Upgrade Live rock with dry rock cycle etc....

[Tone]

Iam about to upgrade to a 56 rimless from my biocube 29
and was wondering what's the best way to transfer everything over without starting a mini/full cycle all over...iam going to be usng all existing rock from biocube but obviously going to need more....now am I better off buying live rock from lfs/local reefer or could I add same amount of dry rock ..all my rock is marco rock and love it and would like to add more ..

My tank is sps HEAVY and would hate to loose anything, looking for the best way to make this move to the new tank..
All suggestions welcome

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[SloppyJ]

Seems to me the only 100% safe way is to cycle the new tank to be sure. If I had a lot of dough tied up in SPS I wouldn't risk it.

 

[Tone]

Do you think it will go thru a full cycle or just a mini cycle...this is why I was asking if I put in all established live rock no dry rock into tank seed new samd use a lot of old water ...

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[SeahorseKeeper]

I would seed the new sand with a cup or two of the old sand and and more dry rock. I would also recommend having plenty of water on hand to do small water changes if necessary. There may be a small mini cycle, but if you are diligent about testing everything should be fine.

 

[EpicWin]

I'm sorry to break it to u but its going to have to cycle again. Seed it with a bit of sand but plan on 4 weeks cycle.

 

[Tone]

I plan on using couple scoops of the old sand to seed the live and I have about 50+ lbs of rock that will be moved over from existing tank....plenty of new water and will have old water too...iam only going from a 29g to a 56g so I don't think I will have to wait 4 weeks and go thru a full cycle...my tank now is well established and plenty of life to transfer over....was just wondering how to go about adding new rock to fill tank...

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[jeffskaggs]

Honestly don't think it will go thru a cycle, I would def use some of your water, but using your live rock you shouldn't have a problem


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[steamer51]

When I first set up my 55 it was basically a transfer from another reefer's tank and there was little if any cycle. I bought the rock from a well established tank and it was kept under his water until I put it in my tank on top of new sand. There was no die off that I know of with the foul smells of a cycling tank. I had enough of his water to almost fill the tank so the new water I made was basically a 10% water change. I used so much of the old water to avoid shocking the life in the rock with newly mixed.

I was successful avoiding a tank crash because there were no sensitive corals on the rock, just a couple of small kenya trees and a few snails and crabs. If I was in your position and the new Marco Rock was clean to avoid any die off causing a cycle I'd just move the new and old together and set up the upgrade. You could experience a mini cycle that may hurt your corals depending on how sensitive they are. If you want to be completely safe, set up the new tank with the new rock, cycle it and then move your old tank rock and other life into it slowly so there is not too much bioload all at once like adding too many fish at the same time.