tank.)