29gal to 50 conversion..

[ntswift]

I'm planning on doing a 29 gal to 50 gal conversion and I was wondering if I would still have to cycle it first or could I just use the LR that I already have in my 29 gal and the live sand and be okay? Anything else I might need to know? TIA!

 

[JM]

If u do it right there is no need for another cycle. If u search this forum u will find other posts about moving a tank, but basically, u just need to bring all of the water, sand and liverock from the 29 to the 50. Once u get the everything into the new tank u should only need to and the 21g of water to match the difference in tank size and in theory adding that water is no different that if u had done a water change on an existing 50g tank.

 

[ntswift]

What about my corals and fish? Will they be okay in the swap and if so when should I add them. I know I cant add the water first and leave them hangin dry, can I? If not do I have to acclimate them slowly again? Sorry I know these sound like stupid questions but the one post that I read about someone moving from 29 to 55gal didnt tell me what I needed to know. However, I will go back through and look for more. Thanks for the help!

 

[JM]

wut u can do is get tubs of some sort or since its only a 29gal tank use 5gal buckets put the sand and live rock in the buckets along with enough water from the tank to submerge them completely. Use another bucket or two for fish, doing the same thing as u did with the live rock(enough water to support the fish and corals for the time needed for the change). Once u have everything out of the tank u can start putting it into the new one. I would say sand first (start from the ground up). Then put ur rock in the way u want it. As long as it stays moist ur rock and sand r fine to be in the new tank without being submerged totally for a little bit. After u have ur sand and rock in the tank begin to refill with the water from the buckets until its all in the new tank and add the remaining amout of new water to the tank. You can probably put the fish and corals in without acclimating them, but u might want to just to be safe. Remember to make sure ur filtration and powerheads r set up and ready to work before u make the move so that u dont have any issues once everything is moved because that could spell disaster. I dont think i left anything out, but if i did let me know.

 

[melosu58]

How much LR do you have in your 29?

 

[ntswift]

I have about 48lbs of LR. I know I'm going to need more for the 55.

JM- That sounds good. Thanks for the tips.

 

[melosu58]

I have about 48lbs of LR. I know I'm going to need more for the 55.

.

You are correct , Sir

 

[vsnsofadrgn]

this is how i transfered a 20 to 55..... i bought new sand and filled new tank about half full (ran a ph) with new sw. after everything settled in new tank, i began the process. first, i didnt have anything for the live stock for to stay in, so i emptied the tank til just above the lr and added this water to the new tank (slowly). i then gathered all lr and added to new tank and aquascaped. after this was finished, i then got the live stock out of tank and put in bags and "drip" acclimated for about 3 hours. during this process i gathered what sand out of the old tank that wanted in the new tank. after acclimation, i added live stock and all is fine since..... all in all, took me about 6 hours, but def worth it.... hth

 

[JM]

U definatly did it the long way it shouldnt take more than an hour or two to do a transfer, using everything from the old tank.

 

[ntswift]

Okay cool! Thanks for the help guys. Will I have to worry about anything cycling by adding 25lbs new lr? If so should I put the lr in before or wait to slowly add rock week by week to make the mini spike smaller?

 

[FishFrik]

U should only add cured LR, which means u can only add LR from LFS. Any cured LR online will be not be cured due to shipping.

 

[ntswift]

Yeah, I have "cured" lr from a lfs that I get most of my corals from. The only problem is, its never fully cured. He gets rock in every two weeks and puts the rock from the old "curing" bin into the "cured" bin. So, if I want actual cured rock I'd have to get the crumbles at the bottom. Would being cured for two weeks do any good or should I just do the whole bucket method?

 

[JM]

The fact that it is cured for two weeks does help, but you're probably gonna have to finish curing it before adding it to the tank just to be safe. U could also do wut u said earlier and add a peice per week or so. Since it was cured for 2 weeks the die off from one peice at a time shouldnt effect the tank too much. It's all up to how much of a gamble u r willing to take.

 

[angelscrx]

I have a concern with moving sand from one tank to another and stirring up all the toxic stuff in the sand.

Moving a tank is not a one hour process unless the new tank has been up and running in conjuction with your old tank. Patience is key in this hobby and if it were my tank I would set up the 50g with fresh water, rock, and sand. Then let it cycle or you can add water from your current tank by using water from PWC to your current tank. Once everything is settled then add the rock from your current tank and acclimate your inhabitants. You don't want to add the sand first to the new tank you should add the rocks first then add the sand around them. This will keep from having avalanches if you have sand stirring critters. Something else to think about is that if you fill your tank with 30g of water and then add 20g from your old tank you in a sense have done an over 50% water change which could stress everything in your tank. I think if you did ten gallon water changes in your old tank and kept the old water for the new tank and did a water change say every three or four days and kept that water aerated and temped you could have 30gs of water for your new tank in no time. Just my opinion. Thanks

 

[ntswift]

I have a concern with moving sand from one tank to another and stirring up all the toxic stuff in the sand.

I agree. Doesnt the old sand help cycle the tank though? Isn't there beneficial fauna and such in the sand as well like pods, my nass. snails, and worms? It would be nice to start fresh with all new sand but I just dont want to wait that long time to cycle my tank again.

Something else to think about is that if you fill your tank with 30g of water and then add 20g from your old tank you in a sense have done an over 50% water change which could stress everything in your tank. I think if you did ten gallon water changes in your old tank and kept the old water for the new tank and did a water change say every three or four days and kept that water aerated and temped you could have 30gs of water for your new tank in no time.

Good idea! I hadnt thought about using the water from PWC's.

 

[roka64]

U definatly did it the long way it shouldnt take more than an hour or two to do a transfer, using everything from the old tank.

LOL!! Some of us are a LOT slower!

 

[MT79]

It would be nice to start fresh with all new sand but I just dont want to wait that long time to cycle my tank again.

When I moved my 29 into my current 55 gal I used all new sand along w/ the 45 lbs. LR I already had. There was a minimal cycle- all my animals survived just fine. Replacing the sand is a good idea as that's were most of the nutrients and other nasty things tend to accumulate in SW tanks. All the fauna that's in your sand, ie. worms, pods, are also in the LR. They will quickly repopulate the new sand-except the nass. snails obviously, those will have to be manually transferred. Good luck w/ the change.

 

[roka64]

All the fauna that's in your sand, ie. worms, pods

You mean, we can't just go pod fishing!?!?!? LOL!! Sorry, having a rough day and wanted to work on lighting up aome....

 

[vsnsofadrgn]

U definatly did it the long way it shouldnt take more than an hour or two to do a transfer, using everything from the old tank.

took me awhile with the aquascaping, LOL....

 

[roka64]

You don't want to add the sand first to the new tank

I would think this would go back to the comment of stirring up the nasties in the old tank's sand.....