Tying a new 180 to established 120

[solorensis]

Hello,

I have a 1.5 yr old, mostly SPS system, with about 2" sand bed and maybe 100 lbs of live rock, that I am adding a brand new 180 gallon to. Question is: Do I need to cycle the 180 independently? or will that increase in water volume be fine with 150ish dry rock and 1 inch new sand bed as only other additions?

[scubadan206]

Should be good. Try a bacteria in a bottle on startup if you're nervous.

[moondoggy4]

Moving the sand will cause a huge mess, so I think it will take about a month to switch it over.

[sbeason]

If I am reading this correctly, you are adding a second tank(180) and trying to tie it into the current 120g tank. There would be no need to go through a cycle on the new 180 tank for instance if they are sharing a sump. I would be cautious though with adding all of the new rock at once, unless it is established live rock. I don't think you will see any negative impact with the added water or sand as long as specific gravity and temp are matched before tying it all together.

[toothybugs]

If I am reading this correctly, you are adding a second tank(180) and trying to tie it into the current 120g tank. There would be no need to go through a cycle on the new 180 tank for instance if they are sharing a sump. I would be cautious though with adding all of the new rock at once, unless it is established live rock. I don't think you will see any negative impact with the added water or sand as long as specific gravity and temp are matched before tying it all together.

This. I moved my 2+ yr old 40B over to a 75 at the start of the year and cycled a bunch of dry rock, but it was by no means "established" when I made the move. I had a really nice SPS system ready to go (50+ healthy frags that had been there for 6 months) but what actually happened was that I ended up killing off all my stonies (LPS too) and most of my zoas. Pretty much crashed my system. The fish were fine but I lost 90% of my corals. I had to start over.

[solorensis]

Thanks for the replies, I was never notified for some reason...

yes, I am adding an additional 180 gallons to the 120 on a shared sump. All the rock and sand is dead and clean. Did a muriatic acid bath a few weeks back and have rinsed thoroughly.

Have used "one and only" with success a few times. That is a good suggestion, thanks.

Sucks about the tank crash, I have a few decent size sps colonies I don't want to loose...


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[SGT_York]

I would cycle the 180 with materials from the 120, but not connect the sump until the 180 is completely cycled. Also joining two tanks shares the problems and pests. Two sumps has it's own pro's as well as cons.

[sminker]

Hopefully your sump is big enough to handle the overflow when the pumps are turned off.

[solorensis]

Sump is 135 gallon. I ended up running it separate for about a week and then let it go. Been monitoring it pretty close and the only "expected" change thus far is some diatoms starting in 180. Had that happened when I plumbed in a 40 before so that is no surprise. So far so good.

Now curious if my sro3000int is going to be big enough... kinda doubt it...