Tank upgrade

[Lee90]

I have a 90 gallon tank ,will be upgrading to 180 gallon planet aquarium. Looking for advice when setting up new tank .
can I just move rock , coral ,fish and sand.add additional water needed . Or do I have to setup and cycle new tank let it run for couple weeks then transfer fish and corals. I have 14 fish and 20 corals , maybe 80 - 90 lbs of rock .tank is about 3 yrs old.

 

[Dierks]

Hey Lee!! Welcome to R2R!!!

You bet you can simply switch everything over!! i would suggest rip cleaning the sand when you transfer but other then that you should be in really good shape!!

Great tank as well!!!

 

[Fishingandreefing]

This is how I did it when I transferred from my 55 to my current 120. I let the new tank run for a few days with the new rocks. Then added some live rocks and live sand from the 55. Let it run for about a week and then added some live bacteria’s.

then let it run for a few more days. I then put one of the hammer corals in there to test it for a couple of days to make sure it survives.

make sure the new tank has the same temp and salinity, I transferred everything over after about two weeks wait. (Can’t remember if I acclimated them)

 

[User1]

As others stated yes, just move it over. However, you may have a mini cycle or some die off. Nothing like a full blown cycle but keep in mind you are sort of playing Mother Nature AKA storm by breaking up an established rock, coral, fish, and biological filter.

You could test for ammonia after 24 hours or maybe add one of those badges. Just to keep an eye out and maybe have some pre-made water ready to go just to be safe. But you may not really see anything. It only is a problem if you are moving and adding at the same time.

 

[Jon Fishman]

I would just move it over. I would also recommend more rocks. If you have the time, start cycling the new rocks in a brute etc. If not, plan to add them slowly

 

[splitting_lanes]

I put new sand into the new tank, and then moved all the rock, corals, macro algae, and fish into the new tank.

I also moved the water from the old tank to the new tank to minimize the shock of the change.

didnt lose anything in the transfer

 

[MERKEY]

@brandon429 has a thread about this exact process!

The biological bacteria you have on your old stuff will all still be there so you will not need to cycle.

 

[Lee90]

Thanks everyone who replied, I was hoping to just tranfer everything and just add additional water needed. I was also thinking of doing a 25 to 30 gallon water change maybe 3 or 4 days before transfer and keep that water to add to new tank.