Old tank rebuild. Thoughts?

rako1

rako1

Premium member
9163
So my 40 breader is about 14 years old all original rock and my sump is in bad shape. My main problem is syano and another algi that I an not sure what its called so I'm not sure where to start. I'm thinking on building a new sump first and installing it before moving on with replacing main tank and rock I know small and slow steps is most important but because I've never done this before I'm worried about a couple corals making it through the process.
I'm also not sure how to go about switching out a new 40 b and new rock. I really don't want to sell off all my corals and fish and starting over but I'm not ruling it out. So if any of you guys out there that have tried this with an old tank I'd like to hear about your success and failures to figure out the best way to go about this.
Thanks
 
rako1 said:
View attachment 9163
So my 40 breader is about 14 years old all original rock and my sump is in bad shape. My main problem is syano and another algi that I an not sure what its called so I'm not sure where to start. I'm thinking on building a new sump first and installing it before moving on with replacing main tank and rock I know small and slow steps is most important but because I've never done this before I'm worried about a couple corals making it through the process.
I'm also not sure how to go about switching out a new 40 b and new rock. I really don't want to sell off all my corals and fish and starting over but I'm not ruling it out. So if any of you guys out there that have tried this with an old tank I'd like to hear about your success and failures to figure out the best way to go about this.
Thanks
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from looking at your picture looks like all corals are on plugs or rocks so this tank change should be easy. Especially with a tank of that size. This will be easily accomplished with a few buckets from Home Depot by removing the rocks carefully and putting them in the buckets submerged in your tank water the corals on disks or small rocks would also be carefully placed in other containers or buckets submerged along with fish and or inverts. Rest of water should be saved to fill new tank but try to keep clean water not sucking up all the detris and junk. Next remove old tank And install new tank redo plumbing fill tank with saved water place rocks back in tank and corals top off with freshly mixed salt water I would use probably a good 30% new. And you’re done not much to it really.
 
Now with all that being said why are you looking to replace tank? If you have cyno and algae those are from an imbalance of some sort and would not be corrected just from a new tank. You will still have these issues after replacing tank and sump. 14 year old tank is pretty old I can see replacing it due to age but not to get rid of cyno.
 
Also for what it’s worth I have a new well 1 month old 40b drilled with overflow with metal stand and 150lbs of live rock I’m selling if you happen to be interested you can make offer. I could possibly deliver and help you set up.
 
((FORDTECH)) said:
Also for what it’s worth I have a new well 1 month old 40b drilled with overflow with metal stand and 150lbs of live rock I’m selling if you happen to be interested you can make offer. I could possibly deliver and help you set up.
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Thanks for the info and offer I'll think about it also I'm looking to replace the tank because I'm worried about it failing and I'm wondering if the old rock is contributing to my algi problem because of all the dead detrisus in the rock and my sump the baffles are separating. I do understand what I have to do and how to do it, have you swapped out tanks like this before and did the tank cycle how did your corals respon did you loose any, most of my corals I'm not to worried about but there are a couple I'd hate to loose if there's anyone out there that has done this let me know how it worked out
Thanks again.
 
rako1 said:
Thanks for the info and offer I'll think about it also I'm looking to replace the tank because I'm worried about it failing and I'm wondering if the old rock is contributing to my algi problem because of all the dead detrisus in the rock and my sump the baffles are separating. I do understand what I have to do and how to do it, have you swapped out tanks like this before and did the tank cycle how did your corals respon did you loose any, most of my corals I'm not to worried about but there are a couple I'd hate to loose if there's anyone out there that has done this let me know how it worked out
Thanks again.
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Yes I have done it like I said reusing a lot of the water, rinsing the sand, keeping all rock wet for the 1-2 hours it took for tank tanksfer and pvc glue to dry then reassembly with adding more live rock and been successful many times mainly only upsetting corals not losing them but one time I did loose few acro and I think it was from not cleaning sand good enough and transfering to much of the water from bottom of the old tank to new tank. Had nutrient spike.
 
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When you start to move around rocks and stir up sand is when you have a problem. So it’s good to Siphon most the water first before you touch anything. Plan how many buckets you need make sure to have extra and fill buckets so you have some the water to put back in new tank that is not polluted from sand stir. Make sure to have plenty of fresh mixed saltwater to top off the last 20-30% of tank
 
I would not reuse the old sand without a very good cleaning of it. This is where things go wrong if not cleaned enough. Usually I do that outside which will be hard now that it’s colder. A bucket with the sand in it and then run the hose in bucket on just enough to let water overflow bucket but sand not come out. And I let hose run and keep mixing with my arm. You will be amazed how much black and brown comes out
 
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