Tank upgrade procedure

[Falcar]

Hello all,

I currently have two tanks, one 20G in my office and a 34G cube in the living room. I'm looking to replace the 34 with a 120g in the next few months. What's the best way to go about this?

Do I temporarily relocate the livestock to my 20G (it'll be packed but doable) and setup/cycle the 120g? Or is there a better way of doing this?

 

[Ruben's Reef]

The 120g will be located where the other tank is now or you have a new location for it?

 

[New&no clue]

I upgraded from a 55 to a 75. I didn't have anyplace else to put things and my new tank was going where my old tank was so I had to do it all in one shot.

My plan was to move over all rock and water from my current to the new system and toss the sand. I knew I would need more rock though. So I started a little over a month before hand cycling new rock in a brute can with Bio-Spira, heater, and power head. I let that sit for a month and then did a big water change in there and added in some of the rock from my tank.

When the day came I took all my rock out and put that into a brute can with DT water, heater, power head. In another brute I put the rest of the water and the fish, heater, and power head. I had a small bucket with new saltwater that I put snails and crabs. I moved the old tank out put the new tank up and filled with new sand. Put the old rocks, and the new cycled rocks back in and then filled the tank with old water. I let that sit overnight and checked in the morning to make sure there wasn't any ammonia, and then I put the fish and the rest of the old water in.

It was crazy. My suggestions would be to start cycling rocks now in a brute can. If you decide to combine the two tanks, the process should be quicker if the rocks have already started to or finished cycling,

 

[Falcar]

Ah yes I should have mentioned that... The 120g is going where the 34g is currently.

 

[Falcar]

I upgraded from a 55 to a 75. I didn't have anyplace else to put things and my new tank was going where my old tank was so I had to do it all in one shot.

My plan was to move over all rock and water from my current to the new system and toss the sand. I knew I would need more rock though. So I started a little over a month before hand cycling new rock in a brute can with Bio-Spira, heater, and power head. I let that sit for a month and then did a big water change in there and added in some of the rock from my tank.

When the day came I took all my rock out and put that into a brute can with DT water, heater, power head. In another brute I put the rest of the water and the fish, heater, and power head. I had a small bucket with new saltwater that I put snails and crabs. I moved the old tank out put the new tank up and filled with new sand. Put the old rocks, and the new cycled rocks back in and then filled the tank with old water. I let that sit overnight and checked in the morning to make sure there wasn't any ammonia, and then I put the fish and the rest of the old water in.

It was crazy. My suggestions would be to start cycling rocks now in a brute can. If you decide to combine the two tanks, the process should be quicker if the rocks have already started to or finished cycling,

Great idea on precycling the rocks! I need to buy some additionals, so I'll get those ordered and start that process.

 

[splitting_lanes]

Ah yes I should have mentioned that... The 120g is going where the 34g is currently.

I did a move like this — first, I drained enough out of the tank being replaced to move it 5-6 feet, then reinstalled the water. Then I put the new tank into the target location and started setup....

 

[Super Fly]

Hey congrats on the upgrade!
Place all LR & livestock in brute w heater and powerhead while removing old tank and setting up new tank. Mine survived a week in a brute this way while new tank was being setup while we moved house. If u'lre going to use new sand, save 1-2 cups of old sand to help seed new tank.

 

[W1ngz]

Like mentioned above, as long as you keep the water warm and moving things can live in a brute container or a few separate sterilite containers. My preference is to spread the fish and rocks in a few containers so I know where everyone is, and don't risk squishing somebody with a rock that might topple or get dropped into the bucket.

You'll probably be adding some new rock to fill out the bigger tank, so give it some time to either cycle before hand, or in the tank itself. If you do it right in the tank, don't rush into too many new fish for a few weeks so the tank can adjust to the bioload.

Congrats on the upgrade!