Moving/Upgrade Advice

[Old Glory]

So I will be moving in December from Gloucester to Newburyport. I am upgrading from a 90 to a 180. I am in the planning stage and need some advice.

I have a 75 gallon that I want to use as a temporary tank for corals and livestock. If all goes well I will have access to the new house a few weeks before we are out of the old house. I plan on setting up the tank with a HOB or canister and using the rock from the 90.

My question is can I jump start my dryrock in tubs prior to setting up the new tank. My thought was to get as much live rock going to shorten the cycle time of the new tank. I will put the dryrock in 35 gallon tubs with a powerhead and a heater and add some frozen food and seed rock. If I can cycle this for 4-6 weeks I was thinking it would help with the new tank.

Any other tips or advice for the move?

TIA

 

[MofoCorals]

What I usually do is when I move I setup the new tank at the new place. Fill it up 2/3 of the way and mix the fresh water inside it. Once everything is mixed and the water is heated over a 3-4 day period. I just transfer my rock and corals and top it off with the rest of the old tank water and add new sand. I have never lost anything on the moves. I have done this 3 time now over the years.

 

[jdeb101]

What I usually do is when I move I setup the new tank at the new place. Fill it up 2/3 of the way and mix the fresh water inside it. Once everything is mixed and the water is heated over a 3-4 day period. I just transfer my rock and corals and top it off with the rest of the old tank water and add new sand. I have never lost anything on the moves. I have done this 3 time now over the years.

I have used similar method with success. Btw there's a great article here on doing a tank move: http://www.melevsreef.com/moving_a_tank.html

 

[cilyjr]

You most certainly can seed the dry rock in advance. Most would say it takes 8 weeks to 6 months to go completely "live". I would not add any food I would place some good quality live rock from a trusted source to get it going.

I had seeded dry rock in tubs but plumbed them to my system in the past that worked well but I did it about 5 months before my upgrade.

 

[Old Glory]

Thanks foe the answers. So if it takes 2-6 months to go live should I bother? I will only have 4-6 weeks.

 

[banshee1]

Plumb in a seperate tank to your existing system now and start seeding it now

 

[Old Glory]

Hi Banshee I can't plumb an additional tank to my existing system. It is a stand alone tank with a sump under the stand. What I can do is use the tubs filled with tank water, throw in some DT sand and live rock rubble. I guess I will give it a try. It might help but I don't think it will hurt.

 

[Old Glory]

Also what about dosing some carbon (Vodka or other) to help speed things up?

 

[Old Glory]

Started the tubs with 40 lbs of Fosters and Smith base rock in one tub and 55 lbs of BRS Fiji rock in the second bin. Good thing I did this because I did not know the Fiji Dry needed to be cured (according to BRS website). The Texas rock is going in my sump. The Fiji looks great.

Both bins have a heater and a powerhead. Tossed in a piece of fish to get things going. Ordered some FitzZyme 9 to speed things up. Will be adding some established liverock as well.

Hopefully the dryrock will be cured and have a decent amount of bacteria on them to be ready to go in December.

Any thoughts on carbon dosing to feed the bacteria?