Moving to a bigger tank! Have questions!

[JLight]

Hey guys so my nano has been running for about 4 months it's a 10 gal with hob aquaclear filters and it's going great! Easiest tank I've ever had. But as a reefer I always want bigger so I plan on moving this into a 20 gallon long because I love the dimensions of a long. So my questions are how can I move the live sand into the new tank without causing a spike in ammonia and killing everything? Then would I be able to take all livestock from the 10 and but it right into the 20 as long as I bring over all the liverock and filters and not have to wait for a cycle or would I have to cycle the tank? Thanks in advance!

 

[oscarinw]

I don't think ammonia is your biggest concern here. I think the detritus that you might move in the process might provoke a spike on nitrates and phosphates. To avoid that, I would use new dry sand in the new tank and only move the top layer of your old sand. Scoop it, put it in a ziploc bag and then open it at the bottom of the new tank, and slide it out with powerheads turned off to avoid a sandstorm. You are likely ok to move the entire sandbed at once on a 4 month old system but why risk it I'd say...
Good luck with things!

 

[JLight]

I keep the sand bed pretty clean so I hopefully should be ok to move all of it. But I think I'll take that advice dry sand is cheap anyways! Could I put all live stock in right away?

 

[JLight]

Any morning guys?

 

[trido]

I would use new sand and if your quick you should be able to swap to the new tank all in one move without any issues at all.