Tank transfer

[theappe3]

Im looking in upgrading tanks.... I currently have a 30g with HOB filter. Its been established for a few years now.... Im possibly getting a 72g with wet/dry filtration. My question is what is required to transfer everything to the new tank.
I figured just set up the new tank, add water, sand, some live rock, and then transfrer everything from my old tank to the new.
OR do i need to let it sort of cycle?

 

[perfectdark]

you definatly need to cycle it. Using some water from your established tank will help jump start everything. Your cycle must take place and tests for amonia and trates need to be 0 before transferring anything over. If you could manage to take ALOT of established water out then your cycle prob would be minimal but I dont see how that could happen taking it from a 30 gal to a 72.

 

[angelman]

You can also do an instant cycle as long as you carry over the same bio load from your existing tank. Meaning, don't add any additional new fish to what you have already to give this a chance to work properly.
You accomplish that by taking the media out of your HOB filter (that is in fact where your bio is located and what helps support your system), along with any rock and sand from the old system. Remember, your bio in your filter presently supports whatever stock you presently have in your existing tank, regardless of water volume difference. No reason why your tank should not resume as did the old one. Your water is not the source of bio. That is a big misconception. All you are doing is moving it over to a bigger tank, with added water to what you had.
Think of it this way, if you could manually expand your tank to make it a bit bigger than it presently is, does one think you would need to cycle it again? If you added a fish or two to your exisiting tank, which increases the bio load, would you have to cycle it again? The answer to both is no.
Theoritically, if your water conditions are optimum, your old water serves no value to establish the new tank to start bio as that water should not have any at all of the much needed item to initiate a cycle - amonia. That amonia is only created by the fish, not magically.

 

[perfectdark]

I agree but moving what is already in a 30gal to a 72 gal IMO isnt enough to consider it enough of a bioload to completly cycle a 72 gal tank. Unless his intention was to move everything over to the 72. If not then I would still suggest making sure all his water tests were on before adding live stock.

 

[ameno]

I agree with Angleman, except when you take out the sand you will be stirring up the sand bed, which will cause your levels to climb. and when you put it in the new tank it's gona take it some time to settle in. In the mean time your fish will have to live in this. I tried doing something similar on my old tank but with desturbing the sand and rock caused it to go into a cycle anyway, just take as long.

 

[ameno]

typo in the last sentence, doing this will help it cycle fast.

 

[angelman]

Originally Posted by PerfectDark
I agree but moving what is already in a 30gal to a 72 gal IMO isnt enough to consider it enough of a bioload to completly cycle a 72 gal tank. Unless his intention was to move everything over to the 72. If not then I would still suggest making sure all his water tests were on before adding live stock.
I don't see a worry in the world of the water volume difference.
Not relevant at all.
You are simply adding more "new" water to the exisiting water. If anything, you are diluting by nearly 50%, any nitrates in the water in the existing tank.
The bio load on the tank remains one and the same if the stock in the 30 is moved to the 72.
The biological from the filter maintaining the stock in the 30 is coming over to the 72.
So.....you have the same stock, the same filter with the same bio, in a new tank, with more water. Again, don't see any possible concerns if done this way. The water from the 30 has no bearing other than to assist the stock in acclimation. If you really wanted, you can gradually acclimate the stock from the 30 to the new water in the 72 and discard the old water. I prefer to use it and minimize the stress of the change (being caught, acclimated, etc).
If the sand concerns some, leave old one in the old tank. Pick up some new sand. You can get the "live" one and just drop in without cleaning. The old filter is what is critical in this change.

 

[perfectdark]

The bio load on the tank remains one and the same if the stock in the 30 is moved to the 72.
The biological from the filter maintaining the stock in the 30 is coming over to the 72.
QUOTE]
Yes I agree 100%. I was questioning weather or not he was transfering EVERYTHING over or just his live stock, and keeping his 30gal set up too. Thats where I was seeing an issue.

 

[angelman]

Originally Posted by ameno
I agree with Angleman, except when you take out the sand you will be stirring up the sand bed, which will cause your levels to climb.
If you have a deep sand bed, I agree as all sorts of things are hiding in there.
On my fish only, my sand is about 3" deep. I stir it and syphon it all the time when doing my maintenance of once to twice per month. Has never hurt anything. I also pull out all the sand once every two to three years or so and add new bags of "live" sand by just pouring it in. I stir it up real good and then scoop all the old one out of the tank, with the fish in there, with nets.
Again, fish only system. I know little to nothing about reefs so don't follow me there.

 

[angelman]

Originally Posted by AngelMan
The bio load on the tank remains one and the same if the stock in the 30 is moved to the 72.
The biological from the filter maintaining the stock in the 30 is coming over to the 72.
QUOTE]
Yes I agree 100%. I was questioning weather or not he was transfering EVERYTHING over or just his live stock, and keeping his 30gal set up too. Thats where I was seeing an issue.
Good point. Sorry I missed that.

 

[ameno]

I see, were talking two different things, I was refering to a reef tank.

 

[theappe3]

alright. I think i got the picture on this. you must remember though. when you refer to my "filtration" im moving from HOB filter to wet/dry so in essence the bio-balls wont have any of the beneficial bacteria. Im assuming what till give it the need bacteria would be the live rock and sand that I will be transfering along with the new "live" sand and rock that I will be adding. Is this correct.
OR
Would I need to somehow "seed" the bioballs with all the stuff inside the "bioplates" from my HOB filter?
BTW this is a pretty interesting topic

 

[theappe3]

As stated in the previous post, the most important part of the transfer is my HOB filter. There is something that i've yet to figure out. Will i actually have to run the filter on the new tank or would i dump the stuff from inside the filter onto my bioballs.