I have a jewel 180, Marine.
Currently in the tank I have a Royal Grama, Clown Wrasse, 2 Bangai Cardinals, 2 Clowns, dottyback, Midas Blenny, Pink Spotted Goby.
In addition, theres an anemone, leathers, corals crabs, shrimp, Cowry snail and other snails.

Plan to upgrade just before Christmas, Beta, apparently holds approx 450 litres ( including sump, but i guess that will vary depending on amount of live rock in it.)
I want to move everything I have from the jewel into the new tank, and then sell the one I have right now.
Does anyone have any advice on the best way to do this swap from one to the other ?
I know its a bit soon to ask,,but Id like to cover all possible contingencies and get everything well prepared.
Where for instance would I get a container to mix approx 300 litres of salt water and have it ready to go into the new tank?
Dya think it is ok to chance moving the contents from one to the other in one go,,or should I ask my LFS to mind them for me for a while until the tank settles?

Sorry Vincent, I don't know anything about marine tanks ... Has anyone got some advice for Vincent ?

Thanks.
Valerie

From what ive heard , its safe to move everything except the sand in one go and top up the saltwater.The sand carries a lot of trash and things ? I dont have a marine setup tho so I wouldnt be the best to give advice lol Maybe one of those plastic water tanks that go up in the attic would be good for mixing the saltwater , and when your done you could use it to cure extra rock for the new tank ?

Hi vincent. I am assuming you want to place the new tank in the position the old one is in.

Get some large plastic storage boxes, preferabily food grade (symbol of a knife and fork on the base). You will be able to store the rock, corals and fish in these for the short time you will be changing over.

The 300L+ of salt water can be mixed concentrated. eg if it takes say 50grams to mix 100L you could add 150grams to 100L or 150grams to 50L. It is the amount of salt you need and not the water.
Once the new thank is in place add the pre mixed salt and dilute to the desired SG. Do this before you add anything to the tank. Add some power heads to mix in the tank. It would be wise to mix up more salt than you need. It is better to be looking at it than for it.

Once you are happy with the SG and temp. you can add the water from the existing tank then the rock,corals etc. Just leave the fish till last.

thanks for advice,,,will keep u updated on the progress when it happens

Hi Vincent i done a change in the summer from a 300L to 600L over a weekend
got 300L of SW made up by my lfs on a Saturday put it in got up to temp over
night added live sand(new) then took live rock from old and put it in left
24hrs then took water from old to new before it was empty transferred fish over
didn't lose a fish and have not to this day just make sure temp,salinity,pH are
the same in both tanks before you move your livestock i also put the external
from the old on to the new,I'm sure I've forgot something but you get the picture
I'm no expert and there is lots of ways to do this i'm sure but this worked for me
hope this helps.
Rgds
Alan

After much hassle, stress, shifting, strains,angst,about 12 soaking towels,,,old tank is out n new one is in,
Andy brought 200 litres of water with him..i had 200 mixed here myself,,to match the salt level of old tank..was heated to as near to same temp as i could get it..
Taking the stuff out wasnt a problem...i have several containers for storage,,what was a problem was the fact that several fish decided i didnt have enough stress n decide to add to it by hiding in the rocks i was taking out!!

New tank installed, filled with the pre mixed and heated water..rocks went in,,didnt like layout so i took them out n redid.
Acclimatised the fish , put them in along with corals crabs shrimp etc.
Anemone found its new home within 5 minutes,,and has stayed there in that spot since.
Amongst the stock transferred :-
Pair of clowns..pair of bangai cardinals..Royal Grama, Dottyback, Damsel,Clown Wrasse, Pink Spotted Goby, Cowry Snail, Hermits, 2 cleaner shrimp, banded shrimp, anemone, several corals/leathers.
Losses so far seem to be the banded shrimp, i think..its possible he moulted given the change over and is hiding until shell firms up..but what i saw seemed to be more body that shell.
Fingers crossed, will keep you informed.
A word of thanks to Andy,,could never have done it without him.He stayed here for hours helpin me,,above and beyond the call of duty .

Would have loved to have helped you but a know nothing about marine
fair play to Andy for the help