Switching SW tanks

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Niisan9178

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Aug 14, 2007
111
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North Carolina
My wife found a 29 gallon SW tank on CL for $50. It was fully established, and had been running successfully for two years. It came with the tank, stand, testing equipment, filter power heads, one damsel and a starfish and Coralife light.

I had to take out the water, the LR, Damsel and starfish and transport them via rubbermaid tubs, and I left the sand with a a little water in the tank for transport.

Here are the pictures:

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My issue is the tank. It doesn't really match my room. I have a 29g long tank with matching stand that I would like to move everything to, but I don't know if there is anything special that I should know about. Any and all advice on this is welcome.
 
What does match wood paneling? :)

Is your new tank empty? If so, i'd pull all the fish out and put them in a cooler with some live rock and a bubbler, then move all the sand, LR, equipment to the new tank. Your nitrates will probably spike a little due to you stirring up the sand bed, but the fish you have are hearty and should tolerate it. One thing I'd recommend is to get a skimmer so it can pull out all the nasty organic stuff that will get stirred up.

Also, I'd either go to your local store and get some pre-mixed SW or have some homemade ready to go and i'd do a 50% water change about 3-4 days after the move, then a 10-20% water change every 3-5 days till your nitrates come down.

I just went through a similar even with my 55 gallon and the skimmer was working overtime to clean the tank. A week later and 2 water changes later, my nitrates dropped from 75 to 30 and the gunk accumulation in the skimmer slowed down. The fish (yellow tang, marron clown, dotty back) and the cleanup crew tolerated the high nitrates just fine and are happy as can be.
 
Yes I know wood paneling is ugly, but the rest of the furniture in my room kind of clashes with the black iron. The new tank is empty, thank you very much for your detailed response.
 
id have to agree on this as well. I would have some mixed water sitting around for water changes. You will want to do at least 3 20% water changes to get the nitrate down. my guess is you will see readings in the 80's which wont hurt your fish a ton, but may hurt the star. Good luck.
 
Do you think I should keep the star in a separate temp tank with a piece of LR and air pump until I get the nitrate down? I apologize for potentially stupid questions, but this is the first SW for me. I'd rather not screw this up.
 
revkkoolaid;1947260; said:
Just a word of advice. . .
I'd give away the Domino Damsel and get some fish more suitable for a nano. Those guys get big, mean, and nasty and in a small tank you'll have trouble keeping any other fish with him.
Click to expand...

:werd:

same thing for the star.. now that the tank is re set up it would have to re-establish, and i really wouldn't have a star in a non-established tank....
 
revkkoolaid;1947260; said:
Just a word of advice. . .
I'd give away the Domino Damsel and get some fish more suitable for a nano. Those guys get big, mean, and nasty and in a small tank you'll have trouble keeping any other fish with him.
Click to expand...

:iagree:

Unless you want it to just be him in the tank, trade him in.
 
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