switching tanks without cycling

[alyssia]

I am getting ready to move my seahorses from a 39 gallon to a 55. I'm planning on using all the water from the 39 gallon but can I add 16 gallons of new water without cycling? Seahorses are very fragile and will not survive cycling. I also will be using all the LS from my 39 gallon. Won't this stir up nitrates? Setting the 55 up now and letting it cycle before adding the seahorses is not an option because I have to move the 39 first, the 55 gallon is going in it's place. :help:

 

[cain420]

you could drain enough water from the 39 to move it somewhere then put water back in it, put new tank where it was and let it cycle to be safe... i dunno if it will work that easy, but its an idea..
got somewhere to put the 39 while the 55 cycles?

 

[alyssia]

Originally Posted by cain420
you could drain enough water from the 39 to move it somewhere then put water back in it, put new tank where it was and let it cycle to be safe... i dunno if it will work that easy, but its an idea..
got somewhere to put the 39 while the 55 cycles?

Yeah I guess I do. I was just hoping to find an easier way...

 

[nemo's mom]

Your tank will cycle and kill your seahorse. I tried with with a QT tank. The bacteria lives on the surfaces such as rock, glass, etc. There's not enough bateria free floating to by-pass the cyle....

 

[kelly shaw]

i redid a 55g last week. totally drained it cleaned the inside, replaced the cc with sand (not live sand) and put it all back together and didn't lose anything. 2 percs, 1 pink hatian and one condi anemone, 3 chromis, 1 wrase, 1 puffer, and some cleaning crew. i think it can be done you just have to be careful. what ever you put your livestock in make sure you put in a heater and something to keep the water moving. i used an air stone. also put the live rock in with them. they were in the bucket for about 4 hours. this tank was terrible. it needed it bad. luckily we didn't lose anything at all.
good luck with what you decide to do.

 

[quads4_lif]

this has nothing to do with this thread but my friends mom's name is Kelly Shaw
Ok back to the thread
Sorry

 

[uberlink]

Why not just run the new tank with just your existing water, sand and rock, and then add a gallon or two a day to bring it up to full over time? Might avoid the cycle. Thoughts from others?

 

[cain420]

Originally Posted by uberlink
Why not just run the new tank with just your existing water, sand and rock, and then add a gallon or two a day to bring it up to full over time? Might avoid the cycle. Thoughts from others?
that makes sense to me!

im not sure how sensitive sea horses are though....
haha.. something so simple, and yet finally thought of.. this is why i love this forum! plenty of people that are happy to help out!

 

[uberlink]

The only thing I might worry about is that stirring up the sand might spark a new cycle or at least release a lot of nitrates into the water. Be sure to get people's thoughts on this before going forward. You might be better off with new live sand, your existing live rock, and existing water. Not sure...

 

[unleashed]

place your seahorse in a qt .drain water from your tank into buckets. water move the sand into the new tank place bown on the sand add old tank water by slowly into the bowl as it overfills the bowl it will fill your tank(this will help reduce making a mess with the sand)place lr ect into new tank.add carbons to your tank to eliminate eccess cloudiness i would run for a couple days like this without seahorses due to there sensitive nature.you may get a small cycle but nothing major.test your was b4 adding th seahorses back to it

 

[whitebird]

this might be of help
***link deleted***

 

[pchromis]

Why not continue the weekly water changes and keep the water you are taking out of the 39g and put that in the 55g until you get the extra 16g. Then take most of the existing sand from the 39g as well. It might take 2-3 weeks, but if you're not in a hurry...............................

 

[alyssia]

Thank you!

 

[alyssia]

Originally Posted by uberlink
Why not just run the new tank with just your existing water, sand and rock, and then add a gallon or two a day to bring it up to full over time? Might avoid the cycle. Thoughts from others?

That is a great idea! Why didn't I think of that? :thinking: I think the seahorses could take that, they've already proven themselves to be pretty hardy (as far as seahorses go).

 

[ravechild]

It is my understanding that the bacteria responsible for the nitrogen cycle lived in the rock, sand ect. This means that you should be able to change 100% of the water with new salt water and not have another cycle. The bio load on the system is not changing, only the size of the tank is. As long as all parameters in you new water (i.e. ph, temp, SG ect) are the same you should not have any issues moving to a bigger tank.
Just be sure to keep every thing warm and oxygenated while you are tearing down the old tank and setting up the new one.
Good Luck!

 

[wax32]

Water has NOTHING to do with the cycle. The only thing that MIGHT cause a new cycle in the tank is if your sand is really dirty, or you add new rocks.

 

[ljroman85]

what if you add new rocks with time??? I am starting my upgrade too, going from 46 to 110, I have about close to 50lbs of live rock and want to just start with that and add more rock with time, and not start another cycle. Plus I asked this in another thread but what if you use the water from *****? they say it has everything you need....any ideas???....I just got the new tank today :jumping: I cant wait to get it up and running..

 

[wax32]

Originally Posted by LJRoman85
1. what if you add new rocks with time???
2. what if you use the water from *****?
1. If you have cured liverock already going in an established tank and add SMALL amounts of LR, it is usually not enough to cause a cycle.
2. Water has NOTHING to do with the cycle.

 

[ljroman85]

THanks WAX....I cant wait to get it going