Moving from 29g to 55g ?'s

[rgf1046]

Maybe someone that's transferred a reef from one tank to another can help me out here. I picked up a 55gal acrylic tank to move up from the 29gal I have now, with plans of plumbing for a sump/fuge. My question is, what is the best way to transfer the inhabitants, sand, rock, into the new tank once I have it set up? It's not a huge difference in size, so I think my sand and rock would seed the new tank, but would there be any cycling involved? Is it simply a matter of filling the new tank with water (along with the established tank's water) and moving things over, and at that time adding the extra LR and sand? I really don't want to sacrifice the reef that I have spent 2 years on and is doing quite well. Any help is appreciated, thanks.

 

[rgf1046]

Anyone have any advice?

 

[tomatoclown]

What I did when I moved my reef from a 30 gallon to a 55 gallon was first to transfer the sand over to the new tank. With about 10 gallons of old water(water from the 30 gallon) and then finished filling up with new water. After a week of cycling I moved half of my live rock to the new tank and let that cycle for a week. Then moved the rest of the live rock over to the new tank let that settle for a few days and moved all the fish,coral and invertebrates over. Now I recommend that after you do all of this moving that you don't add any new inhabits to the tank for about a month so the bacteria in the sand and on the rocks can grow. I have not had any problems with my tank since the up grade.
good luck!

 

[rgf1046]

That's kind of the train of thought I had Tomato. Just wanted to see if it was supported by anyone else. Thanks!