# Got my new 120 gallon tank. Could use tips on setup



## Dax (Sep 29, 2010)

I have two 60 gallon tanks running right now and want to move the contents into the 120. Unfortunately the 120 will go almost exactly where the gray one is right now. The trick is to juggle the contents and move the setups around without having an incident. Right now I figure on emptying half the water on the gray one and moving the whole thing out of the way. Problem is I don't know if that is actually possible or safe. Any creative ideas are welcome.

Also, one of tanks has a 4" sand bed and the other has about 2" so I can do a DSB but don't know if it is a good idea. The tank with a 4" sand bed has been running for about 5 months now so no real plusses to note but also no minuses either; it was an experimental tank. Anyone have any advice on the DSB approach? Also how do I go about moving it?


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## Shoryureppa (Jul 1, 2011)

I'm also going to be picking up my 120 next week, my dream Oceanic Tech Tank With Starfire!!! I'm going to do a deep sand bed too, about 5 inches and seed it with live rock and sand from people. I've been researching and that is the critical step. Also, avoid dragonettes as they will decimate the critters that live in the sandbed. Nassarius and brittle stars needed to stir the top layer. Once I get my stuff together, i'll document it.


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

Pretty much what your plan is - drain partly, move, refill, run. 

Or you can transfer everything to the other tank temporarily, set up the 120, get it running and slowly start switching everything over.


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## Dax (Sep 29, 2010)

Thought about putting stuff into one tank while taking my time getting the 120 up and running but it is not possible to put 120 gallons worth of stuff into a 60. Also the sand is at the bottom so that has to come out and go into the new tank first.


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## JulieFish (Apr 8, 2011)

Hmmm. Moving tanks is always difficult. Would it be an idea to scoop out all the sand from both tanks into buckets, then condense all the remains (live rock and fish) into the black tank then set up the new 120... you probably want to put your live rock in first so that it's sitting on bottom, then add your sand. Time would be a factor as you don't want your live sand to die and start rotting. Anyone know how long can the live sand critters would stay alive in a bucket?

As difficult as it is though it would be much worse if you didn't have the extra tank to hold stuff while you swap tanks. 

For what it's worth, tanks can be moved with some water inside, but not full obviously and I would take at least 2 /3 of the water out before even attempting. Good luck and congrats on the shiny big new tank (I'm jealous!)


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## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)

I know my switch was much smaller than yours, but what I did was move a bucket of sand over to the new tank every few days with the water that I took out for the water change. As I filled the old tank with new water I also put new water in the new tank also. So it let the new tank cycle while the old tank was still being used.

Like I said this is what I did and I don't know if you can do the same but it made a huge difference for me and the tank was ready to go in 2 weeks or so since all I was doing was really moving water from the old tank. I just did it nice and slow.

Edit:
so yeah, you'll have to move that old tank out of the way to put in the new one. New thought is to get a few guys over and empty it to 1/3rd like julie said and nudge it into an area that is good for you.


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## sig (Dec 13, 2010)

It will be very easy, based on the images and volume of LR and corals. I swapped 80G with 120 and the new tank went to the same place as 80.

Put new tank in line with the place where it will go. Prepare few baskets and a tank for the fish. LR and just a water >>> drain water from the old tank to the baskets and move fishes and LR there >>> Move old tank forward >>> move new tank in place>>> Good idea to leave few inches of the water on the top of the sand>>> Place one side of old tank higher than the other side (2x4 will be fine) and pick the sand using kitchen strainer and move it to the new tank. All dirt in the sand will stay in the old tank >>> Place LR in the new tank and fill it with water from the baskets >>> as you have temperature set >>> move fishes

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## rickcasa (Dec 7, 2011)

That'll work. That's quite organized Greg. As an added precaution, I would suggest to be extra careful putting the old water back in the new tank and not to disturb the sand much more than necessary. Trapped toxins will be released and it might be best to run carbon before releasing the fish in their new home. IME, I lost a few fish in the same manner because the guy I bought the complete setup from (he helped me set it up) thought it was safe.


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## sig (Dec 13, 2010)

rickcasa said:


> That'll work. That's quite organized Greg. As an added precaution, I would suggest to be extra careful putting the old water back in the new tank and not to disturb the sand much more than necessary. Trapped toxins will be released and it might be best to run carbon before releasing the fish in their new home. IME, I lost a few fish in the same manner because the guy I bought the complete setup from (he helped me set it up) thought it was safe.


I agree, but you should not use the water after taking sand out. That is the reason that I told to leave few inches of the water on top of the sand

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## Dax (Sep 29, 2010)

I was concerned about stuff released when disturbing the sand but after Greg's last explanation I feel better about it. I like the idea about going slow becasue frankly doing everthing in the same day scares the hell out of me. Here is my current plan based on Greg's advice. Let me now if I missed somthing.

>Empty Black tank 50%, then move 50% water from grey tank to black
>Move LR from gray tank to buckets to get at the fish
>Move all livestock to black tank (not sure about this step becasue water parameters will be slightly different)
>Drain remaining water from gray tank to LR buckets leaving a couple inches above coarse aragonite (this is the tank with 2" substrate)
>Move gray tank out of the way and place New tank in place
>Move substrate from gray tank to new tank while rinsing in existing water. This will put coarse stuff on bottom with fine to be added later from the black tank. Not sure about this idea either.
>Put LR and water from buckets back into gray tank which will now be about 1/2 full 
>Mix 40 gallons of new water in new tank which will only have about 1" coarse substrate from gray tank
>Now there will be 3 tanks running so I should be able to wait a few days before slowly moving everthing into the new tank.

