Upgrade 40 gal to 210 gal!!!! cycle question

[whotzler]

So with this upgrade I will be including my current tanks water and bio load a few small fish, assorted crabs, snails, shrimp and 40 or so corals half LPS half SPS and 40lbs of rock. The big question is all about the new dry rock I will need to add around 150-200lbs.

Can I add the new dry rock along with my current 40lbs of live rock with all my corals on them and my current live stock to the new tank, fill it with 40 gal. old water and the rest new water and be good to go without cycling the dry rock first separately? My thought here is if the bio load does not change the current live rock should be able to take care of it. Or am I thinking of this all wrong? Does the water volume have an effect on bio filter? Does the addition of the new dry rock have an effect on bio filter?

 

[florida joe]

I will answer one of your questions. " does water volume have an effect on bio filter. answer think dilution

 

[lmforbis]

I'd cure the new dry rock first. Otherwise you can put everything from the old tank to the new tank and it should not have any issues. Just don't add any new animals for a while.

 

[deejeff0442]

I would put the new dry rock in tubs of saltwater and put some big pumps in. Wash them good. Alot of new dry rock leach phosphates.

 

[Lapang]

Solely from my experience when i upgrade from 30g to 65g, mixed the old live rock with new dry rock, new sand and bottled bacteria (is it allowed to mentioned brand name here??)....and it works for me..but yeah as deejef said, need to wash them good

 

[geridoc]

So with this upgrade I will be including my current tanks water and bio load a few small fish, assorted crabs, snails, shrimp and 40 or so corals half LPS half SPS and 40lbs of rock. The big question is all about the new dry rock I will need to add around 150-200lbs.

Can I add the new dry rock along with my current 40lbs of live rock with all my corals on them and my current live stock to the new tank, fill it with 40 gal. old water and the rest new water and be good to go without cycling the dry rock first separately? My thought here is if the bio load does not change the current live rock should be able to take care of it. Or am I thinking of this all wrong? Does the water volume have an effect on bio filter? Does the addition of the new dry rock have an effect on bio filter?

I have upgraded/upsized systems many times over the past 40+ years, and have never had a cycling problem. If you had sufficient bacteria to process waste in the smaller tank, then you have sufficient to do the same in the new system. As you add stock to the larger tank the bacterial population will expand accordingly. Just clean the new rock thoroughly.

 

[jay0705]

Literally upgrading tanks now. I have a bit of a luxury bc i have 3 sw tanks. So months ago i added base rock to all of them to seed it for my upgrade. Iam also running 2 filters on my 75 to load them w bio filtration and move said filter into the new tank aswell