Tank upgrade

[Salt Lifer]

I currently have a 72gal bow front FOWLR and inverts. I may be upgrading to a bigger tank in the near future. Any tips for the best way to do this? If I use my current sand, live rock and water, there's no need for a "cycle" period, right?

 

[jay0705]

Use new sand. The old stuff once stired up will have nasty stuff released. You can use a handful of old sand to seed the new. The old water won't help much. The live rock will.

 

[lmforbis]

When I upgraded a few weeks ago, I used mostly old rock, new sand and all new water. I transferred all fish and coral on day 2 or 3 after filling the tank. No issues at all. My corals were a bit retracted for a week or so after the move but are looking better than before now a little over a month later.

 

[Salt Lifer]

Good point. I was already picturing the brown cloud from hell that would be released.

 

[Salt Lifer]

I don't have the space to have both tanks running at the same time. Gonna have to take the old one down and replace it with the new one. So effectively doing a 100% water change has no ill effects?

 

[jay0705]

Not aslong as you match temp and salinity