Upgrading from a 13 gallon to 65 gallon

[OGKro]

Hi everyone,

Do i need to cycle the new 65 gallon tank or can i just add the rocks that are in my 13 gallon and consider it cycled ? Or will the rocks from 13 gallon just help get the cycle going faster ?

 

[mjw011689]

You will still need to cycle the new tank to some extent. If you’re transferring everything and adding more dry rock and sand to the new one, you probably won’t see much of a spike in anything since your existing rock should be enough to handle the bioload your fish currently provide. You may get a small spike in ammonia if you use arag alive though, there’s usually a bit of die off in those bags but it shouldn’t be too bad.

Long story short, if you don’t add any more fish at the same time, you probably won’t see a spike, but I would still allow some time for the new rock to be established before adding anything new.

 

[kevgib67]

^ This

 

[brandon429]

in your cycle equation, all you're doing in the described scenario is adding to dilution

that doesn't uncycle your current rocks, you mentioned adding them.

and if you added barren white rock to the mix, that still doesn't uncycle your rocks.

you are able to add more fish without risking noncontrol because adding dilution lowers wastewater presentation % to available surfaces, opposite of what's stated is how skip cycling works in skip cycle threads.

threads exist where 400 reef tanks were upgraded without any cycle at all, that will be easy to do here / follow through with the original plan. the risk in adding new fish is disease import from skipping disease preps, not a cycling issue. the most important part of the upgrade is that you move 0% sandbed waste to the new tank. start with perfectly pre rinsed sand in the new tank (tap water rinsed until clear, all the sand, then final rinse in saltwater before installation in the new tank)

your old rocks need to be in the display of the new tank, not in a sump, for the rule to hold.

 

[OGKro]

in your cycle equation, all you're doing in the described scenario is adding to dilution

that doesn't uncycle your current rocks, you mentioned adding them.

and if you added barren white rock to the mix, that still doesn't uncycle your rocks.

you are able to add more fish without risking noncontrol because adding dilution lowers wastewater presentation % to available surfaces, opposite of what's stated is how skip cycling works in skip cycle threads.

threads exist where 400 reef tanks were upgraded without any cycle at all, that will be easy to do here / follow through with the original plan. the risk in adding new fish is disease import from skipping disease preps, not a cycling issue. the most important part of the upgrade is that you move 0% sandbed waste to the new tank. start with perfectly pre rinsed sand in the new tank (tap water rinsed until clear, all the sand, then final rinse in saltwater before installation in the new tank)

your old rocks need to be in the display of the new tank, not in a sump, for the rule to hold.

Alright thank you for all the explanation. But why do the old rocks need to be in display and not the sump ?

 

[brandon429]

Due to proximity of locus of waste generation to active surfaces

when fish emit ammonia + breakdown of uneaten fish food in a display makes ammonia, the live rocks are right there immediately to make contact and neutralize the wastewater

when the rocks are down in a sump the inlet to the sump is the bottleneck that separates the waste generation location from the resolution location, it’s possible for wastes to circulate in the display much longer before reaching contact surfaces

 

[OGKro]

Due to proximity of locus of waste generation to active surfaces

when fish emit ammonia + breakdown of uneaten fish food in a display makes ammonia, the live rocks are right there immediately to make contact and neutralize the wastewater

when the rocks are down in a sump the inlet to the sump is the bottleneck that separates the waste generation location from the resolution location, it’s possible for wastes to circulate in the display much longer before reaching contact surfaces

Makes sense. Thank you very much