Moving fish to bigger tank, please help

wmjolly

I was looking for a little help with trying to figure out how to switch my fish over to a bigger tank. I currently have a 30g tank with a hang on filter and 50/50 light that's been running about a year. I have about a 2in sand bed with about 30lbs of live rock in it. I have a clown, royal gramma, blue tang, clam, mushrooms, bubble coral, frogspawn, xenia, green star polyps, and some snails and crabs for the cleaning crew. Haven't had any problems with it but just wanted something bigger. So I purchased a 70g bowfront tank. 30g sump with bio-balls and a return pump. And I'm using activated charcoal in the sump. I have about 40-50lbs of sand and right now about 70lbs of live rock in it. I have a 260w fixture on it. 2-65w 12k blubs, 2-65w 03 blue actinic, and 8 led night lights. The tank has been cycling for about 2 months now. I have added a green chromis to help along with the cycling. My water parameters have all checked well so far. The fish is fine and has been very happy in his new home. So everything in the tank appears to be on track. So can I finally begin to slowly start moving the everything over, and in what order ( like fish then coral, or does it matter)? Thanks for any help that can be given.

Pasfur

First, you do not want to move the bioballs from the old system to the new. You have 70 lbs of live rock, which means that the bioballs will only DEGRADE water quality. They do not help in a marine system with live rock. They only contribute to Nitrate accumulation.

I would begin by moving the corals. This will allow you to more easily catch the fish. I do not think you have any risk related to water quality in the 70 gallon, due to the live rock and 2 months being established. Just make sure that the pH, alkalinity, and calcium reading are consistent between the 2 aquariums. If it is, i would consider moving everything in a very short period of time, say 2 weeks or less.