Who has successfully upgraded to a larger tank.. from à red sea max 250 to 525xl

Turbosreef · 03/14/2016, 08:23 PM

Hello everyone. I am new here but have been in the Bobby for 10 hears I am considering moving to the reefer 450/or 525xl. Was wondering on the logistics of setting up the new tank and moving the creatures to it ..... Currently have a rsm 250 with
2 false percula clown
2 blue damsels
1 foxface
1 dwarf angel
1 yellow tang
1 copperband bfly
1 pusedocromis
1 six line
1 malounars wrasse
2 cleaner shrimp
1 engineer goby

I should add that I modded the tank and run an external sump & oversized skimmer.

Has anyone moved this many fish at once hoe fast can a new tank be set up if transferring liverock and water? I am çurrently running about 80 gallons so the 525xl would increase by about 50 gallons also nervous about open top tank? Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance!

bat21 · 03/14/2016, 08:52 PM

If you started modding your all-in-one, why do you want to go down the same road? Why not build your own system?

I'm also amazed you have all those fish in a 250. External sump or not. You definitely need a larger tank.

Turbosreef · 03/14/2016, 09:59 PM

Well I started the modification because the tank was getting to hot, I figured the sump would allow the water time to gas exchange and allow the use of an ato. I use a 10 gallon reserve tank for freshwater and a tuzne osomalitor. I pried out doing it separately but if pretty much build the reffer, I would consider going bigger but am nervous about the logistics. Most of the fish were bought small, my LFS is pretty cool her I can buy small fish and raise them when they get to large I trade them in I enjoy the changes and everyone seems to get along well. What would you suggest if fine allacarte? I was considering a 120 ?

Reef Frog · 03/15/2016, 12:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bat21

If you started modding your all-in-one, why do you want to go down the same road? Why not build your own system?

I'm also amazed you have all those fish in a 250. External sump or not. You definitely need a larger tank.

The Red Sea Reefer series really is not an all in one system. AIO usually refers to a system with a rear sump instead of an under cabinet sump. The RS tank has a conventional under cabinet sunp, a rimless tank, a stand and all the basic plumbing parts. That's it.

The buyer is left to decide on lighting, choice of skimmer, reactors, return pumps, circulation pumps, heaters etc. It is a nice alternative to many other mass produced tanks & stands or the hassles of sourcing a larger custom tank from some company half way across the country.

Reef Frog · 03/15/2016, 12:30 AM

OP:
Would the new tank go in the same location as your RSM250? Will you be adding additional new rock...cured & ready to go? The best advice depends on things like this.

In general I'd thoroughly cure all the new live rock I needed before hand. If the new tank will occupy the space of the old tank, I would move the old tank to a new temporary location nearby the new tank. I would move my newly cured rock into the new tank then a fish or two after ensuring no ammonia spike is going to happen. I'd then move over the existing rock and assemble the aquascape, leaving the old sand behind. If you donut carefully there should be no mini cycle but I'd still be watchful for a few weeks. I'd cut back on feeding a little until the new biological filter is maturing.

Turbosreef · 03/15/2016, 07:54 PM

The new tank will be in a different location in the same house. I was wondering how the new water would effect the existing bioload, if at all. I'll I will def cure the new rock fist was going to put old live rock in the new sump. Not sure how much rock I need to buy.

mokeyz · 03/15/2016, 08:31 PM

Turbosreef, I just set up a Reefer 450 2 weeks ago and moved from a 40 gallon breeder. I bought live sand and live rock from Tampa Bay Saltwater. After, heating the water and adding the salt I put the new sand and rock in the tank for around 24 hours and then moved the occupants from the 40. No problems.

Move everything at the same time, bring over a bit of sand from your old tank and you should be good. In my case, the live sand and rock as well as the existing rock I moved from the 40 eliminated the need to cycle the 450. Your situation may be different.

The Reefer 450 is IMHO a spectacular aquarium, it is elegant and extremely quiet.

BrettDS · 03/15/2016, 08:37 PM

As far as moving to a larger tank, last weekend I upgraded from a 75G to a 220G. In my case the 75 was in another house 20 minutes away. But I set up the 220, filled it with water and got everything running and the next day I put everything from the 75 into buckets, then the back of my car and into the 220. Most of your biological filtration is in the rock and sand, so you shouldn't have to worry too much about a cycle. I'm still doing frequent testing for ammonia, but so far it's stayed at 0.

The biggest pain for me was the fact that adding the sand clouded up the water so I couldn't aquascape the rocks right away. I would have preferred to do the aquascaping without the fish and inverts in the tank so I didn't have to worry about squishing anyone, but I didn't have anywhere else to put the fish and inverts until the water cleared.

When I emptied the 75 I first removed any corals that weren't firmly attached to any rocks and put them in a bucket. Then I took out the rock and put it into a bunch of 5 gallon buckets. I checked each piece for hitchhiking crabs and shrimp and if I found any I put them in a separate bucket. I didn't want them to stay on the rock because I was afraid they might get squished if the rock shifted as I was driving. Once the rock was out it was pretty easy to net the fish and other inverts. Finally the sand came out into it's own 5 gallon buckets. I used some of the old tank water to rinse the sand the best I could.

When I got everything to the new tank I put in the sand first, then I just set the rock in. I couldn't see anything because the sand had clouded up the tank. I tried to let it settle for about an hour, but it wasn't clear enough to aquascape and I didn't want to leave the fish and such in buckets for any longer so I added them to the tank. The next day after the water cleared I carefully aquascaped.

A lot of people don't recommend reusing the sand. I made the decision to reuse it because it was only 7 months old. If you don't reuse your sand it could the move easier for you. Set up the new tank with saltwater and new sand, then let the dust from the sand settle. Move the rock from your existing tank to the new tank and you should be able to aquascape right away. Finally, once all the rock is out of the old tank you should have no problem getting the fish and inverts over. You might want to take a few cups of sand from the old tank to seed the new sand bed.

