Switching a tank over.

[keeka333]

Hello. I am going to be taking my 29 gal and want to convert it to a 45 gal. I'm just wondering if anyone has any suggestions for the best way to do this. I don't have much room, so I was wondering if I could take my water from my 29 and transfer to my 45, if this would speed up cycling process. I have a royal gramma and a yellow tang that I am worried about the rest are all damsels, so I am not really worried about those guys. It's a well established 29 gal. It's been up and running for just over 2 years. Any suggestions are appreciated~
-Kara

 

[dcr]

The original water will reduce the cycle, but you have about 10 or more gallons of fresh to go. Do you have the luxury of setting up the 45 with the 29 still established?

 

[keeka333]

unfortunately I don't think that I can.. I'm brainstorming, but I can't really come up with a way it will work. I do have another question...I have an arrow crab, emerald crab, several hermits and snails...Do i need to wait with for a full cycle on those guys too?? Thanks for the quick response!

 

[dcr]

Others will chime in soon as well, but the clean-up crew is also sensitive to water conditions, so it depends on how you do this before adding anything that is alive.

 

[sly]

Maybe you can transfer your 29gal over to the other tank and just not fill it up all the way. At first your 45 tank will only have 29 gal in it, then just slowly add water over the course of a few weeks until you have all 45 gal.
[edit] Just to clarify, if your 45 gal tank only has 29 gal in it, the substrate and the water will both aclimated to handling the boi-load of the 29 gal. As you slowly add water and more substrate, it should not disturb the fish or disturb the biological balance if you do it slow enough.

 

[sov82]

What if she is changing her substrate? Would that be a big deal? I talked to her and she is going from crushed coral to sand.

 

[sly]

If she's changing the substrate then she'll have to wait for the tank to cycle. Maybe she could take her fish to a local fish store and have them hold them until the tank cycles. Use the existing water and everything else except the cruched coral. Put in the sand and a raw shrimp to provide the ammonia for the cycle to run. With the old water and any rocks she had the cycle would probably complete faster because the new tank will already have some bacteria in it.

 

[sov82]

hmmmm what if she cures the live sand in buckets...puts that into her new tank....changes water over from old tank.
Would that work?

 

[jlem]

Originally posted by DCR
The original water will reduce the cycle,
Water has nothing to do with biological filtration. The beneficial bacteria is not free floating and will not transfer from one tank to another through water change. All that using old water does is help acclimate the critters to the water conditions quicker than acclimating the critters to new water. Mix up enough water to top off the 45 gallon, let it mix for 24 hours and get it the same temperature. Over a couple hours just top off the 45 gallon.
I moved a 90 gallon reef 1000 miles and did not experience a cycle because I simply moved a system that had cycled a long time back to another tank and nothing more. If the sand is coming from another established system then you will not have to cycle it. If the sand is dry then you can also just put it in, but do it slowly over a couple weeks to avoid any water chemistry problems

 

[keeka333]

Thank you for everyone's help.
Am I understanding you correctly, that I won't have to experience a cycle:notsure: ????

 

[jlem]

Not if the only thing you are doing is moving the system to another tank. Add the new substrate very slowly over time and keep your Sand bed 1 inch max.

 

[sly]

Except that she wants to remove the crushed coral substrate and replace it with sand. If your removing the substrate completely then you'll have to either put in cycled sand or cycle it from scratch if you don't plan on mixing the coral and sand.

 

[keeka333]

OK. I'll figure out a way to get it done.

 

[jlem]

Originally posted by Sly
Except that she wants to remove the crushed coral substrate and replace it with sand. If your removing the substrate completely then you'll have to either put in cycled sand or cycle it from scratch if you don't plan on mixing the coral and sand.
So take out the crushed coral and slowly put in the sand after the rock. it's really not a big deal. Any ammonia spike will immediately be taken care of by the Live rock and if you add the sand in slowly you won't have an ammonia spike anyways. I have moved tons of tanks without any problems at all.

 

[dcr]

I don't think she has the time to slowly introduce the new substrate, so there will have to be a cycle.

 

[keeka333]

Hehe, Let me try to get this straight. If I want to switch my tank over, I should take my old tank water top it off to fill the 45, let it sit for 24 hours. Add all critters in my tank?? and very slowly add the sand? and there should be no problems? If i can do it this way you just saved me a big headache , but I want to be sure I understand everything completely so I don't harm any of my fish, I'm ver attached to them I've had them for a long time now.
Thanks!

 

[jlem]

What are your plans for the sand. Is the sand from a friends tank or is it dry sand or is it shipped to you. Moving over rock and water is really no big deal what so ever.
Step 1. Mix up about 10 gallons of top off water in a tub the day before you make the switch.
step 2. Go to a hardware store and get yourself a rigid plastic screen. Set this into your tank. This will help keep your rock off of the glass bottum and yett still be easily covered up by an inch of sand.
Step 3. Without stirring up you substrate move as much water as you can from the 29 over to the 45 tank. If you have to set corals on your substrate to get more water out then that is fine. Once your water is getting stirred up tand looking nasty then stop moving water over.
Step 4. Move you rock and corals and fish ( fish last ) into the new tank. Do not worry about aquascaping right now. You just want to get the rock into the new aquarium and under water.
Step 5. Once the make up water is the same temp and salinity as your tank water you can either pump it up into your tank with a powerhead and a hose or you can use a pitcher and add in the new water that way. Every half hour or so just add a couple pitchers of water or pump up a few gallons and in a few hours you will be done with the hard part. Do not fill the tank up all of the way until you are done aquascaping or you will be splashing water all oer the place. Now you can either Aquascape now or wait a couple days and do it then.
As far as the sand I don't know what type of sand you are getting. If it is dry sand then just slowly add in a couple cups or so each day until you have the desired depth. If you are really worried about an ammonia spike then get a tub and put the sand ( no more than an inch ) in with some salt water and a powerhead and test for ammonia in a few days. If you have ammonia then wait for the sand to cycle. If you have no ammonia then put that sand in and do somemore. If you get it from a store out of a tank then just have the store test the water. If it is the bagged stuff that is wet then just put it in your tank. You should not have and ammonia spikes and even if you do the live rock will take care of it before you can even test for it.
What you are doing is really not a big deal. You are just moving rock and fish from one tank to another and adding in sand.

 

[sov82]

I bought it for her. Its Southdown, new.
Matt

 

[keeka333]

I really appreciate all your help. It's very informative.
Thank you for your time.
Wish me luck! I'll post pics and let you know how it goes once I've gotten everything done!
-Kara:happyfish

 

[jlem]

If it is Southdown then you can just put it in with a pvc pipe. it will cloud your tank for a few days but won't harm anything.