Tank upgrade advice

[pchromis]

hello all,
I currently have 37g reef,fish,lr tank. It has been running for about 3 years successfully. Even the percula clownfish have mated twice already, although babies have not survived due to other fish and filtration. There is a refugium and protein skimmer on this setup.
But I would like some advice on upgrading to a larger tank.
I would like to move up to a 85g tank. The question is can I begin to use the water from the current tank water changes to "help" the new tank? Can I gradually move some of the sand and live rock to the new tank to help "seed" the new tank?
Or should I just begin from scratch?
I appreciate any and all comments regarding the best way to move on this. Also I plan on the larger tank to be fish only.
thanks in advance for the help.

 

[nemofreakk23]

yes u r right. you will need to bring over some of the things from your old tank. it will help the tank cycle faster and will reduce stress on the fish when you put them in there. i would put all the water and live rock that you have in your tank now into the new tank. abd you should prolly put about half of the sand in there. this will speed up the cycle of the new tank and your fish will surly appreciate it.
-chis

 

[ilovemytank]

Don't move any of your sand under any circumstance. moveing the water and rock is an excellent idea and will definately help the tank cycle faster. Upgrading is always fun but don't touch your sand unless you want to risk total tank wipe out. The sand is a natural barrier holding tons of nitrites and nitrates that are being eaten by all the beneficial bacteria and organisms in the sand. A movement of alot of sand will release all the build up and can wipe out everything in your tank. Its a very high risk. thats why even when vacuuming sand you aren't supposed to disturb too much or too deep at one time. I personnaly tried this stupidly thinking that the knowledge I have that I could do it. I lost almost 800 dollars in fish. Never will I do this again. DOn't move the sand !

 

[pchromis]

Thanks for the info. So basically I can move water and rock into the new tank. My next question is will this method "cycle" the tank like the traditional damsel or dead shrimp method?
What I plan on doing, is over a few weeks, when I do the weekly water changes, I would take that water and move it into the new tank. Move some rock also. I am in no hurry and have all the time I need.
What I am asking is will this tank be cycled safely when I am ready to transfer fish?

 

[ilovemytank]

with moving the existing water and rock your tank will cycle in almost no time. You really don't need the damsel or shrimp trick. Think about it this way. When you do a water change you probably max. it at 20 % leaving 80 % of the established water. the new sand you put in I assume would be live sand not playgroung sand. ( this would change the whole example ) When you've water changed enough water out of the old tank into the new tank that equals 80 % its volume, then your tank will be cycled. The water you are moving into it have nitritres and neccessary elements to feed the bacterrria in the new sand and jump start the cycle. The rock being taken from one tank to another is already fully cured and established with bacteria and organisims. each time you add more water from the old tank your are balancing the new tank. Lets say you get an 85 gallon and you first water change you put in 10 gallons of old water with the sand already in there. Then fill the rest of the tank with newly mixed water but don't add the rock yet. go a weeek or two or three and water change 10 more gallons into the tank. its cycling with the sand still. do this one more time and you are ready for the movement of the rock. after about two more time you are ready for everything. Still test before you do it. Now you could speed this up by when you are ready for the rocks to be put in ; tank all the water you can get out of your old tank and into the new so that the majority of the # of gallons moved meets ab out 80 % of the new tanks capacity. There are alot of variables that change this rule that should be considered and thats why testing is important. But this is a very safe and effective way of upgrading.

 

[markandkri]

i agree on the not moving the sand your usually better off moving the rock and rinsing the majority of the sand if possible. before moving to the new tank.

 

[ilovemytank]

Originally Posted by markandkri
http:///forum/post/2804540
i agree on the not moving the sand your usually better off moving the rock and rinsing the majority of the sand if possible. before moving to the new tank.
The only problem with rinsing the sand will come in getting the sand out to rinse. If you had another tank to move your fish to before you move any sand ( like a quaruntine tank ) that the fish can live comfortably in while the whole process takes place ( never putting those fish back in the old tank ) then you could move all livestock and take the sand and rinse it. but you don't want to put the rinsed sand into the new tank while there is any water in it. big headache for sand that you will probably spend 50 bucks for.

 

[grue]

You can move a SMALL bit of sand.
Only take top 1/2" of sand.
Take 1/2 to 1 Cup a Week.
Spread the sand out a bit (Till about 1/2")
This will help seed the new sand.
Grue

 

[pchromis]

Great advice by all. thanks.
IL0VeMYTANK, great explanation on the cycling issue. I brought this topic up because, even though I understand the cycle, I wasn't sure that water being cycled was the sole factor in being cycled.
So when I add new live sand, the cycled water and live rock from the old tank will take care of the sand?
Thanks.

 

[rslinger]

i wouldn't even worry about much water. i just moved and i will tell you all my tanks got !00% waterchanges. The water has no affect on cycle. the live rock has all the bac. on it in it. put down a new sand bed. fill up with water let it sit for a day with just sand and water to mix the new water well.and get to right temp. then put in the rock and the fish and you will be good to go. do a water change a couple days later.

 

[pchromis]

This is what I was trying to determine.....Thanks.
Like I stated earlier, my main concern was whether or not the cycling process had to be started anew..
Thanks all for the replies.

 

[grue]

Anytime you add new sand/rock there will be a cycle.
The amount and/or severity is dependant on how much is added.
Grue

 

[pchromis]

Thanks again for the advice all!
Now on to the equipment. I am going to a FOWLR tank from a small reef. I have found a 95g tank which has the perfect dimensions for me. I have not decided on acrylic or glass but i am well aware of the differences. Here are some concerns of mine.
Should I go with wet/dry or sump? I'm thinking sump from what Ive read in this forum.
Should I have the tank drilled? If so, should the back be drilled or bottom?
I must admit the thought of a bottom bulkhead fitting leaking is worrisome.
Lighting for FOWLR..tank size 36x24x25. I know the importance of lighting, especially in a reef setup, but not sure if the high end/high output lighting is necessary.