New tank now what?

[Rambo64]

Hello,

So I went out and bought a new tank. Not beig quite ready to dive into getting a sump and that whole thing I went with a 29 gallon. A nice little upgrade from my twenty. I am now at the point where I want to getit set up and move everything over. I am looking for any advice or articles that can give me a clear idea as to how I should do this. I know I am going to nee more live rock so I was thinking of acclimating he new tank with new live rock and live sand and then transfering my old live rock over. Once the new tank is ready for the fish then I was going to transfer everything else over. Does this sound right? Any advice would be welcomed.

Thanks in advance

 

[melosu58]

You should be able just transfer the old rock over to your new tank and keep on getting up. If it is around 20 lbs your tank should not cycle because the LR is already cured and your biological filtration is set. Just add a piece or two every couple weeks. I would not transfer all the old sand. Get new sand and transfer a cup or two of your old sand to your new tank. Old sand will be too nasty to add all of it. Good Luck on the switch out.

 

[roka64]

Mike hit the nail on the head. Depending on how much LR you have now, you should be able to move the old rock into the new tank and a cup full or two of sand and should not see a cycle. I would just have some spare PWC when you do this and test frequently.

 

[Rambo64]

Now one of the workers at my LFS told me that I should do basically a quick water change. He is the guy that I would trust the least there. But anyway, would you suggest using the water from my old tank?

Thanks

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

No. There seems to be a perception out there at LFSs that the bacteria live in the water. While there may be some limited population in the water column, the vast majority is in your rock, sand, filter sponges, bioballs, etc.

For the same reason I wouldn't reuse sand, I wouldn't reuse water.

 

[melosu58]

I see what Kurt is saying but on a different line I would use some of the water to make it close to the PH and water parameters you already have. Fresh made SW is kind of caustic so if you can add some of your tank water and some new water it will help out. You are right Kurt in that everybody out there thinks the bacteria is in the water and it`s not. I definitely would not reuse the sand either.

 

[cmor1701d]

I agree on using some or even most of the water from the existing tank. It's closer to what the fish are accustomed to. Think of it this way. Do you want to do a 100% water change?
That would entail acclimating the fish to the new tank water before moving them over. If you use most of the water from the tank then you are doing a 20% - 30% or so water change.

I completely agree on just using a bit of the sand to seed the new sand bed.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Oops... didn't realize you were transferring livestock already set up in the 29g. Reading comprehension must've been off this afternoon! I was just thinking you were bringing your rock over and nothing else.

Agree with the others - bringing over a majority of the water will keep the parameters the same. If there is disease in the water, it'll come over with the fish anyway.