Thinking about getting a larger tank

[VB313]

hey all , I currently have a biocube 32 moving in June out of a tiny apartment to a house and been tossing around the idea of going to a larger tank my options primarily are:
Red Sea Reefer 350 91 gallons total
Or a 120g aqueon 24x24x48 tank
Ide like to keep my live rock with added rock of course and I guess the sandtoo ??
What’s the best approach to this process ?
I hate to start all over again is this possible without loosing my beloved fish and corals or am I asking for a disaster here

 

[Frtdrmrose7]

Research the Aqueon I think they have issues with the center brace cracking. I’m not 100% sure but research it.

 

[VB313]

Research the Aqueon I think they have issues with the center brace cracking. I’m not 100% sure but research it.

Honestly the only reason I’m interested in that is it’s readily available at my LFS

 

[Firemanreefkeeper]

I went from a 45 to a 75 and kept my rocks and sand. I rinsed the sand well in used saltwater to removed the waste it had trapped in it. As for the rock, I knew I was going bigger so I cycled more rocks in a trashcan while I prepared for the upgrade. After I upgraded I added a rock or two and waited until it started growing coraline on it then I added another couple. I did that until I had enough in the tank. I didn't have any problems with losing anything.

 

[VB313]

interesting but what about the cycles of the new sand?

 

[theMeat]

Say the bigger the better, and prefer to build and design system instead of being limited with one already designed.

Aqueon center brace can brake, but easily remedied with a strip of plexi glued to underside before or after/if it cracks. This strip could be glued to underside and will be completely out of view

A nice big sump makes life easier too

Figure out how much sand you want in new tank and get two thirds of it. You want to take rock from old tank so figure how much more you’ll need for new tank and have it on hand.
Set up new tank, plumbing, sump, whatever. Do a water change on your old tank and use the water you take out to fill new tank. Fill the remainder of tank with new saltwater and let run for a day and bring to temp. Take one third your old tank’s sand, and the 2/3 you bought and add it to tank. Then take half the rock out of old tank and add it to new tank with additional new rock you bought. You won’t be able to see much in tank because of sand you put in so don’t worry about aquascape just yet. Get rocks safely in tank and in a day or so everything will settle and you can arrange.
Would help if you took a sock that has been running and dirty from your old tank, don’t rinse it, and placed it on new tank.
-if you have refugium you can run light but on display do not.
-feed the new tank, with no fish, lil less than you feed your old tank with fish.
Test daily for ammonia spike. If you don’t see one in 3-4 weeks, good to go. Get other half of rock from old tank with fish and done

 

[Firemanreefkeeper]

Right..... I forgot that part. I think I added an extra 10 lbs to mine. I put that in the bottom of the trashcan. It was a little tricky to get the sand out since I had to pull the rocks out to get to it. I rinsed the old sand and mixed the new in as I rinsed it. Then I added it all together.

 

[VB313]

Talked to my lfs today about this upgrade little skeptical cause his eyes lit up when I told him I was interested in the Redsea reefer 350

so what do you think about the idea of starting the Red Sea tank with new sand but with 1/3 of old sand from my biocube32 to seed it no rock let it cycle out then add all my rock from biocube at once along with 60lbs of Carib sea live rock (he said it doesn’t need curing or cycling) ???? Do a water change and I can transfer all my livestock to the new stand immediately after

 

[Firemanreefkeeper]

Thats a big jump that will cause a lot of instability issues in my opinion.

 

[VB313]

Thats a big jump that will cause a lot of instability issues in my opinion.

That was my first thought I liked the idea of letting the sand cycle out can’t really find much info on the Carib sea rock it does say it doesn’t need to be cured

 

[Jesterrace]

hey all , I currently have a biocube 32 moving in June out of a tiny apartment to a house and been tossing around the idea of going to a larger tank my options primarily are:
Red Sea Reefer 350 91 gallons total
Or a 120g aqueon 24x24x48 tank
Ide like to keep my live rock with added rock of course and I guess the sandtoo ??
What’s the best approach to this process ?
I hate to start all over again is this possible without loosing my beloved fish and corals or am I asking for a disaster here

A year ago, I upgraded from a 36 bowfront to a 90 gallon tank with corner overflow. What I did was go with new sand (although I did do one or two cupfuls of old sand to give it some established bacteria), but transfer the rock into buckets with the water from the old tank and kept them wet and submerged other than when I was directly transferring them, I drained most of the tank and then caught the couple of fish left in the old tank and cleaner shrimp and then transferred them to the new tank. Oh and if you live in a colder climate during winter, I recommend cranking up the house temp a bit during the transfer process to help smooth the acclimation process from old to new. I transferred the old rock directly into the new tank and put the fish and cleaner shrimp in shortly afterwards and just kept checking parameters and it seemed to go well. I cycled the additional rock seperately in a 32 gallon garbage can with a tank heater and cheap powerhead and waited for it to cycle and then added it to the new tank and monitored it. If you have the option I recommend getting the additional rock and cycling it first so that it is ready to go around the time you are ready for the upgrade, that way you can ensure that the rock is all in there ready to go and keeps the stress on the fish to a minimum (not having to deal with a major rock addition and rearrangement later on). I only had a couple of Euphyllia Frags (Frogspawn and Hammer) at the time, but they bounced back after the initial shock of the transfer (which is going to happen to any coral regardless) and have done amazingly well.

 

[Jesterrace]

That was my first thought I liked the idea of letting the sand cycle out can’t really find much info on the Carib sea rock it does say it doesn’t need to be cured

If that's the Caribsea Life Rock then no it doesn't need to be cured, but it will almost certainly cycle. I have done it in my old 36 gallon and the additional that I cycled in a garbage can for the bigger tank and it cycled. Some claim it doesn't need to cycle, but that's bull. I definitely got a cycle with both batches I used.

 

[4FordFamily]

Bigger is better, trust me you’ll always find a way to fill up whatever real estate you choose!

Mine is waiting on the first batch of quarantine to conclude. I’d go even larger if I could but it doesn’t make sense this tank should be enough.

 

[VB313]

Bigger is better, trust me you’ll always find a way to fill up whatever real estate you choose!

Mine is waiting on the first batch of quarantine to conclude. I’d go even larger if I could but it doesn’t make sense this tank should be enough.

I’ve been following your in wall build love it

 

[4FordFamily]

I’ve been following your in wall build love it

Thanks! This hobby is a progressive disease for sure haha!

 

[VB313]

Thanks! This hobby is a progressive disease for sure haha!

Agreed 100%

 

[Firemanreefkeeper]

Caribsea rock is rock painted purple to make it look like well established rock. It still needs to be cycled to get a bacteria population on it. I'd start rocks in a trashcan and go from there