It's incredible how much extra space 10G gives you over 5G. Can't happen fast enough, unfortunately, given some complications with the 5G tank. I did a great deal of research, including here, on methods people have used to make the switchover.
Interesting that I see people giving various advice on the Aragalive live reef sand. Some way you should rinse it to get out the gunk. I found that rather amusing since that would seem to defeat it's purpose. But there is no question you cannot put your rocks in first and then the sand. You'll probably blind the beneficial bacteria, lol. So... what to do?
I decided to put the sand in first (got the 1-2mm special sand, which seems perfect for the equation and that it just barely stays put.) I mixed some water and added about 6 gallons in there. I ran 3 filters with filter floss for about 4 hours. You can't imagine the garbage that was in there. I used up 2 full packages of floss just to rotate it out to get as much junk out of the sand as I could, which is beige colored and adds a clear level of gunk to the filter within minutes during the first 1-2 hours.
I removed about 3-4 pounds of sand and placed it in a bag should I need extra (16 pounds is plenty for the 10G and this is now pre-cleaned, even if no longer "live."). I then drained a great deal of the existing water and added Nutriseawater as my new water, which will hopefully give this tank a good kick start with some of the live stuff in there (they have pods) and with all the right parameters.
After clearing I added some new live rock I got from the store from their tank and had water added, hopefully making it home OK. Added the heater to heat the water to about 75F. Then I slowly added a rock here and there from the existing aquarium, leaving just the corals back in the old tank, waiting until the temperature hits roughly 80F before going further. I will probably remove some of the old live rock from the tank once it settles down since it's just a bit much and some of the old could probably use a good boiling. To combat the issue of "sifting" I moved a lot of the sand out of places, pushed the bottom most rocks to the bottom or they slid into the empty area, and then moved the sand back. No other way to do this that I can see without having your rocks covered with slime for a long time.
I'll be adding existing water into a tiny 1/2 gallon tank and add a bunch of corals in there. I'm going to then drip existing water into the tank to acclimate the corals, probably the ones with the rocks on them first. Last will be the livestock, couple of crabs.
Ah... I did get a pair of tiny gobies who will hopefully survive this expedition. Currently they are in their open bags, resting in the water in the bags sitting in the tank at tank temperature. They really can't wait. Wish them and me luck.
Interesting that I see people giving various advice on the Aragalive live reef sand. Some way you should rinse it to get out the gunk. I found that rather amusing since that would seem to defeat it's purpose. But there is no question you cannot put your rocks in first and then the sand. You'll probably blind the beneficial bacteria, lol. So... what to do?
I decided to put the sand in first (got the 1-2mm special sand, which seems perfect for the equation and that it just barely stays put.) I mixed some water and added about 6 gallons in there. I ran 3 filters with filter floss for about 4 hours. You can't imagine the garbage that was in there. I used up 2 full packages of floss just to rotate it out to get as much junk out of the sand as I could, which is beige colored and adds a clear level of gunk to the filter within minutes during the first 1-2 hours.
I removed about 3-4 pounds of sand and placed it in a bag should I need extra (16 pounds is plenty for the 10G and this is now pre-cleaned, even if no longer "live."). I then drained a great deal of the existing water and added Nutriseawater as my new water, which will hopefully give this tank a good kick start with some of the live stuff in there (they have pods) and with all the right parameters.
After clearing I added some new live rock I got from the store from their tank and had water added, hopefully making it home OK. Added the heater to heat the water to about 75F. Then I slowly added a rock here and there from the existing aquarium, leaving just the corals back in the old tank, waiting until the temperature hits roughly 80F before going further. I will probably remove some of the old live rock from the tank once it settles down since it's just a bit much and some of the old could probably use a good boiling. To combat the issue of "sifting" I moved a lot of the sand out of places, pushed the bottom most rocks to the bottom or they slid into the empty area, and then moved the sand back. No other way to do this that I can see without having your rocks covered with slime for a long time.
I'll be adding existing water into a tiny 1/2 gallon tank and add a bunch of corals in there. I'm going to then drip existing water into the tank to acclimate the corals, probably the ones with the rocks on them first. Last will be the livestock, couple of crabs.
Ah... I did get a pair of tiny gobies who will hopefully survive this expedition. Currently they are in their open bags, resting in the water in the bags sitting in the tank at tank temperature. They really can't wait. Wish them and me luck.
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