switching tanks ?

[harleyreefer]

Hi,
New to reef.org. Wish I would have found this site earlier. I need a little planning help, as you all have changed the rules on me since I set up my first tank years ago. Here is the situation:
On feb 1 I brought up an old tank, a 110 that has served me well in the past. I started with the tank and stand, and went from there. Keep in mind that this was before I found these online sites!
I bought 100 lbs of argonite sand (2-3 in throughout bed), put on a new mag 350 canister filter, dug out an old fluidized bed filter, an old seaclone skimmer and a rio 2500 powerhead for circulation.
I then ordered 88 lbs of fiji l/r and 44 lbs of tonga lio l/r and let it cycle. I then added 2x400 MH @10000k w/2 140 w vho attenic for lighting on a retro kit. I have a 1/3 hp chiller inroute due to heat from the MH.
This week I disconected the canister filter and removed the fluidized bed filter, after doing some reading on this site and others.
Tank was stocked too early, but all is well at this point. I have about 100 astra snails,50 bumblebee snails 50 b.l hermits and 50 little snails (forget the name right now). I have 2 molleys (yes molleys) 2 scooter blenneys, 2 coral banded shrimp, a red and a blue starfish. a small ghost eel. I also have a sea apple (I know) a colt coral (again I know) and a small xena.
All is well AT THIS POINT,-but;
I want to move it all into a 200 gallon tank that I am bringing up from Houston (100 miles from here). This tank has been up and running for a couple of years. It has a sand bed and mabie 100 lbs of liverock, but the lights are gone so nothing but any bacteria is living on those rocks. It has had a snowflake eel in there the whole time. What I want to do is move the contents of my 110 into the 200, and use the 110 as a sump/refuge but I have no experience with a sump. I understand how they work in principle, but not practice. The thing is, I dont want to kill all my stuff in the switch.
This time I want to do it right this time.
Any idias or comments would be welcome, thanks!!

 

[qwiksilver]

First thing first: WELCOME Is the tank coming up drilled for a sump? If not, consider getting it drilled as it will save you hassle. What you could do is get it drilled, fill it with water and get it set up with your sand and salinity all peachy and be running it through a rubbermade bin or barrel or something just so you can get things going. Then, once the salinity and everything is good and matched to the other tank, take the other tank and put it into the 200, run it with the rubbermade makeshift sump, and meanwhile turn your 110 into the sump/fuge you've always dreamed of haveing. :lol: Move as much of the tank water over as you can. It will be a pain, especially moving the SB, but I have switched tanks over and the only thing I lost was two snails, and I know for a fact that it was due to salinity creepage (long story :evil: ). Good luck!

 

[harleyreefer]

No, my 200 is not drilled. I am not sure if glass is tempered or not. I am not real comfortable with trying to drill it, nor am I sure where I might get it done where I live (small redneck town--no offence to any rednecks out there). I guess it wond do any harm to check out where I might get it drilled. Any idias how big/how many hole I should have. I was goung to get a overflow with a couple of 1" drain holes,--kind of ignorant in the math of the flow. also----
My lights are 60" wide, will I be able to use them on a 84" wide tank for awhile? I hope to add later, but There are other priorities first, LIKE A BETTER SKIMMER (euro reef cs12-1,cs12-2 ?).
Thanks

 

[qwiksilver]

If the tank is tempered, it is most likely only the bottom (never heard of sides being tempered) in which case you could drill the back. At 200g, you want to give yourself room for draining 1200g/hr, in which case your drain would need to be a minimum of 1 1/2". However, with a long tank (I am assuming it's not a square 200) I would go with an overflow at each end, with two drains and two returns. I would also highly recommend looking into closed loops for water movement. So, if you drilled an 1 1/2" drains and 1" returns at each end, you'd be safe. Also, with using you 110g you might want to consider dividing it up into two, so that one end drains into a sump half, and the other end of the main drains into a fuge half. Just a thought. HTH

 

[J.Howard]

If you don't want to drill holes in the 200, you can always use hang-on overflow boxes. Just be sure you size them correctly as qwiksilver mentioned. You may want to get either large trash cans or a rubbermaid tub to hold the sand and rock temporarily while you do the inevitable cleaning and replumbing. I just moved/installed/replumbed my 200 and having a place to keep all that valuable rock (I had 350lbs.) allowed me to take my time and not rush to get everything done. Save as much of the old water as you can transport, and use that with a couple of powerheads to keep it from stagnating. I wish I had room for a 110 gal sump/fuge. Sounds like you're on the right track.

 

[harleyreefer]

Still need to pic a skimmer that will fit in sump. The euro reef seems like it wont fit in 110 sump.Tank/sump is 60"x18"x24"high. I believe the euro reef is like 19"x19" or so. any suggestions there. I am sure I need to resolve this issue before I even think of proceeding farther.
Thanks