Upgrading from FOWLR to reef tank

[Stanley]

8O
Hey This is my first post and I hope everyone will bear with me. I currently have a 29g FOWLR tank and I want to upgrade to a reef tank. I have been looking at a 65g tank with an overflow. I guess I know what other hardware to buy such as filters, lighting and so on but could someone suggest how to move my current inhabitants(1 clown and one pac. sailfin, 30lbs live rock) to the new tank? Currently I have crushed coral as a substrate and I want to switch to sand. Any suggestions will be of great help. Thanks!!

 

[Len]

Hey Stanley!

Were you planning on putting the new tank in the same spot? If not, the move should be really simple since you can keep the 29 up and running until the 65 is ready, and then move things over slowly.

I'd set up the 65 first, using fine aragonite sand instead of crushed coral. Add 30-40 lbs of rock and let the tank cycle for 4-8 weeks. Then once the tank has matured, migrate the livestock (two fish) from the 29 gallon over to the 65. Acclimate them to the new tank as you would when you introduce new fish to any tank. When ready to move the fish, I suggest you catch and first move the fish into to a dark, clean bucket filled with old water (from the 29 gallon), then add a cup of water from the 65 every 10 minutes for a hours worth of time. This will give your fish time to acclimate to the new water conditions. During this time, move the live rock from the 29 over to the new tank.

That's how I'd do it

 

[hsosa]

I agree. I would do a10gallon water change. take the old water and use it for the 65k . mix with new water 5gallon . place some sand in the new tank and rock from your old tank. leave it for a week. then keep doing till your done. Check your parameters. make sure you keep salinity and temp the same. this should work a bit quicker. I did this when I went from 32gal to 100gal. I transferred my clowns the second week. Run a 55watt pc light and add circulation you should be fine.