Tank swap cycle time
- Thread starter goggs29
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MERKEY
Cronies
Just rinse sand until clear water runs through and move all the rocks over.
Keep all rocks and coral in a Rubbermaid tub with tank water, heater and powerhead.
Rinse the sand and put it in the new tank or get new sand and rinse it the same.
Put everything in the rubbermaid into the new tank.
Top off with fresh made salt water.
Done and NO cycle.
We combined our 32g and 75g into our 220 and nothing skipped a beat.
Keep all rocks and coral in a Rubbermaid tub with tank water, heater and powerhead.
Rinse the sand and put it in the new tank or get new sand and rinse it the same.
Put everything in the rubbermaid into the new tank.
Top off with fresh made salt water.
Done and NO cycle.
We combined our 32g and 75g into our 220 and nothing skipped a beat.
Last edited:
Alexreefer
Coral, Coral, Coral!!!
@brandon429 loves to help people out with these kinds of things, especially the sand part, you may want to hold onto the old sand but I'll let Brandon speak his wisdom to you
tehmadreefer
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After doing many many moves and tank swaps, get new sand and rinse and I mean rinse your exhausting sand until they’re in absolutely no color left, otherwise you will experience a mini cycle of sorts.
All has been called correctly here, pls update outcome
we like to collect outcomes from rinse moves theyre safest agreed. Washing out all the waste from new or old sand is ideal.
we like to collect outcomes from rinse moves theyre safest agreed. Washing out all the waste from new or old sand is ideal.
Yep, I agree. I have gone up and down in size with no issues. You are moving the live rock and critters, should be no cycle. I tend to replace the sand (rinsing very well). Then the removed or old sand is fully rinsed and left to dry and used on other tanks. 
Simply__J
@MoriReef45
Just did a swap from my 45 gal to a 43 gal. about a month ago. Much like the advice given here already I rinsed the sand with regular tap water until the water was "snow globe" clear. Took the opportunity to add another bag of sand rinsed that the same. No mini cycle, no medium cycle, no jumbo cycle.
You just take apart the whole reef and isolate the sand
blast in tap water an hour if that’s what it takes
then ro
then it’s ready and the live rocks bring over the required bac. Lots of folks choose to go bare sand bottom in our tank moves. Rinsing it is no more harmful than removing sand, surely.
blast in tap water an hour if that’s what it takes
then ro
then it’s ready and the live rocks bring over the required bac. Lots of folks choose to go bare sand bottom in our tank moves. Rinsing it is no more harmful than removing sand, surely.
jradishness
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All of the sand from your 29g should fit in a couple inches at the bottom of a five gallon bucket. I put a hose to the bottom, and as the water level rises, I mix it with a long spoon or paint mixer. Once the water reaches the top, turn off the water flow and quickly pour out the water on top (with all the nasties suspended), until you get close to pouring out your sand on bottom. I typically repeat until the water looks clear enough that I wouldn’t lose my mind if I saw it come out of my tap (can take awhile with old sand). Then rinse with RO and let dry.
there are bac, we just don't need them. expendable.
exactly like this analogy: take any running reef here. add in 5 new canister filters hanging on back, full of floss. wait 30 days, each is contact cycled fully and can move down ammonia by itself. its linked in to the system, surface area activated.
run this setup three years.
instantly remove all the extra filters, nothing happens to the reef bc they were ancillary surface area, not core.
this is exactly how sandbeds work, expendable.
old cycling info thought that the linked-in filters were vital space/could not remove quickly/had to wean off.
that's simply not the case. take any major concept for bacteria in a reef tank forum and the actuality is pretty much backwards. this is why forum cycles take days and weeks and months yet reef conventions are all ready by a given Friday, for thirty years, no variation and no stalled cycles and no missed timelines.
exactly like this analogy: take any running reef here. add in 5 new canister filters hanging on back, full of floss. wait 30 days, each is contact cycled fully and can move down ammonia by itself. its linked in to the system, surface area activated.
run this setup three years.
instantly remove all the extra filters, nothing happens to the reef bc they were ancillary surface area, not core.
this is exactly how sandbeds work, expendable.
old cycling info thought that the linked-in filters were vital space/could not remove quickly/had to wean off.
that's simply not the case. take any major concept for bacteria in a reef tank forum and the actuality is pretty much backwards. this is why forum cycles take days and weeks and months yet reef conventions are all ready by a given Friday, for thirty years, no variation and no stalled cycles and no missed timelines.
Yeah, there is some on the top. However, if that ends up on the bottom of your new tank, it’ll just suffocate. Best to wash it out, you won’t need it, and it will repopulate itself in time. You don’t want really want to stir up any crap from the bottom of the sand and pollute your new tank. Wash it as stated.
