Upgrade from 90 to110G, how to transfer from one tank to another

[jalemboo]

Hello all,

Need some suggestion on how to transfer my current 90 gallon tank (no sump) to a 110G with sump that will not disrupt the tank and avoid killing my current livestock.

[asylumdown]

Are the two tanks going to be in the same place, or can you have them both running at the same time?

How you do it depends entirely on what the logistics of your particular situation are - ie, how long does your rock and livestock need to be out of a 'normal' tank environment, how far are they moving, what equipment is being re-purposed, etc. etc.

To start, I'd bet that most of the advice you'll get on here will be to only save your rock. Ditch your old sand and start with all new water in the new tank. Some people might do it differently, but if you can match salinity and temp of the new water pretty closely, you shouldn't have any issues in that regard (I do 100% weekly water changes on a pico tank with no ill effect on livestock).

[jalemboo]

i want to place the new 110g in the same place as my current 90.

planning to transfer all of my water, live rock and livestock to a 75 gallon tank, remove the 90 gallon and replace with 110g with new live sand from the previous owner along with my old live sand (not sure if that is a good idea). Fill the sump with new water. Fill the 110% with 40% new water and start to transfer everything in the 75 gallon to the 110 gallon. i think this transfer will take 4 to 5 hours.

Will this work?

[Mike-fish]

your plan looks almost the same as what i did going from the 175g to the 270g. how i do it (4 moves and counting ) take the first couple pails of water before messing with any rock and set those aside to put the fish and corals in in the pails that have fish i add an air stone ( makes a huge difference in how well the fish do over the course of the move and the days that follow) next i keep pumping out water as rock is exposed i put them in bins filled with tank water keeping them submerged as much as possible so as to minimize any die off. as the rock comes out take advantage of any easy catches.once all rock is removed catch any remaning fish and do a head count to make sure every one is accounted for. once the water is at the same or close to the level of the sand i dig a bit of a hole in the sand and move the pump there and move the discharge to waste as its typical full of crud you don't really want to transfer across to the new tank. remove the sand if in doing this you notice a rotten egg smell i would use all new sand if not you can use the existing sand. then out with the old and in with the new plumb as nessasary add sand then rock refilling as you go. once filled check parameters and acclimate fish and crack a cold one

[jalemboo]

Another question, buying a 110 gallon from another reefer with full live rock and live stock as well but not planning to use them, just gonna put them in another tank and sell it later for anything i dont need. what is the best way?

[Mike-fish]

Same as above just put them in the old tank and they should be fine. So for a bit you will have 2 tanks running