I just read what I wrote and it sounds crazy. I was about to erase it but if you went over it let me know what you think.


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## sig (Dec 13, 2010)

I red few times and it is to complicated. You are even in better position that I was, since you have a 2 tanks + one new

Drain water from black just enough to accept LR from the grey (take fishes from there) >>> Drain all water from the grey to the baskets (leave few inches above sand) >>>> move gray forward >> put new one in place >>> take sand from gray to the new >>> place LR from the black to the new >>> put water from the baskets inside new tank >>> remove gray tank from the floor >>> put water from the black to the new tank >>> move sand from the black to the new >>> heat water >>>> fishes inside
3-4 hours and you done  
Good luck

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## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)

If you need any help with moving or anything else PM me and I'll come over and help!!


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## explor3r (Mar 14, 2010)

Congrats in your 120g, Im sure you getting good advise from GTTA members who had done this before, all I want to say is take your time
Nice and easy


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## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)

explor3r said:


> Congrats in your 120g, Im sure you getting good advise from GTTA members who had done this before, all I want to say is take your time
> Nice and easy


That's what she said!!!


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## explor3r (Mar 14, 2010)

altcharacter said:


> That's what she said!!!


 lol thats right


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## Dax (Sep 29, 2010)

Noone ever complains when you go nice and easy 
Thats what I'm trying to go for but looks like it might end up wham, bam, thank you maam

Greg, I like it. Unlikely I can do it in 3-4 hours but definately sounds like a plan.

Just a few questions:
- Will moving the fish/anemone to a different tank without acclimating cause any issues? 
- If I move LR from black to new first, then add water, then add sand won't that make a huge mess? Also won't moving 2 sandbeds and mixing 2 sets of LR cause a bit of a cycle issue?
- Should I put the coarse sand on top or bottom? Coarse one is in the grey tank.


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## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)

This is gonna be one of those situations where you will lose a few coral or livestock. It's just what happens to everyone. If you yank something out of it's home it's not going to be happy.

Yes it's going to be a huge mess either way.
Yes you'll have a cycle problem.
The coarse sand should go on the bottom and the fine sand will fill the gaps

Good Luck!
Take Pictures


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## sig (Dec 13, 2010)

Dax said:


> Noone ever complains when you go nice and easy
> Thats what I'm trying to go for but looks like it might end up wham, bam, thank you maam
> 
> Greg, I like it. Unlikely I can do it in 3-4 hours but definately sounds like a plan.
> ...


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## sig (Dec 13, 2010)

altcharacter said:


> This is gonna be one of those situations where you will lose a few coral or livestock. It's just what happens to everyone. If you yank something out of it's home it's not going to be happy.
> 
> Yes it's going to be a huge mess either way.
> Yes you'll have a cycle problem.
> ...


Not to every one. I had for "these" situations and did not loose anything.
The wife sent me away several time verbally, but I also survived 

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## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)

You lost more hair Greg!!


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## Dax (Sep 29, 2010)

sig said:


> Not to every one. I had for "these" situations and did not loose anything.
> The wife sent me away several time verbally, but I also survived


Atta boy!! 

4 tank swaps in a year and a half; what the heck are you doing? But then again this will be my third tank in one year so I can't talk

Well, I think I'm ready but 2 more things to do before I start.
1. I want to raise the tank 2" so I need to build a support and level it first. Not sure if it is better to add the support under the stand or directly under the tank.
2. I have a crazy new idea of putting in a 4 inch tall divider in the middle of the tank so I can do a DSB on one side and a SSB on the other. Never built a tank before so I need do some quick googling. I can't really screw it up because it doesn't have to be water tight and will only support a small load.


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## sig (Dec 13, 2010)

Dax said:


> Atta boy!!
> 
> Well, I think I'm ready but 2 more things to do before I start.
> 1. I want to raise the tank 2" so I need to build a support and level it first. Not sure if it is better to add the support under the stand or directly under the tank.
> 2. I have a crazy new idea of putting in a 4 inch tall divider in the middle of the tank so I can do a DSB on one side and a SSB on the other. Never built a tank before so I need do some quick googling. I can't really screw it up because it doesn't have to be water tight and will only support a small load.


can not advice on this one.  You better open separate thread for this

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## Dax (Sep 29, 2010)

Not too worried about the raising or the divider. Just a matter of doing it. Should be no problem once I get back to work. I have access to all the materials I need there.

I was just cleaning the tank and noticed a few minor scratches. Tried toothpaste but not much happened. Checked out Canadian Tire and Lowes but couldn't find any cerium oxide to buff them out. Anyone know where to get some?


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## Dax (Sep 29, 2010)

Quick update. Made the move last weekend. 

Day 1
1. Emptied black tank contents to buckets and removed sand (4 hours)
2. Moves black tank into position where it was workable
2. Moved grey tank stuff into black tank, except sand (2 hours)
3. Moved grey tank out of the way and placed new tank there (2 hours)
4. Put in all sand into new tank. Then placed remaining contents from buckets into new tank. (3 hours)

Now I have time to slowly move livestock into new tank.

Day 2 

Rest and recovery (because I did it alone). Wish I'd taken one of you guys up on your offer to help. Thanks BTW.

Day 3,4 

Move live rock, then fish into new tank . DONE


What do you think? Going to start a new thread about advice on where to go from here?


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