Changing the tank is a procedure that virtually all aquarists have done at least once in their life, or that in any case, they will do sooner or later .

The reasons are various but the most classic is certainly an upgrade especially in terms of available space, or to switch from one tank, adapted to be a marine aquarium, to one specifically made to be marine aquarium. Or for drastic reasons such a tank that is threatening to break.

In all these cases the important thing is to act very quickly, so that the water change could be done quickly and in a day. Taking advantage from my experience we had in April 2007 together with friends of AcquaPortal, I would try to draw an ideal protocol to be prepared in those agitated moments. To do this I will use many pictures and also several videos that we shot in that hectic day.

I begin by saying that I was totally lost… and then I can only thank all friends of the forum who came to help me. Without them I would not have accomplished the task, and thisi is also the reason for this guide, to help everybody to do it better. So a special applause goes mainly to them (in alphabetical order): Adp80 (Simone), Lumaz (Giorgio), MarcoAP (Marco), Max (Massimiliano), Mbenassi (Matteo), Pfft (Andrea), Zanna Bianca (Maurizio!) Thank you all guys!

Since we have to make a tank change we have to have ready all the equipments of the new tank, and especially the new tank and new support as well as all the equipment that we could change into our transition from one aquarium to another. In my case I changed tank, sump, calcium reactor and cabinet. Beyond that is a good idea to have at least a couple of teflon tape and a pack of Tangit, if the new tank will be glued PVC pipe like this you’ll see.

this is a picture of the old tank a few days before the change

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