Moving to bigger tank

[NewbieC123]

Hey All,
I currently have an AIO 34 gallon tank around 3-4 months old. I am in the process setting ing up a 91 gallon (71 display, 20g sump)
My question is what is the best way to get the new tank cycled? I want to transfer everything as quickly as possible.

Any advice is welcome.

 

[RocketEngineer]

If you can run both at the same time, move a piece of rock over, then let it go from there.

If you need to remove the old one to install the new one use lots of containers and do it all at once with the option to do water changes soon after the swap.

 

[NewbieC123]

I can run them simultaneously, but probably not more than a week before my significant other will get annoyed. How quickly can I transfer the rocks? Should I transfer the sand?

 

[RocketEngineer]

I moved one rock to get the cycle started (didn’t do anything else) then the next weekend did the big shift.

I recommend washing any sand you move. Mine was nasty stuff in the old tank but a good wash and some new stuff and I was good to go.

 

[Dbichler]

As long as you keep the rock submerged in water you won’t have to cycle the new tank. You can reuse the sand but wash it out to perfectly clean. I would personally buy new but that’s just me.

 

[CrimsonTide]

I always buy new sand but you can wash it. Move some rock over and the bacteria in the rock will have your tank Cy led essentially. I would run it a couple of days and you can put some new rock in there to let it start gathering bacteria as well. You should be able to move everything over essentially within the week. Your old tank is cycled so you moved the rock from old tank and new tank will be cycled. The only headache is the sand. Like I said I would buy new sand and put old rock in it. If you keep the sand you'll need to spend time washing it because sand is essentially where the ammonia is in your tank. If you disturb it you should clean it or toss it.