Upgrading tanks...

[swannyson7]

Well I just picked up a 180 to upgrade from my 125 and that's where my question lies. I bought the tank only and will be building a custom stand and canopy over the next couple months. I plan to put the tank in the same place my 125 is currently set up and that's where my question lies...

While I'm building the stand, I was hoping to get the cycling of the tank started, but that will be difficult due to putting the tank where the current one is. I was going to put 50 lbs of new sand in the new tank along with about 20 lbs of sand from my existing system and then throw some frozen krill in there to let it cycle.

Assuming the tank fully cycles over the couple months until I get around to build the stand/canopy, will I be able to drain the water out of the tank, add the remainder of the sand from the 125 along with the water/LR from it without another cycle?

I'm hoping that the bacteria in the sand will be fine for an hour or two and will survive the move. Just to be safe, I'd throw all my corals in a 55 on the floor for a week or two, but I just wanted to know if this whole process is a waste of my time. Unfortunately, I don't think I could put the tangs in the 55, so they would probably have to go straight into the 180 unless I could get someone to babysit.

Any insight???

 

[RacingTiger03]

look up my last few threads... I went from a 30 to a 55 from start to finish in 3 hours. 1 month later I lost all of my fish. All my corals are still doing great though *shrug*. This was with no pre-setting up of the 55, and using the sand from my 30 and adding to it.

 

[swannyson7]

No other input? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

I think I understand what your saying.

Why do you need to cycle your new tank of your going to use the water, sand, rock from your current one?

I did something similar. I set up one of those big heavy duty rubbermaids and put my corals, rock, water fish and all in there. Remove the old tank, place the new, and add the old inhabitants with water in the new tank with the new water. I didnt have a problem. You could also set up a trash can and mix some new water and put some of your LR in there and keep it circulated and warm and add that into the new tank as well with the old inhabitants.

 

[TANKSALOT]

It is no different than if you are moving the 125 to a new location.
I believe that you are also trying to add additional sand.... buy live sand and you shouldn't cycle. To be safe only add a little bit each day or weekly if possible.

You also said that it was going to take a couple months to build the stand and canopy. Start cycling rock and sand now and it will be more than ready when you are.

Your on the right path.

TANKSALOT
aka - Steve

 

[divewsharks]

I think I understand what your saying.

Why do you need to cycle your new tank of your going to use the water, sand, rock from your current one?

I did something similar. I set up one of those big heavy duty rubbermaids and put my corals, rock, water fish and all in there. Remove the old tank, place the new, and add the old inhabitants with water in the new tank with the new water. I didnt have a problem. You could also set up a trash can and mix some new water and put some of your LR in there and keep it circulated and warm and add that into the new tank as well with the old inhabitants.

This looks to be exactly what I did last summer when I upgraded. My new tank was going where existing was. I built my new stand as well, while the build was going on I cycled my new (as in additional rock) in a tub with my new skimmer (to break it in before going into production).
When the day came, everything went into big tubs, swapped tanks/stands and put everything but the sand back in; for the sand I bought all new -- some of the 'packaged with live bacteria' sand. I added the additional rock, and that was it, no new cycle, fish and corals were happy.

 

[swannyson7]

Instead of going with completely new sand, can I just rinse my current sand out? Or will that not be enough to cut back on the nitrates and phosphates released from disturbing my sandbed?

 

[eggie]

Instead of going with completely new sand, can I just rinse my current sand out? Or will that not be enough to cut back on the nitrates and phosphates released from disturbing my sandbed?

I did a change for a friend from a 75 to 120 tank and what I did with the sand bed was take out as much sand I could and put it back with out rinsing it and avoiding the dirty water mix from the sand