upgrading to a bigger tank!! Need advise

[yellowtang03]

I am finally getting a 120 gallon reef ready tank that is the 48x24x24. I currently have a 75 gallon reef tank and was wondering how I should go about moving it all to the 120. I plan on buying new sand and skimmer but didnt know if I can transfer all my liverock and water and then just add new water to make up the difference and put everything in or do I have to go through the whole cycling process again. I have quite a few corals and a small foxface, 3 blue green chromis, 2 bonded black perc clowns, starry blenny, and some inverts. Any help would be great so I can get this swap done and then move my malawi peacock chiclids to the 75 gallon! Thanks

[E Rosewater]

Go with completely dry never been alive sand. Make sure during the upgrade process you keep all of the rock wet and move quickly and you should be alright.

I upgraded from a 155 to a 200 with no cycle no loss of life.

[yellowtang03]

ok that is what I was hoping I could do. I will use a big tub and wet some paper over the rock to make sure it is damp and move quick then. Thanks!

[E Rosewater]

I posted how I did my upgrade on here. You'll need to empty your tank anyway so I would suggest keeping the rock submerged in the tank water in a holding container.

Die off is your enemy.

[yellowtang03]

OK I will keep it in a container of tank water. Hopefully all goes well. My purple tang will like its new home.

[E Rosewater]

Have a plan, organize everything ahead of time.

[yellowtang03]

Yea I am picking up the tank and stand this weekend and gotta order the skimmer and stuff. Then after I get the sand and all supplys I will need I will make a plan out and hurry and get it done.

[accordsirh22]

assuming the new tank will be in a different location: get some water in it, get your base rocks down, get your sand in, then transfer all your rock directly out of the old and into the new. thats how i did mine, worked great. was like i never had the old tank lol, everything was back to normal and open the very next day if not that night. and to top it off, the move caused my clowns to finally find a home in my big green bubble tip haha, they had just ignored it before

[yellowtang03]

Thanks for all the info guys! Yea my pair of bonded black oceliaris clowns randomly decided to host my greenbubble tip out of no where lol.

[DoolenTank]

Hi guys, Ive had my 10 gallon nano reef up and running for about a year now with no problems. I have two clowns in the tank and a couple soft corals. Anyways, I recently decided to take the next step, Im sure you all know the feeling of wanting more from the hobby, so I bought a 40 gallon tank, would have gone bigger but I'm on a strict budget! I pretty much have everything planned out to avoid a cycle but one detail is worrying me. I only have 10 pounds of live rock! Im stuck, not sure whether to just move the rock into the new tank and fill the rest with dry rock? Maybe soak bio balls in my current tank for a week of two and then try to seed some dry rock in the new tank?? I understand the whole using dead dry sand in the new tank thing, but how can I avoid a cycle with the little live rock and cycled water I have, would buying more live rock cause a cycle???? I cant afford a cycle that would kill my fish, I wouldnt have anywhere to put them if I had to wait. Please help! Thanks!

[Breadman03]

Since the new tank is 4x the size of your current tank, I would set the new tank up with dry rock and sand. Let it cycle with a heater and powerhead, then move everything over.

[Genesis Corals]

I moved a 65 gallon tank into my 265 gallon tank. Though I had to travel 45 mins to get to the other tank it took me way longer then I thought it would (8+ hours). Make sure you start early in the day and have the rest of it free as once you start you can't stop until its done. Good luck.

[DoolenTank]

Should I buy more live rock, or dry rock? What about the water issue? Still worrying about a cycle!

[Spyderturbo007]

I asked about this awhile back and received this response (http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2307223) which sounded like the best option.

[leveldrummer]

Should I buy more live rock, or dry rock? What about the water issue? Still worrying about a cycle!

Either. both of them should be setup and cycled in your case. set it up in the new tank, add water, and test it over the course of a few weeks. once you show no ammonia or nitrIte, transfer your contents of the entire tank into the new tank at once. you shouldnt have any issues this way.

[Breadman03]

Should I buy more live rock, or dry rock? What about the water issue? Still worrying about a cycle!

Either. both of them should be setup and cycled in your case. set it up in the new tank, add water, and test it over the course of a few weeks. once you show no ammonia or nitrIte, transfer your contents of the entire tank into the new tank at once. you shouldnt have any issues this way.

The water doesn't cycle. The bacteria that process ammonia through the nitrogen cycle live on the surfaces of the tank, which is primarily the surface of the rock.

You can purchase live or dry rock, but dry rock will be much cheaper. Live rock may have better diversity, depending upon how it was cultured. Local to me, most "live" rock is dry rock that a LFS dropped into a Rubbermaid tub plumbed into their system for a little while. It may be a couple days or a couple months depending upon when someone grabs it.

I would set up the new tank with dry rock and let it cycle, then transfer everything over. Don't worry about it, just let it happen without risking your livestock. Even if you want to put the new tank where your 10 gallon is, it would be pretty easy to move the 10 gallon to a temporary location.

[leveldrummer]

The water doesn't cycle. The bacteria that process ammonia through the nitrogen cycle live on the surfaces of the tank, which is primarily the surface of the rock.


I never sad the water cycles.

I said set the rock up in the new tank, add water, and let hte whole thing cycle before adding the old tank to it. Which is exactly what you suggested as well.