Should certain paramaters match while transferring corals into upgraded tank?

fishski13

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I am soon transferring my lps coral from a 10 gallon to a 35 gallon and wondering which parameters if any should match? I am most concerned about alkalinity as in the current set up I run alkalinity between 7.5-8 however using Reef Crystal salt new water has an alkalinity reading of upwards of 11. Would it be best if alkalinity, calcium, and mag is the same from old to new tank and can it be different?

And what about nitrate and phosphate?
 
I upgraded my original system twice with great success by transferring all inhabitants, including water, live rock, sand, corals and fish.

A few points I would take into account and prepare before the transfer if necessary:
- thoroughly washing the sand as well as the rocks from any detritus to prevent a nutrient spike, although it'll happen regardless.
- If you plan to add more rock and sand, I would highly recommend it to be cured, especially if it is a large percentage of the final amount.
- directly relates to your question - keep parameters, especially Alk/Cal/Mg as close as possible to the original, you may find other brands like Red Sea blue bucket more suitable for the task. As mentioned earlier, you'll notice a spike in your nutrients regardless, it's not a big deal I would try to minimize the impact as much as possible.
You'll most likely notice a big drop in terms of consumption during the first few days, so you can't rely on consumption to decrease these levels.
- You'll go through a "mini cycle", this will come in form of increased algae growth, maybe some dinos for a moment - do not panic or do anything drastic other than physically cleaning it out and maybe using some activated carbon to absorbs toxins, it'll sort itself out in 2 to 3 weeks.

In general, I would also plan it out as much possible before hand, prepare extra water, extra containers, extra hands and anything else you think you'd need during the transfer.

Good Luck!
 

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