Old to New

[UncleFester]

In a few weeks time I will setting up a new system with the plan of transferring over my existing corals and live rock, my intended path is as follows;

New system will be a total volume of 566 litres with my current system at around 200/210 after displacement, I suspect that once eventing is transferred across I should be looking at around the 520 litres total volume.

My plan is to get the new system up and running using RO/DI Water, get water up to temp at 25c, add salt and let things settle for 24 hours or so.

I will be using fresh Aragonite sand which will have been completely rinsed in RO/DI water of the course of 3/4 days, once the water is up to temp I will add the sand, normally I would do this after having added the Live Rock, however, as I will switching over my existing rock thought it easier to add sand then rock, happy to stand being corrected ?

I will then gradually start to add equipment from old to new, as I have 2 zeo reactors I was intending transferring around 50% of the old zeovit across to the new system along with some of the live rock.

Lastly I will syphon enough of the water out of the new system to allow for the water from the old system to be transferred across, my aim is to transfer as much of the water from the existing system across including the water in the sump.

As for the corals some of these can be placed into containers but as most are secured to the live rock I am not entirely sure as to the best method of transfer, would welcome some input on this point.

As always, would welcome any additional suggestions from any members who have already done this previously.

Thanks in advance.

[G.Alexander]

Do you have some weeks to run both systems side by side to “cylce” the new system first or do you have to do the system change within a couple of days ?

G.Alexander

[UncleFester]

I could run both side by side for a few weeks if required, my only issue would be getting enough live rock into the new system, I am currently looking to secure some live rock but not much if any available in the Uk.

What would be the minimum requirement to get the new system up and running ?

[G.Alexander]

The more live rock you use the less time consuming the cycle will be. If you have a chance to run both systems side by side I would recommend to start the cycle for the new system as described over here:

https://forum.zeovit.com/forum/gener...803#post290803

Additional to the fresh ZeoVit material I would place some old material from your actual tank in a mash bag in the sump as some kind of biological filtration material, this can be removed later if necessary.

Use old water from your actual system for the new system each additional while doing three water changes each 10% within one week for the new system.

Use some old sand from your actual system washed in tank water to remove the sediments and mix it with the fresh aragonit material.

Place as much live rock in the new system as possible, if you use some kind of dry material additional make sure to soak it adequate before using it.

If all goes well I would see a chance that you can start around week 6 transfer the first animals. If you have more robust corals you might be able to do this a little bit sooner.

G.Alexander

[UncleFester]

Thanks G.Alexander, I will as suggested take the 6 weeks, my aim is to create a much more open scape to allow for coral growth and to avoid dead spots which will allow for better cleaning.

I will up-date as I go along as it would be good to look back at how things have developed.

Thanks again for the advice.

[G.Alexander]

Good luck for your new project 👍

G.Alexander