how do you transfer contents to a larger tank?

[AnnaG]

Hi, Im thinking about upgrading from my 20 gallon reef tank with a canister filter, to a 60 gallon waterbox with a sump. If I do the transfer, will it be okay to :
-add some new sand, new dry rock to the waterbox
- start adding fresh saltwater to the waterbox
- add already established rock and sand, matrix, rock rubble from filter, (all from exisiting tank) to waterbox, as that's my biological filter
- add saltwater from exisiting tank to waterbox
- lastly, acclimate and add fish, corals and invertebrates to waterbox


Will that be okay "ammonia wise" ? Any issues there?
Thanks

 

[damsels are not mean]

Should be fine. Remember you are not adding to the ammonia load here unless there is a lot of dieoff on the rocks. Your biofilter on those rocks should handle your fishload. Try to keep them in a similar orientation so that photosynthetic things don't get shaded and cryptic things don't get cooked (to reduce some dieoff). Might be worth monitoring ammonia and having prime on hand. I don't think you need to completely "cycle" all over again, but you could potentially get a short term spike.

 

[Brucealmighty]

Hi, I upgraded my tank in a similar way, I got saltwater from the Lfs by me (2 trips and borrowed containers) and the mission started first I removed as much of the original display into tubs fish rocks corals and as much water and sand as possible before it becomes just dirty sludge at which point I stopped removing anything else.

I was putting my upgrade in the same position as the original tank so I had to swap the tanks around and positioned the new one and checked its level

I added everything almost as I took it out few litres of water then the sand from my original display, I added more 'live sand' that is stored in wet bags

I added all rock's and water then finally livestock this meant the new tank dwarfs the setup but it's been swapped in minimum time and loss of bacteria etc should be minimised

When I finished I realised I needed more water to get the sump running so back to shop for more water, things to remember is put heaters in the tubs with the rocks and livestock (some people add a light too), the mission will take longer than expected,and tempers may get frayed as well.

After everything was settled I slowly started adding live rock to the display a week later approx, and more over next few weeks and months, everything I saw told me to avoid any dead rock or dry rocks going into the tank because it starts the cycling process and releases nasties into the water like phosphates and nitrates maybe the philosophy on this has changed, I did do my tank swap 7 years ago this year so, I am sure other people may have other advice and information, good luck, start early in the morning just in case you end up needing to go to the shop, my new tank leaked from the piping and also needed some pipe tape.

 

[AnnaG]

Hi, I upgraded my tank in a similar way, I got saltwater from the Lfs by me (2 trips and borrowed containers) and the mission started first I removed as much of the original display into tubs fish rocks corals and as much water and sand as possible before it becomes just dirty sludge at which point I stopped removing anything else.

Actually yeah, that startup is sooo much water - LFS water would be way better. my RODI is soooo slow and it would take me probably a week to put all that water in.

 

[Brucealmighty]

Actually yeah, that startup is sooo much water - LFS water would be way better. my RODI is soooo slow and it would take me probably a week to put all that water in.

Yeah waiting for rodi unit will postpone the mission for many weeks

When driving with lots of water in the car its a bit tricky too, I only have a fiesta, so to make the car feel a little bit more normal I put the containers of water on the seats with safety belts on instead of all in my boot and spread the weight a bit, it made driving a little easier but it's easy to overload the car just a quick head up

 

[Koh23]

When moving from 180l to 500l, i simply get new sand, put it in tank, and then made about 50% new fw..... Let it in tank for few days, then drain 180l halfway, put that water in new tank.....

Then i transfer scape in new tank, drain more old water in new tank..... Catch the fish, transfer them, corals, and rest of rock/scape.....

So in old tank all that was left was sand and about few milimeters of water above sand.... In about 2-3 hours transfering was done, sump was connected and whats left was to fill rest of tank with new sw..... During day, i scooped several times old sand, whenewer i notice that something appeared on surface i transfer it to new home.....

Not a single loss or any problems.... Few seconds exposing to air wont kill anything, so..... Only thing, first week i was light on feeding, just not to overload system, but thats it....