Transferring to a larger tank

[mistya55]

Ok I believe I may have a leak in my smaller tank. I will know by in the morning. Instead of getting the same size tank to replace the one I have, I want to get a bigger one. I am thinking it would probably cause a cycle when I move everything over. I haven't looked into this very much. Any advice would be appreciated. I am just not sure what I should do. Thanks, Misty

[maynardjames]

i moved from a 75 to a 120 2 years ago. used all of the water & rock out of 75. used new sand. filled up new tank with all water except for what i had livestock in. i let sand settle for a few hours, added rock & put livestock in.from start to finish was probably 4 or 5 hours.filled tank rest of way with fresh saltwater after livestock. turned all pumps & skimmer on. didnt have a cycle & no livestock was lost.i`m not sure if i was just lucky but i have swapped tank sizes at least 4 times this way with no life lost. i have even used same sand & not had a problem. maybe someone else will chime in with their experience.

[superbeast1965]

Just did this a couple months ago. Moved from a 55 to a 75. I drained and reused all the water, put all the livestock in rubbermaid totes and buckets. Reused the same sand, but had to add some more. Everything survived. I added a sump so I added about 40 gallons of water. I had a little brown stuff grow, but not a whole lot. Its a task, but worth it!

[mistya55]

This sounds reassuring. I think I may have to do this today or tomorrow. Thanks for the replies.