Upgrade Help

[nijunet]

Hi everyone,
Well, I just purchased the 90 gallon that was for sale from House of Laughter. I will be getting it next week. :spin: I am upgrading from a 55 gallon. I have never upgraded before, always just started from scratch. Any help would be appreciated. I have no idea where to begin or what supplies will be needed, just trying to get ready. Any help, tricks or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Nicole

 

[alistair]

Ask Jim (House of Laughter)! He will be able to give you ALL the info you need.

 

[drunktank]

55 to 90 isnt much of an ''upgrade''

what i mean by that is, you wont need anything different. Many an extra powerhead or a little bit more wattage out of your heater.

however if you mean, what do you need to transfer the stuff from your 55 to your 90... thats different

you can use some large garbage cans from HD or Lowes. Drain all your water from ur 55 into the cans. Put ur rock and fish into small ones w/ some wataer to keep them alive. ONce ur 55 is empty, move it and put the 90 in its place (if its going in the sme place) Put the water back into the 90, put ur LR in and let the settle for about 15mins. Add more salt water (b/c of the increase in gallons) then check temp, salinity and readings etc. Add fish and u should be find. Took me an hr or so to move a tank across the room. And thats all i Did

 

[nijunet]

I did and he has been extremely helpful so far. He is going to get a list ready for me. I just wanted to see if you guys had any more help, tips or suggestions to offer.

drunk, that is what I meant, moving everything from my 55 to the 90. The tank is in a different location so I guess it shouldn't be that hard. Just want to try to avoid loss.

Nicole

 

[scarf_ace1981]

since the 90 is going in a different location what you wnat to do is fill up the 90 2/3 of the way. check the temp and salinity reading. add the rock,corals and the fish and then add some of your old water into the 90g

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

I upgraded from my 29 to my 55 and did kind of what scarf said but I used all of the water from the 29 and topped off with fresh saltwater waited a week then did a water change. I used Rubbermaid containers to hold the water, corals and rock, and I used a 10 g tank to hold the fish. I added the new sand first, then water (slowly), then the rock, both new and old, 2 or 3 cups of sand from the 29, Temp acclimated the corals and put them in, then temp/drip acclimated the fish and put them in, I discarded about 3 gallons of water in total from the old tank.

 

[qy7400]

I followed a similar path to scarf and chief… filled the new tank (180G) over ? way with fresh saltwater, moved about ? the rock and a ? of the old tank (72G) water to the new along with new cured base and LR. Let it sit for a few days checked all the levels/temp/SG to make sure the matched then one by one moved everything over and topped the tank with the old water. After the move ran the lights for only a few hours a day (PC to MH) to re-acclimate everyone to their new home.

 

[House of Laughter]

Nicole,

I just went through the conversion process with Devious - we completed it in 3 hours give or take. I'll have an outline with a list of items for you to review, BUT, I would contintue to use the excellent advice given by the seasoned MR team!!

Speak with you soon.

House

 

[nijunet]

Thanks everyone, that was the info I was looking for.

House, looking forward to getting your list and meeting you.
Nicole

 

[bergerd]

Nicole,
I am so glad and envious that you did the purchase. The picture of the tank and cabinet and top thingamajig with the lighting looked great. I can't wait to see the finished product. I think you got about $3,000.00 worth of equipment for your $750.00 plus whatever extra you spend to upgrade. Great deal. Just follow the experts' leads for the big day transfer. Buen suerte. David

 

[nijunet]

berg, i can't wait to see the finished tank either. You know a girl can never resist a good buy!!!! That is exactly my intention to follow the experts leads for the big day..

 

[bad coffee]

Nicole, If you want you can check out the prattreef thread. We moved from a 180 to a 240 in about 6 hours. Granted, there were LOTS of extra hands around.

Depending on when you're doing the swap A few of us would be glad to help.

B

 

[nijunet]

Hi Bad coffee,
I will check out that thread. 180 to a 240 in 6 hours? WOW and I am nervous about a 55 to 90, that is exactly why I am here. You guys are very helpful and I appreciate it. As far as the swap, I just might take you up on the offer. I am assuming I am going to have to do the swap quickly since I am getting some live rock at the same time. Maybe beer and pizza on me:eat:

 

[digitalreefer]

Maybe beer and pizza on me:eat:

That is the standard MR help currency. If I haven't left on vacation when you do it, I'll give a hand.