210 G Move ASAP answer

[Diana]

You are getting different answers because everyone has different methods, many will work, you just have to choose one that fits your situation best. Are there corals involved? If not, I would fill the 210g with fresh water, get the pumps going and then add the salt and dechlor/heavy metal eliminator. It may take a few hours until the salt mixes and you can get an accurate salinity reading. If you have 65 gallons to add of old water, only mix up the difference.

Once the water is the correct salinity and temperature, pump about half of the drum water into the 210g. Then, drip the new tank water into the drum over the next hour. Once the drum is again full, add most of it back into the 210g. Wait a few minutes for the water to mix in the tank, then add the rock and fish(i reccomend you also drip the rock although i have not in the past and did not see any abnormal effects). Add the rest of the drum water.

This method worked fine for us many many times. As long as you get the salinity and temp fairly equivalent between what the fish are used to and what they are going into, they should be fine.

HTH

[Justusfish]

Many thanks for the quick replies and PMs, folks. Diana had a good point about why I'm hearing different answers and it helps me clarify how I'll approach this tank transfer/move.

[Black Phantom]

Sorry about the confusion. Most of my answer was based on the fact that I thought the rock had been out of the water for some time.
If there is no die off then you wont get an ammonia spike and the biological filter (rocks) should still be intact.
I would still age your new salt water for a couple of days before adding the fish.
Good luck and enjoy your new tank.

[Justusfish]

Well, the fish have been in the refilled 210 tank now for 15 hours will zero signs of stress. I'm actually amazed. I was a bit nervous about such a big undertaking.

I was up at four in the morning and started the acclimation process which took about 4 hours in total. I wanted it to be as gradual as I could make it, time permitting.

All the fish are breathing normally, swimming around and I gave them their first feed this evening and they ate voraciously. It's been two days since their pre-move feed.

I'd like to thank everyone for the advice and even those who offered to physically come over and help!

I'll post pics in a week or so.