Upgrading from 75gal. to 240gal.

[k-rok]

Ok I need some advice. I'm getting my new 240 gal setup next week. I want to move my 9 fish and inverts, rock and sand into the the 240gal. from my current 75gal. The trick is I want to transfer the water also - I figured it would be nice to have already cycled water and it would save me some money on salt. I need to know how long I should wait until I put the fish in. Having the old LR, sand and water in there should help it cycle faster correct? I'm saving about 30gal. or so of the water that is currently in the 240gal. tank so probably around 100gal. will be cycled and the rest will be uncycled. I'm going to have to put all the fish and inverts in a 20gal. tank so I don't want them to be in there for long. Anyone have any ideas or recommendations? Perhaps I shouldn't bother saving the water from the 75gal. and just leave the livestock in it until the 240gal. cycles. Thanks for any help.

 

[lion_ish]

if i were you i would keep the 75 g going until the 240 is established!!! if you just add the fish you will stress them out too much

 

[k-rok]

bump

 

[hot883]

Is the new tank going where the old one is? If different spot, cycle the new tank first. To make this faster what I did for my 55-125 switch is:
added new rock to new tank (hlf filled with water)
then put in new live sand
slowly pulled out live rock from established tank (1 rock a day or so)
syphoned out water and sand at the same time and added to new tank (1 gallon jug at a time)
waited a day or 2 and then pulled out somemore live rock
during this time I seasoned new saltwater in large containers.
when all the rock was out I transferred the rest of the sand, tank mates etc.
NEVER seen a spike
Hope that helps