Preparations - swapping one tank for another in the same spot

[Wolf6]

I've ordered a replacement tank for my current nano, with a footprint of 73x42x27cm, which to me is pretty shallow (but not quite as shallow as some). Now I have some questions regarding how to best go about this. The old tank is in the spot the new tank is going to be, so how would I best go about cycling (ADA soil), moving the tanks out of position/into the new spot. I'll need to use parts of the old tanks hardscape for the new layout and pilfer some plants. This is my first time having to do this, before this it was usually just a totally new tank being set up in a new spot so no moving, cycling could be done normally, but here its going to be a bit different. My current plan is:

• lower water in current nano and remove lights/CO2/skimmer/twinstar nano/plants/any hardscape I want to re-use
• Re-home all the fish into big tank which should be up and running by then and leave them to live out their lives in there (9 embers to go with the 17 there, 1 otto to join the 6 others, 7? or so dwarf cory)
• Move the tank including filter and heater and leftover plants/hardscape/soil which by then should hopefully not weigh so much anymore (its 50L) to a temporary location
• Refill old tank with tap water but keep water at low level (say 60/70% of max) and leave the tank unlighted with just shrimps (amano and bees) and only filter/heater
• Set up the new tank, with new soil, clean filter, heater, co2, part new plants/part scavanged plants, part new hardscape/part scavenged hardscape, twinstar, lights etc and run it for a week with daily 50% water changes
• Transfer the shrimp from old tank to new, first a few 'less pretty' ones and then the rest a few days later, changing 50% water in the new tank every other day
• empty and clean the old tank fully and move to sons room, clean filter and allow him to set up his tank and do a normal 5 week start (low tech with gravel)

So now some questions about this approach:
1 - Will the shrimp be ok that way in the old tank? After all there will be quite a bit of dirt/soil blown up with the removal of plants and hardscape.
2 - Will the shrimp be ok in the new tank, because its not fully cycled but leaving them longer in that old tank seems unwise just as well
3 - Should I use the water from the old (healthy tank with very few algae) or just use water from the tap for filling the new tank
4 - Would you re-use some of the old soil as well for bacteria? The soil in the old tank is glass garten, about 1 year old now.
5 - Should I leave my old soil for under my sons gravel so his plants can benefit from whatever is left in the soil? It will be low tech plants like crypts, ferns, vallisneria etc.

Any specific things I should be mindful of with a shallow tank? I'll probably go for a lily pipe this time as I plan to have a large center rock going above the waterline, so have the lilypipe push water along the front of the tank from right to left, and have the return at the back on the right of the tank as well. I will position the co2 diffusor near the pump inflow, and place the twinstar underneath the lilypipe to track flow.

 

[Wookii]

Definitely use as much of the old soil in the new tank as you can. That was one of the best things I've done when I last rescaped - old filter, old soil and loads of existing plants meant I experienced no 'new tank' issues what so ever - it was 'matured' from day 1 - even many of the new crypts I added didn't melt. If you need to add additional soil, just either mix it in with the old, or use it to cap off the old soil.

If you do add new soil, bear in mind it will still put out a decent of ammonia (especially ADA), so big water changes as usual with a new tank, and hold off from reintroducing the livestock until the ammonia is gone. When I did my rescape I ran it dark for a week with decent water changes to flush the ammonia out, then drained, planted and refilled - I didn't want to risk damage to my buce which can easily shed leaves if ammonia is too high!

How you break down the old tank is up to you, but I like to use a large plastic storage box - transfer all the plants, hardscape and live stock over to that, and put the filter on it - that leaves you free to deal with the old tank, and transfer over old substrate, without issues.

 

[Wolf6]

Definitely use as much of the old soil in the new tank as you can. That was one of the best things I've done when I last rescaped - old filter, old soil and loads of existing plants meant I experienced no 'new tank' issues what so ever - it was 'matured' from day 1 - even many of the new crypts I added didn't melt. If you need to add additional soil, just either mix it in with the old, or use it to cap off the old soil.

If you do add new soil, bear in mind it will still put out a decent of ammonia (especially ADA), so big water changes as usual with a new tank, and hold off from reintroducing the livestock until the ammonia is gone. When I did my rescape I ran it dark for a week with decent water changes to flush the ammonia out, then drained, planted and refilled - I didn't want to risk damage to my buce which can easily shed leaves if ammonia is too high!

How you break down the old tank is up to you, but I like to use a large plastic storage box - transfer all the plants, hardscape and live stock over to that, and put the filter on it - that leaves you free to deal with the old tank, and transfer over old substrate, without issues.

Thanks for the tips, I'll definitely get a plastic storage box. I read about it before on another thread where you also recommended it, and thought that was a great idea, and then forgot all about it until now I'll try and reuse as much old soil as possible, though there really isnt a whole lot in the old tank so will still have to add a sizeable portion of new soil. I said ADA, but its tropica, but that makes no difference in the leaching part afaik.

 

[Wookii]

Thanks for the tips, I'll definitely get a plastic storage box. I read about it before on another thread where you also recommended it, and thought that was a great idea, and then forgot all about it until now I'll try and reuse as much old soil as possible, though there really isnt a whole lot in the old tank so will still have to add a sizeable portion of new soil. I said ADA, but its tropica, but that makes no difference in the leaching part afaik.

Probably worth just mixing all the old soil with the new then to distribute the bacteria as much as possible, and yes Tropica releases a lot of ammonia - if you're adding more than a couple of litres of fresh, I'd go for big water changes for a week after filling.