Plumbing in 2x the volume?

[Isoprene]

I am plumbing in a 29 frag tank and a 20 gallon refugium to my 1 year old 55 bow front system that currently has a 10 gallon sump. This is adding a lot of water volume, should I be worried about re-cycling, any sort of bacteria die off? I don't see any potential problems as long as I match the chemistry of the water I am adding to the water I currently have. Any suggestions or opinions on this? It seems like chemistry wise im just doing a really big water change without really doing one?

 

[revsgirl]

:bump2:

 

[bct15]

Are you adding new live rock?

 

[Isoprene]

Yes, im going to add a decent amount of new live rock on the bottom or side / back (haven't decided on orientation of frag rack yet). Im thinking about 10 - 15 lbs. Thats about it though other than the macro algae in my refugium. Im worried im jumping into this too quickly, should I be worried about killing anything off?

 

[Isoprene]

anyone?

 

[bct15]

I'm not an expert here at all, so take what I say for what you want. I believe adding the new rock will cause a small cycle, and adding that much volume a once might trigger something like new tank syndrome triggering a mini cycle. You might want to add one at a time, or set them up and let them cycle before tapping into your main.

 

[Isoprene]

I dont have to add rock, it is a frag tank afterall, im more worried about the water volume than rock, that can come later.

 

[Isoprene]

I could always plumb in the 20 refugium first, let everything settle for a month or 1.5 months, then plumb in the 29 gallon. They all empty into the 20 then into my current sump so that would actually work. Anyone have thoughts on this?

 

[huuta]

I recently added at 75 gallon tank to my 55 gallon system.I did not see a cycle at all you should be fine

 

[fragmatic]

I did a very similar thing. I added LR a little here and a little there. Plus that is easier on the pocket book. Everything went fine.

What concerns me is if you will have enough flow back volume in your sump when you have a power off. If you haven't done this yet be sure to make the new tank additions over flow set-ups so they add as little as possible to your sump during a power down. If you have already done the add then you may consider doing a controlled power down test, being ready to fire the pumps back up quickly if your sump is about to overflow. If your sump can not handle the additional water during a power failure, you have some thinking to do, and soon.

I even got away with adding a 20 pound bag of "live sand" to my additional tank. I was slow and gentle with the sand install and it did cloud all my tanks. It is now 2-1/2 days later and all are crystal clear. It seems that the added volume of sand actually helped my system, though it sure made me nervous during the cloud. As best I can tell everything and everybody made it through just fine.

My new add is actually a convert from a frag tank. It is now going to be "sort of'" a display refugium tank with mangroves, some coral, live sand and clams. The first clam is in and happy. I have added five mangroves and plan ten more tomorrow, in the a "little at a time" strategy. The clam was already in the tank when I added the sand, and that really had me worried. I was careful not to get sand in or on the clam, but I was afraid I had blown it. Today the clam has its mantle all out and looks as happy as a new baby in bath water.

 

[Isoprene]

Awesome thanks guys, yeah frag im going to test everything out, I think I can handle the back flow from all three tanks in the sump I have, I hope! im going to lower its water level a little, if I did my math right I should be fine with both pumps off and the 20 draining into the sump. We will see

 

[Isoprene]

Also frag thats awesome everything went smooth, im hoping my situation goes similar