Changing tanks, need advise.

[subijitsu]

Soon I will be downgrading tank sizes and I was wondering a couple things. I currently have a 100 gal and am going down to a 46 gal bowfront. Luckily I dont have much stock. For fish I only have a pair of true perc clowns and a yellow watchman goby. Other than them I only have a hand full of hermits, snails, and an emerald crab. No corals.

How should I go about making the switch? The new tank is going in the same place as the old tank so I will need to empty the old tank, move it, put the new tank in its place, and fill it. I have a little 10 gal tank I could put the fish, crabs, and such in for the switch. Will they be OK in the 10 gal for a day or so while I get the whole thing set up and running or would this be too much stress moving them around so much in a couple days?

Another question I have is about the live rock and water. I will be able to use about 25 gallons or so of water from the old tank with the rest being new water. Should I do this or just start off with all new water? Of course the live rock, and some of the sand from the old tank will be added as well. If I use some of the old water will I be looking at another cycle or will I be ok to put the fish in?

Any other stuff I should look out for or make sure I do?

Thanks!

[is_that_a_fish]

since the rock is already cured it shouldnt cause to much of a problem, and it would be a good idea to add some old water to the tank as well as new...i think maybe 50% new and 50% old. You will still get a small cycle but nothing that should cause you to worry. Your fish should be fine in the 10 gallon for a day or two. How come you are down grading?

[subijitsu]

Cool.

I'm downgrading mainly because of space. The 100 gal has a pretty big stand and canopy. We live in a small place and it is right in the living room so it takes up too much precious area in there. I know I should have thought of that before I got it but the tank was free so I kinda had to take it Also I only have about 30lbs of LR right now and cant afford to buy another 70 or so to get the 100 gal where I need it before I start getting ready to contemplate about thinking of preparing to get corals and an anemone for the clowns.

I think it would be best to do the swap now instead of further down the road when I have more stock too.

[PSH]

Get a few Rubbermaid (or equivalent) tubs. I have these huge round blue ones (paid about $5 each) that I can get all my live rock in. You don't want the rock to be sitting out of water for more than a few minutes. Otherwise you might have a huge cycle to deal with. I set one tub up just for the critters. Powerheads and a heater. You want to save as much original tank water as you can. Plus with using the tubs your fish would have a lot more swimming room than in a 10 gallon aquarium.

I went the other way when i moved my 30 gallon and replaced it with a 75 gallon. My wife was less than happy with all the 5 gallon buckets of saltwater sitting around the house. But I was able to get it all done in less than two days.

[subijitsu]

Hmm. I have a tub that I use for water changes that should work. That may be the way to go. I am probably going to have the 5 gal buckets of water sitting around too.