03/14/2016, 08:23 PM	#1
Turbosreef Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2016 Posts: 122	Who has successfully upgraded to a larger tank.. from à red sea max 250 to 525xl Hello everyone. I am new here but have been in the Bobby for 10 hears I am considering moving to the reefer 450/or 525xl. Was wondering on the logistics of setting up the new tank and moving the creatures to it ..... Currently have a rsm 250 with 2 false percula clown 2 blue damsels 1 foxface 1 dwarf angel 1 yellow tang 1 copperband bfly 1 pusedocromis 1 six line 1 malounars wrasse 2 cleaner shrimp 1 engineer goby I should add that I modded the tank and run an external sump & oversized skimmer. Has anyone moved this many fish at once hoe fast can a new tank be set up if transferring liverock and water? I am çurrently running about 80 gallons so the 525xl would increase by about 50 gallons also nervous about open top tank? Any suggestions? Thanks in advance!

03/14/2016, 08:52 PM	#2
bat21 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Queens, NY Posts: 701	If you started modding your all-in-one, why do you want to go down the same road? Why not build your own system? I'm also amazed you have all those fish in a 250. External sump or not. You definitely need a larger tank. __________________ --- Current Tank Info: 65g fowlr

03/14/2016, 09:59 PM	#3
Turbosreef Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2016 Posts: 122	Well I started the modification because the tank was getting to hot, I figured the sump would allow the water time to gas exchange and allow the use of an ato. I use a 10 gallon reserve tank for freshwater and a tuzne osomalitor. I pried out doing it separately but if pretty much build the reffer, I would consider going bigger but am nervous about the logistics. Most of the fish were bought small, my LFS is pretty cool her I can buy small fish and raise them when they get to large I trade them in I enjoy the changes and everyone seems to get along well. What would you suggest if fine allacarte? I was considering a 120 ?

03/15/2016, 12:30 AM	#5
Reef Frog Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: Maryland Posts: 3,121	OP: Would the new tank go in the same location as your RSM250? Will you be adding additional new rock...cured & ready to go? The best advice depends on things like this. In general I'd thoroughly cure all the new live rock I needed before hand. If the new tank will occupy the space of the old tank, I would move the old tank to a new temporary location nearby the new tank. I would move my newly cured rock into the new tank then a fish or two after ensuring no ammonia spike is going to happen. I'd then move over the existing rock and assemble the aquascape, leaving the old sand behind. If you donut carefully there should be no mini cycle but I'd still be watchful for a few weeks. I'd cut back on feeding a little until the new biological filter is maturing.

03/15/2016, 07:54 PM	#6
Turbosreef Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2016 Posts: 122	The new tank will be in a different location in the same house. I was wondering how the new water would effect the existing bioload, if at all. I'll I will def cure the new rock fist was going to put old live rock in the new sump. Not sure how much rock I need to buy.

03/15/2016, 08:31 PM	#7
mokeyz Premium Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Denver, CO Posts: 371	Turbosreef, I just set up a Reefer 450 2 weeks ago and moved from a 40 gallon breeder. I bought live sand and live rock from Tampa Bay Saltwater. After, heating the water and adding the salt I put the new sand and rock in the tank for around 24 hours and then moved the occupants from the 40. No problems. Move everything at the same time, bring over a bit of sand from your old tank and you should be good. In my case, the live sand and rock as well as the existing rock I moved from the 40 eliminated the need to cycle the 450. Your situation may be different. The Reefer 450 is IMHO a spectacular aquarium, it is elegant and extremely quiet.

03/15/2016, 08:37 PM	#8
BrettDS Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Orlando Posts: 1,109	As far as moving to a larger tank, last weekend I upgraded from a 75G to a 220G. In my case the 75 was in another house 20 minutes away. But I set up the 220, filled it with water and got everything running and the next day I put everything from the 75 into buckets, then the back of my car and into the 220. Most of your biological filtration is in the rock and sand, so you shouldn't have to worry too much about a cycle. I'm still doing frequent testing for ammonia, but so far it's stayed at 0. The biggest pain for me was the fact that adding the sand clouded up the water so I couldn't aquascape the rocks right away. I would have preferred to do the aquascaping without the fish and inverts in the tank so I didn't have to worry about squishing anyone, but I didn't have anywhere else to put the fish and inverts until the water cleared. When I emptied the 75 I first removed any corals that weren't firmly attached to any rocks and put them in a bucket. Then I took out the rock and put it into a bunch of 5 gallon buckets. I checked each piece for hitchhiking crabs and shrimp and if I found any I put them in a separate bucket. I didn't want them to stay on the rock because I was afraid they might get squished if the rock shifted as I was driving. Once the rock was out it was pretty easy to net the fish and other inverts. Finally the sand came out into it's own 5 gallon buckets. I used some of the old tank water to rinse the sand the best I could. When I got everything to the new tank I put in the sand first, then I just set the rock in. I couldn't see anything because the sand had clouded up the tank. I tried to let it settle for about an hour, but it wasn't clear enough to aquascape and I didn't want to leave the fish and such in buckets for any longer so I added them to the tank. The next day after the water cleared I carefully aquascaped. A lot of people don't recommend reusing the sand. I made the decision to reuse it because it was only 7 months old. If you don't reuse your sand it could the move easier for you. Set up the new tank with saltwater and new sand, then let the dust from the sand settle. Move the rock from your existing tank to the new tank and you should be able to aquascape right away. Finally, once all the rock is out of the old tank you should have no problem getting the fish and inverts over. You might want to take a few cups of sand from the old tank to seed the new sand bed.