Hey guys, how are we all ? :)

I've got my 150G very close to completion, bit more pvc cement and a few more containers for the water and a few days I'll be ready for the move. (Yes, I've got plenty of pics of the build up which I'll post when I'm not so busy)

Just have a few things I want to put out there and get some feedback...
I'm not sure what to do with my 4" Harlequin Tuskfish, Lawnmower Blenny, two stars, a handful of Trocus snails and a mated pair of CBS. My only two options are putting some/all of these animals into the 20g nano I got setup and cycled two months ago, w/2" aragonite sand bed 15lbs LR a small powerhead and old spongefilter. Or alternatively I was considering one of my 13G bins I intend to keep all the water and LR from my 90g before it all goes into the 150G. Naturally I'd put enough LR and an airpump/powerhead/heater into the bin for flow/heat while the animals were in there.

I guess my issues are with cycles. I'm not sure how long the 150G will take before it's suitable for life... and I'm not sure how the 20G will go having a few large fish and a bunch of inverts in it all at once for an unknown ammount of time, I can only guess it will crash VERY easily/quickly. I'd really rather not keep the large calcium carbonate gravel I've got in the 90G now, but I've considered putting a 1" or so layer of it on the bottom of the 150G to help speedup the cycle and put the much finer calcium carbonate I've bought make up my 2.5" or so 'sand' bed (the only aragonite I could find was $60 for 30lbs, so forget that). All the LR and tank water from the 90G will be put straight into the 150G, and I plan on mixing up as much new water I can get from my RO unit to add to the 150G to make up the 300l odd difference, I guess this would help dilute any of the cycle chemicals in the first few days.

I guess a ballpark figure on esitmated cycle time (I know it's almost silly to ask). Opinions on adding the 1" or so layer of old calcium carbonate from the 90G and would the top or bottom layer be better for this job ? Does the nano have any chance at all of sustaining the life without hourly water changes?

Thanks guys :)

Cheers

the cycle on the system should be minimal, if you are taking the contents of a mature 90 gallon tank, and moving it all to the 150, it will still show signs of a cycle, but they should be small. if you want to play it more on the safe side, put them in the 20 gallon and give the new system a week or so, as thats usually how long it takes for the beginning signs of excess ammonia to show

i did a transfer from a 30 gallon tank, to a 100, using all new sand (seeded), and about 45 Lbs of mature LR, and also moved the tank inhabitants, the cycle barely showed, i got a small ammonia spike, but nothing else.

Hey Rob :)

I thought that would be the case, the mature water and LR keeping the tank fairly stable.

I just found a 30G rectangular tub and filled it with water to check it was sturdy enough, the sides bow a bit but it's all reinforced so it held up well. The livestock can stay in that until the dust settles in the new tank and it seems safe for them cycle wise to explore thier new home :D I need to make up 75G or so of fresh water to cater for the new system size so that will be like a 50% water change over 3 or 4 days. I've also got a Canister Filter I've had on the 90G for a while, I'll
plumb that into the new system for that added biological filtration for a week or two.

I've got the day off today, it's early in the morning and everything is ready to go so I think I'll give it a shot now :) Wish me luck!

Cheers

keep in mind that the bio filtration in a canister filter is not great for a reef tank, generally speaking you want to use the canister for mechanical and/or chemical like carbon

the bio filtration done in canisters can lead to nitrate problems if everything not setup right to handle the excess nitrates produced by that filter

Just a (not so quick) follow up on the transfer...

I managed to drain the 90g swap the tanks into position get the substrate, LR and all but 30G of the water into the tank in just over 2 hours. Getting the extra 70G or so of salt mixed and into the 150G took quite alot longer. The fish and inverts were put into the tank the following day and took to it surprisingly well.

The skimmer took only hours to run-in and the sump is up and running all to plan. The horizontal overflow I built into the tank skims a thin layer of water over 3 sides of the glass lip, that is 4' of surface area which I'm very happy with, works really well. Slight algea bloom started within a day of the tank being wet. The chiller that is rated to 90G is also handling the Australian summer quite well surprisingly. I did however notice that my tank stand (was built and sold with the tank) is VERY unstable. I can swing the tank backwards and forwards with a single finger about half an inch either way. The stand felt quite secure without the tank on it, but with 600KG ontop of it and 100KG below it's going to need some bracing to stop an almost certain disaster.

Planning a 20G fuge that I'll put somewhere in the near future.I'll get some pics of the first few stages of the build up into a tank diary when I can.

Cheers

The stand sounds a little scary to me. :) Looking forward to the pictures.