Tank upgrade question!!!

[Chadschropp]

Hi all!

So I’m getting ready to upgrade to a bigger tank, thank god! Question I have is...
My water quality is perfect on the smaller tank, so can I move all of my current stock in the 20 gallon directly into the 70 gallon tank and Just add R/O Salt water. Will bring the 15 to 20 gallons directly to the new tank as well. So I would be putting about 50 gallons of new water mixed with the current running tank water. Thoughts on this??
Appreciate any thoughts.
Cheers.

 

[lazycouch]

i see your train of thought but i‘d definitely play it safe and suggest you either add aged tank water as you do water changes til you reach 30-40gallons or mix about 20 gallons worth of water changes with 30 gallons fresh RODI then dump the full 20 gallons when you’re ready if that makes sense.. due to the fact that filtration is at larger scale and you wont have the same coverage of surface area as you do in your small tank. also what you can do is add the full 20gallons livestock sand etc, top it off with rodi but just enough to where the water level is at a comfortable height, add nitrifying bacteria and wait a day or 2 add more rodi then repeat the process until you reach the top of the new tank! otherwise if you’d like to gamble go ahead and execute your plan but make sure to dose nitrifying bacteria (suggest microbacter7) every day before or after feeding and have prime as back up in case of ammonia or other nutrient spikes! goodluck.

 

[Aqua Man]

Are you using dry rock or live rock for upgrade?
Dry can throw your parameters out while curing.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Add as much aged water as you can. Start tank Lights the first day or two on acclimation cycle and acclimate fish to new tank as you would do with new purchase
Addition if liquid bacteria should also help get tank off on right track and you probably know the value of water testing

 

[homer1475]

As long as your adding all your current live rock, and current livestock without adding any new, your bioload won't change.

Just add your existing rock, fill up the tank with new salt water(adding old water is pointless as bacteria populate the hard surfaces in the tank, and very little are present in the water column), add existing livestock. It will be like doing a large water change.

Only time I would do it differently is if I was adding more live rock(dry rock that is properly cured will not cause issues). Real ocean live rock might have some die off, so curing in a seperate bin would be the procedure for that.

People tend to way over think things like this. As long as your not adding bioload, your current biofiltration is obviously able to keep up with your current livestock.

 

[Chadschropp]

i see your train of thought but i‘d definitely play it safe and suggest you either add aged tank water as you do water changes til you reach 30-40gallons or mix about 20 gallons worth of water changes with 30 gallons fresh RODI then dump the full 20 gallons when you’re ready if that makes sense.. due to the fact that filtration is at larger scale and you wont have the same coverage of surface area as you do in your small tank. also what you can do is add the full 20gallons livestock sand etc, top it off with rodi but just enough to where the water level is at a comfortable height, add nitrifying bacteria and wait a day or 2 add more rodi then repeat the process until you reach the top of the new tank! otherwise if you’d like to gamble go ahead and execute your plan but make sure to dose nitrifying bacteria (suggest microbacter7) every day before or after feeding and have prime as back up in case of ammonia or other nutrient spikes! goodluck.

Thanks for your thoughts!! If I’m not adding more live rock/dry rock yet, it shouldn’t affect my nitrates, phosphates and ammonia levels should it??? Or will the sand cause some problems?

 

[Chadschropp]

Are you using dry rock or live rock for upgrade?
Dry can throw your parameters out while curing.

Was gonna add macro rock or some other type of dry rock. But was going to do that SLOWLY! Like, one piece at a time. Thoughts?

 

[Chadschropp]

Add as much aged water as you can. Start tank Lights the first day or two on acclimation cycle and acclimate fish to new tank as you would do with new purchase
Addition if liquid bacteria should also help get tank off on right track and you probably know the value of water testing

Thanks for input! I’m going to bring my bio load and put it in the new sump, so I shouldn’t need to add bacteria should I?? And YES!! I am always testing. Thanks

 

[vetteguy53081]

Thanks for input! I’m going to bring my bio load and put it in the new sump, so I shouldn’t need to add bacteria should I?? And YES!! I am always testing. Thanks

I would add bacteria periodically

 

[Chadschropp]

As long as your adding all your current live rock, and current livestock without adding any new, your bioload won't change.

Just add your existing rock, fill up the tank with new salt water(adding old water is pointless as bacteria populate the hard surfaces in the tank, and very little are present in the water column), add existing livestock. It will be like doing a large water change.

Only time I would do it differently is if I was adding more live rock(dry rock that is properly cured will not cause issues). Real ocean live rock might have some die off, so curing in a seperate bin would be the procedure for that.

People tend to way over think things like this. As long as your not adding bioload, your current biofiltration is obviously able to keep up with your current livestock.

That’s what I was thinking!! Thanks for your thoughts. Much appreciated!

 

[Chadschropp]

I would add bacteria periodically

Ok! I will do that and continue to test the water conditions. Thanks!

 

[Keen4]

I did the same thing s you and upgraded my 20 gallon to a 91 system. reefer 350. I started new. Dry rock and new black sand this time. I put one piece of my live rock from my 20 gallon system into the sump, added all new water and waited for 3 months with the lights off. I did a black out period with taped blackplastic bags for 1 month. Added one fish at 2 months. Started with Dr Tims on day one. Added a little Dr Toms eco balance at 2 months and added the first fish during that period. The tank cycled and now I have all of my livestock transferred over except for the anemone. The bta is still in the 20 gallon for another 3 months before I transfer him over to the big tank. Just finished re-plumbing the whole sump and am adding a UV. Good luck and take it slow!!! The comments about bacteria in the water is true. The bacteria is only on the surfaces of your bio rings, balls, and rock.

 

[MnFish1]

Hi all!

So I’m getting ready to upgrade to a bigger tank, thank god! Question I have is...
My water quality is perfect on the smaller tank, so can I move all of my current stock in the 20 gallon directly into the 70 gallon tank and Just add R/O Salt water. Will bring the 15 to 20 gallons directly to the new tank as well. So I would be putting about 50 gallons of new water mixed with the current running tank water. Thoughts on this??
Appreciate any thoughts.
Cheers.

Yes

 

[MnFish1]

Yes

Yes - but - make sure alk, salinity, temp, etc is matched as close as possible. The other way I've done it before - is to for example - mix up 70- gallons of 'new water' - replace 20 percent of yoru water in the 20 gallon one day - 20 percent the next day - the third day - take the rest of the new water into the new tank - then add the stuff from the old tank into the new one