Transferring Rock from tank to tank

[austin_socal]

Hi everyone,
I was looking into upgrading from my 25gal lagoon to a 50gal. If I transfer my live rock to the new tank, would it kickstart the cycle and allow me to put my current fish and coral straight into the tank? And are you able to transfer sand from tank to tank?
TIA

 

[TangerineSpeedo]

Sand is a hard one to transfer, you have to clean it well with salt water before you reuse it. There also might be a bunch of sand dwelling creatures that you will have to rescue ( micro brittle stars etc.)
But yes you can just transfer all of your live rock and fish to your new tank. Do not add any more bioload to the tank until the new tank settles.
So for your transfer, you can put in new sand in your 50g, but only half, because you will be adding sand once cleaned from your old tank.
One other thing you can do. Is suck out your old sand 25% at a time, clean it, and add it to your new tank with a few pieces of rock each week, then do the transfer. Your sand is full of biome and you can use it to your advantage.

 

[austin_socal]

Sand is a hard one to transfer, you have to clean it well with salt water before you reuse it. There also might be a bunch of sand dwelling creatures that you will have to rescue ( micro brittle stars etc.)
But yes you can just transfer all of your live rock and fish to your new tank. Do not add any more bioload to the tank until the new tank settles.
So for your transfer, you can put in new sand in your 50g, but only half, because you will be adding sand once cleaned from your old tank.
One other thing you can do. Is suck out your old sand 25% at a time, clean it, and add it to your new tank with a few pieces of rock each week, then do the transfer. Your sand is full of biome and you can use it to your advantage.

Wow. Thank you!

 

[bossman818]

I just did this. Used new sand plus added some sand from old tank, transferred all rock and livestock straight into new tank. There was a mini cycle that did not harm anything in my tank. Tank is now thriving.

 

[austin_socal]

I just did this. Used new sand plus added some sand from old tank, transferred all rock and livestock straight into new tank. There was a mini cycle that did not harm anything in my tank. Tank is now thriving.

Awesome, ty.

 

[sbeason]

As others have stated already....transfer existing rock, add new sand and transfer a cup or so of existing sand to jump start it

 

[austin_socal]

As others have stated already....transfer existing rock, add new sand and transfer a cup or so of existing sand to jump start it

Sounds good, thanks bro.

 

[Dom]

Hi everyone,
I was looking into upgrading from my 25gal lagoon to a 50gal. If I transfer my live rock to the new tank, would it kickstart the cycle and allow me to put my current fish and coral straight into the tank? And are you able to transfer sand from tank to tank?
TIA

Yes. Once you put live rock from an old tank to a new one, the nitrifying bacteria populating the rock will do what it always does.

 

[austin_socal]

Yes. Once you put live rock from an old tank to a new one, the nitrifying bacteria populating the rock will do what it always does.

Awesome, ty