Upgrading to larger aquarium without cycling?

[DAniel559]

Currently have a 20 gallon sumpless reef.
Already have a 40 breeder with a 20 long sump ready to go just need to leak test and mix salt.
Would transferring all my current livestock, live rock, and water cause a cycle in the new tank?
I will be using new sand, 2 liters of cured Seachem Matrix, and i also have another 10lbs of rock ill be adding that has been curing since December.
Need tips from those who have done this. Thanks

 

[brandon429]

Want the job. Easy.

 

[brandon429]

Official Sand Rinse and Tank Transfer thread

If you are reading this thread to cure a tank invasion from a link I sent you, we do not need to identify your type of invasion here we do not need you to test anything at anytime regarding nitrate, phosphate etc Above all, we do not need to see a microscope slide picture of your invasion at...

www.reef2reef.com

estimated fifty examples of your exact job. We can do it.
if you are interested we will make a custom plan right off that top picture.

everything you mentioned is perfect, add these steps:

tap rinse your new sand to total cloudlessness do not use flocculants
*in the thread they work hours prepping new sand, it’s filthy. They only use it when it’s snow globe clean.

clean your rocks before setting them back in, saltwater only. This is so they don’t move detritus back into the new tank. Clean by swishing around in a bucket of saltwater, make them cast off waste. Hold corals and fish separate, in own buckets. Expose them to no clouding waste.

*re ramp lights for a week do not go back to instant normal production lighting, it took us two years to figure that one out.

the work in the thread proves that clean live rock handles your current bioload regardless of what happens to the sand, whether it’s removed flipped or clipped doesn’t matter. You stop the recycle by moving no detritus in the rocks or sand. Lack of bacteria is never the cause of tank move cycles, it is clouding 100% of the time that kills things, we’ve allowed for no clouding above.

adding the cured rock is great.
shocking clean tank you have

no accumulation, rot, how in the heck have you been running that reef to make it that sharp clean

 

[brandon429]

How do you have not one spot of algae in that pristine reef tank. I’m noticing the coral health, glass cleanliness, rock detailing, it’s show quality as-is.

 

[W1ngz]

Don't overthink this.

As long as you keep your rock wet and submerged while you transfer it, and dont suddenly increase the bioload, it's time consuming but easy. Just take your time and have plenty of towels handy to clean up.

Get a beer, coffee, herbal tea or whatever you like and stare at both tanks and your new rock for an hour. Have a plan of where you want to place them.

I did this last summer. My build thread has my plan and a few pics of the process.

 

[splitting_lanes]

I did it, went smoothly, but I didn’t rinse the new sand... I wished I had.

your existing tank looks great!

 

[Copingwithpods]

I upgraded a few months ago, I decided to go with new sand for no other reason than I didn't want to clean my old sand.

Transfer went great and I had zero losses. Since the rocks were well astablished and the sand was live I saw no spikes of any kind.

Just like mentioned above take your time planning it out.

 

[Joel B.]

I performed a similar move but with larger systems, all new sand but kept all of the old rock + new rock. I did have an ammonia spike that I controlled with AmGuard which sorted itself after about 2 weeks, so I'd suggest be prepared for a mini-cycle but you shouldn't have any problems. I was moving across the metro rather than across a room, so that may have been part of it, but I didn't lose anything.

 

[Intense37754]

How do you have not one spot of algae in that pristine reef tank. I’m noticing the coral health, glass cleanliness, rock detailing, it’s show quality as-is.

Even the heater and filter pickup is clean!!!!!
I wouldn’t use the existing water as it pretty much is dirty water, however looking at your tank the water looks to be cleaner than my freshly mix water before it goes in the tank

 

[splitting_lanes]

Even the heater and filter pickup is clean!!!!!
I wouldn’t use the existing water as it pretty much is dirty water, however looking at your tank the water looks to be cleaner than my freshly mix water before it goes in the tank

Using the existing water helps minimize shock though...

 

[ScottB]

I pretty much agree with all that has been written. I will add a potential wrinkle to consider -- and it is not about a cycle because I think you are safe there.

Your biome is accustomed to your current levels of nutrient in the system. All of your surfaces in that system are covered with bacterial film and film algae. Happy, right?

All that is about to change. Available nitrate and phosphate will be diluted to 1/3 of previous, and all these sterile surfaces need to get repopulated. So there is some risk of a dinoflagellate outbreak. They are incredibly opportunistic protists. They don't bloom right away -- IME it takes them a week or two to spool up so you have some time. To be safe, I would have some nitrate and phosphate solutions handy to fill that gap in a bit. I'd be tempted to even dose them above your current stasis level in the 20G once you are moved over.

Every tank is different so the probability is hard to speculate, but avoiding dinos is cheaper than solving for them once they take off.

 

[Copingwithpods]

Even the heater and filter pickup is clean!!!!!
I wouldn’t use the existing water as it pretty much is dirty water, however looking at your tank the water looks to be cleaner than my freshly mix water before it goes in the tank

I would definitely use as much as the existing water as possible. If you run a fuge/skimmer pulling nitrates and phosphates out the tank water should be just as clean as newly mixed water. I only do water changes to replenish trace elements I'm not dosing, not because it's dirty. Like mentioned above this will greatly reduce shock and stress.