Tank Switch Over Today & Have ?'s

[fishmom]

Hello, Today is the day to move my fish to their new tank. This means draining approx. 30 to 40 gallons of water out of the new tank and replacing with water from the old tank. Here are my questions

1. What is the best way to add water without stirring up the sand bed?
2. New tank is 155 gallons, how much water would you transfer? Does 30 gallon sound right or should I do more?
3. Will I need to acclimate the fish, if temp and salinity are the same?

I will be adding the following fish:
Passer angle juvi about 4"
Maroon Clown about 4"
Red Hawk
Yellow tail damsel
Sleeper banded goby
Lawnmower Blenny
1 LARGE Cleaner Shrimp
I am worried that adding all at once will cause a big bioload and make my tank crash! Any ideas on this as well.

Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

[Gina]

The best way to add water in my opinion would be to use a Mag pump (if you have one) or a large ph with a tube on the end.
This is how we do our water changes and we don't stir up the sand bed this way.

30% sounds ok to me. (see what others have to sy)

I would think that if the water matches in both tanks (this includes all water levels) I don't think you would have to acclimate.

With 155g tank, personally, I don't think adding the fish and shrimp would cause your tank to crash.

We added all our fish and inverts from a temp 20g to our 75 when it was ready to go and didn't have any problems.

[Scouter Steve]

Is the new tank cycled? Moving Live Rock and sand? If nothing is in the new tank and you add fish it will start a cycle that could be bad for the fish

[Witfull]

i would use as much of the old water as possible, and yes acclimate them to the new tank.

[Gina]

Dave,
I'm curious as to why would the fish have to be acclimated if the salinity, temp and water parameters were the same? And, since she's going to be using alot of the same water that they are in?

I'm asking for myself so I can understand the reason better.

[Cougra]

I agree with Dave, use as much of the old water as you possibly can.

Dave,
I'm curious as to why would the fish have to be acclimated if the salinity, temp and water parameters were the same? And, since she's going to be using alot of the same water that they are in?

I'm asking for myself so I can understand the reason better.

She is only using about 30 Gallons in a 150 Gallon tank, which is only about 25-30% of the total water volume (taking into consideration the displacement by rocks and substrate) which effectively makes it a 70-75% water change. No matter how close you think the water chemistry is between the old water and the new water there are still some minor differences and these differences can be stressful on the fish. It's always best to be cautious when changing that much water and to acclimatize animals to the new conditions slowly.

[Witfull]

i dont know the size of current tank, but moving up to a 155. say current tank is 75g, and used every drop of water in the old tank. it would equal a 50%+ waterchange. and as we all know, big changes can be stressful. now add onto that stress, being caught and held in a bucket of somekind, then put into a new environment. acclimating only makes sense to me. even though the salinity and such are close, they are never "exactly" matched. why take the risk, acclimating only takes a short time and can be done at the same time as transfering rock and such to the new tank.

[Witfull]

ok,,thats funny....we both put up the same thing at the same time~

[Gina]

Thanks guys!
I see what your saying.

[Cougra]

lol Dave, guess that just confirms what we are talking about then!

[fishmom]

Hi guys, thanks for your input. Just to clarify, the new tank has cycled with live sand and 150 lbs + of live rock. I have a royal gamma and a small wrasse already in the new tank. I plan on adding a couple more pieces of LR with the change thats in the 75 gal that is over a year old. My LFS gave me some bags to acclimate if I felt the need and based on what I am reading it sounds like this is what I should do. With regard to water change 30 gallons or more would be best right? As I have mentioned before I am very nervous about this, now when I moved their current tank (75 gal) they did just fine without the acclimation. But I'd rather be safe than sorry.

[jimeluiz]

Good luck.

Any pics?