Reboot tank.. is it possible?

[sfg]

I have a shallow 45G reef tank, mainly SPS. About 55 total volume with sump. Currently my tank has been on cruise control for almost a year, problem free. Prior to this I had a few hiccups.

My SPS have never been better..

I was leaning towards an upgrade here early this year. But now I am facing a layoff so it would be smart of me to hold off for a bit until I see how that works out.
In preparation for the new tank I fragged all my colonies to plugs and disks. So basically I have a nice frag tank now.

Here is what I want to do. I want to completely change my scape, all new rock. Go BB and remove the sandbed, but I want to do this all at one time as I do not have another tank to store my current livestock in.

Ideally I would like to use 100% new LR as my current tank has a good bit of apstasia and a ton of bubble algae, more importantly I want to adjust the layout to accommodate more flow for my SPS.

Is this possible? Can I just drain, clean and throw some liverock in with some fresh SW without having a cycle to keep my happy SPS going? Or am I being unrealistic?

 

[AlexG]

I think the biggest issue is introducing new LR. Is this LR that was cured at a store for several weeks or are you going to directly ship it in? This is tall order and personally I would never attempt this without setting up a holding tank. The biggest issue is how the new LR will impact the system. I am only aware of one LR vendor that ships the rock in water and while I think it is a good option I would be hesitant of risking all of the coral from an established tank. I think that I would be more inclined to removed the sand bed over time through a hose during water changes and then battle the bubble algae and apstasia because these are issues that can be resolved without the need for new LR. The other issue is that there could be bubble algae and apstasia on the rocks the coral are attached to that are unseen which would mean that it would spread to the new LR. There is also a chance that the new LR will bring in unwanted pests. I think it is a difficult spot you are in but I would still lean on the side of caution and try to resolve the problem without a drastic change. I am sure a system refresh could be accomplished with new LR but I think it is too big of a risk. Good luck on what ever option you pursue.

 

[sfg]

The LR would be from a local LFS that actually makes it and has it in an established system. So its basically like getting from another established tank. As far as the coral, all frags would be cut yet again from the base and carried over to the new tank. The current sandbed is maybe an 1" deep as I' started to deplete it over time with the same advice as you're giving me now.. so not sure how much of an impact it would make to remove what I have left.

I totally get what you're saying.. maybe with what I am saying now it might be possible? I guess in the end I could always pick up a 40 breeder and transfer what I have over (LR and water) and just manually dose and what not while I am rebooting my main tank...

guess there isn't an "ideal" way of doing this and should expect some level of loss concerning the move..

 

[ReeferMadness80G]

It's definitely going to be nerve wracking but slowly remove a few cups of substrate every water change and maybe add one piece of live rock to your Sump and take one (old) piece of LR out of the DT. Once your stable after every change, prepare to repeat steps 1 and 2.

 

[Martyd]

You'd have to really trust that new rock. Assuming it was completely cured and you transport it submerged, you'll probably be ok. As the OP said, I'd remove the sand prior to adding the new rock. I've moved tanks and restarted them with 90% new water and everything was fine. With that being said, I didn't start out with new rock when I did it. I think a back up plan would be a very good idea. You could do everything right and still have the tank go through a cycle.

 

[sfg]

Appreciate the feedback guys.. I think I'll see about getting a small tank to stage my corals in.. do my best to transplant the new LR in and hope for the best. If all looks good after a week or so I'll make the move over..

thanks guys

 

[PJS]

Removing all the old live rock and adding new will most likely cause your tank to cycle. If you take this route you'll need to watch your parameters closely and be prepared to do water changes as needed.

 

[ajmckay]

You should not transfer a tank using 100% new rock and no sand. Here's why.

The basic premise revolves around the biofilter - which is comprised mainly of your live rock and sand. The capacity of the biofilter in your tank is right now in equilibrium with the current inhabitants. So even if you bought and used fully cured live rock when you transferred the tank you would have problems because there is a very high likelihood that the biofilter capacity of the new would be too weak to support your tank on it's own. Enter ammonia toxicity. Note that I can only guess - but I assume that in addition to all your corals you have fish and a CUC, right? If you only have corals then IMO you have fewer variables to overcome.

IMO your best option is to start removing sand now. You can likely remove it all in one go or if you want to be cautious in two sessions a week or so apart. The biofilter capacity of your rock will compensate quickly. From here you can either start swapping out rock also (a few old pieces every week replaced with new) or if you're concerned about pests on the new rock then setting up the new tank and gradually transferring over your current inhabitants is really the best way. If you're absolutely not able to do this then I would start taking out rock now. Post a picture of your tank to confirm but in all likelihood you could ditch 50% of your current rock without negative impact as long as you do it slowly to allow the remaining rock to compensate. When you're ready, set up the new tank with the new rock and scrub the beejeesus off the remainder of your current rocks and add say 70-75% of them to the new tank. Just toss them in a few spots that are less noticeable (but still receiving adequate flow) and take them out gradually over a few weeks. Note this only works if your new rock is fully cured with minimal die off expected.

Good luck!