Journal One Zero Three

[seedoubleyou]

IMO. You’re essentially just moving everything from one glass box to another.

You can either transfer the sump over first then the livestock or do it the other way.

As long as the fish and corals have warmth and water movement. And the parameters aren’t 100miles apart, there’s really nothing to it.

I’m naturally a very unsettled person and get bored very easily, I changed reef tanks 4-5 times in the space of a year and would be in there daily messing about. Nothing died as a result of this, it just took it longer to thrive.

So I’d say just move everything over in one go and once done, leave it be to get settled.
Corals are pretty good at adapting, they have to be, cyclones, parrot fish, tidal changes all rip reefs apart like bees pollinating a garden, it’s partly how they manage to spread.

 

[mort]

And in contrast to seedoubleyou I'm a very patient person who doesn't think a reef tank really gets going or reaches its stable potential until it's a few years old. I'm a student of natural filtration and the older methods where it takes a couple of years to completely stock a tank.

If you need to just move everything over then I think you will be fine. I wouldn't over think it. My cautious approach is fine with the benefit of time but the end result might not vary to much. Historically I've had to worry about more sensitive animals than your average person which is why I take the "nothing good happens fast in a marine tank" philosophy to heart.

I don't think you necessarily benefit anything from your proposed method in the previous post. If you wanted to kick start the tank you could just transfer some of the media, a little rock and some bioload but I don't think you'd gain much over just outright swapping it.
I was going to suggest yesterday running the tank for a week or two together and moving over some sand and rock on day one, whilst you start feeding the new tank. This should help colonise the new tank with life but only for the benefit of the mandarin.

Since the mandarin is obviously a priority and the pod life is important you could add some new real estate to the old tank (assuming you have a little time before moving). If you add a couple of jam jars or tubs with some cover in there and then feed these tubs, then after a week or two you can move them over to the new. You will get plenty of pods make it over anyway but a safe haven can really boost these numbers. We used the same method to transfer live food from the sump/refugium to the display.

 

[Geoffrey Rea]

And we’re in…





Not an easy lift, pretty darn heavy with plenty of potential to get injured or damage the setup on the way in. Bloomin’ obstacle course 😂

Eternally grateful to @Siege for helping get this sucker in safely. Thank you so much buddy 🙏🏽 You’re an absolute legend!

Waiting on equipment and can get this transfer underway 😎

 

[Courtneybst]

Let's goooo!

 

[seedoubleyou]

just outright swapping it

Just want to clarify encase I’ve caused confusion. (Apologies @mort if I’m now reading your message wrong)

I’m not saying to swap everything one for one i.e, old stuff for new stuff. I’m saying move everything from one tank to the other in one go i.e, reuse the current rock, sand and water.

Cheers,
Chris.

P.S @Geoffrey Rea they’re a lovely looking tank those DD units.

 

[mort]

Hi @seedoubleyou the "just outright swapping it" was referring to Geoffrey's idea of a quick bacterial innoculation.

For the actual switching process I think we both agree but with the caveat I'd take my personally time if I had it. The one area where we differ is by using the old sand. This is probably because I'm envisaging what it's like when you kick up sand from a mature tank, with all the crud and detritus whereas you mentioned you swapped tanks 4-5 times in a year (where you wouldn't have got this build up). In very very old tanks the detritus can be basically recycled so it is inert but in tanks a couple of years old, you would be surprised what lurks in the bottom and why it's not always the best scenario to disturb that and move it over.


That's a very nice tank. I saw the prototype at the Telford trade show a long time ago and it looked a solid piece of kit then.

 

[Geoffrey Rea]

The one area where we differ is by using the old sand. This is probably because I'm envisaging what it's like when you kick up sand from a mature tank, with all the crud and detritus whereas you mentioned you swapped tanks 4-5 times in a year (where you wouldn't have got this build up). In very very old tanks the detritus can be basically recycled so it is inert but in tanks a couple of years old, you would be surprised what lurks in the bottom and why it's not always the best scenario to disturb that and move it over.

On that… Been following along with BRStv’s Biome Cycle series over the last few weeks:



The series is drawing to a close now, but will definitely be starting with completely new sand from their results, along with general consensus from chatting with folks.

Rock in and marine pure in the sump from the old tank, fresh sand and minimal water exchange. We’ll see how we go.

BRS have had a good crack at picking a decent yard stick with eDNA testing, at least provides data on their twelve test tanks throughout rather than speculation and visual interpretation. How much all of it matters in the long run… 🤷🏻‍♂️

The fallacy of thinking you’re in control.

That's a very nice tank. I saw the prototype at the Telford trade show a long time ago and it looked a solid piece of kit then.

Extremely impressed @mort , know it’s solid as everything hurts today from lifting it in 😂

 

[Deano3]

Wow that looks great cant wait to see this develop , my aquascaper 900 weighed a ton so i can imagine how heavy this was 😬 great job guys will be worth it in the end.

 

[Geoffrey Rea]

Just to wrap up this journal…

The old cabinet didn’t require any effort to break. Some of the salt ingress into the wood on the horizontal top:



Lent on the cabinet sideways and it was enough to finish it:



There were also hairline fractures along the side supports as well:



Was only getting worse. Glad the switch to the D-D 1200 was done swiftly.

Big thank you to the lads at Maidenhead Huntingdon who did everything they could to make this a fast turn around 🙏🏽 Brilliant service and communication throughout.

Thank you @Siege for saving the day and helping get the new 1200 through the obstacle course and safely into the house 🤣

Also, thank you to everyone who has shared their knowledge and experience to get this marine setup on its feet. Appreciate all of the contributions, questions and debate.

Setup now in the skip and won’t lie, was sad to see it go. A fair few scapes (and biscuits) have gone through this homemade sumped AS600.





















It’s been a fun little setup and had plenty of new learnings through it. Only 1200’s in now but pretty sure it won’t be the last 600 to be found in this house…