Upgrading tank

tangerine3486 · Mar 12, 2017

Going to upgrade from biocube 14 to im lagoon 25. I have done a search here and on Google for the answer and I cannot find anyone in the same situation where I am ok using the exact same sand and rocks. Only problem I see is what I will get when I mix up the sand pretty bad. Contents will just be moving a few feet. Other wise, this is a single day evolution right? Or am I missing something and I do have to buy new and and Rock and cycle it?
Thanks!

Jack Eskay · Mar 12, 2017

I would get new sand and maybe seed the new sand with a cup or two of the old sand. Also use the same live rock for sure and a maybe 25-50% of your old water. This will minimize the "mini cycle" you will have to maybe a week or less! If your also moving fish/ coral over you can set up a qt to be safe or just put them in the new tank and closely watch perams. They should be fine as the cycle should be very small but just be safe as there is a chance of a high spike, just not likely.

Hope this helps and Good luck with the upgrade!

tangerine3486 · Mar 13, 2017

Thanks! ONly issue is I do not have much rock in the 14 to seed the new one, but I do not want to get any new rocks.

tangerine3486 · Mar 15, 2017

I can remove everything from the seeding rock except for zoas. Will they be OK for the mini cycle?

don_chuwish · Mar 15, 2017

Unless you have a really old dirty deep sand bed, I actually think it's fine to re-use the old sand. Just rinse it very well in some low salinity (just to save on salt mix) water. It'll keep the bio filtration up to snuff and you can add a little new rock as you like. And yes, you will find conflicting opinions on almost everything in this hobby!