upgrading tank - best cycling method

[mr funktastic]

hey. not many of u will remember me. i was a regular on here a long time ago. but i am just in the process of upgrading from my 15 gal nano reef to a 30 gal tank. i will need to cycle the new tank before transfering my clown fish and live rock. but i am wondering the best method to do the switch. i was going to take a HOB filter i currently have running on my established tank and let it run on the new tank. this will allow the new filter to build up with the needed backteria and seed the sand. i was gonna put about 20 pounds of new sand in the tank aswell then transfer over the other sand. maybe throw a pice of the live rock in the new tank as well. im just trying to figure out the best way to do it to avoid killing off any of the rock or causing and major algea out breaks


penguine 350 HOB filter. running crushed live rock and a foam filter pad as the media. the filter pad will be changed weekly. i will be eventually upgrading to a sump set up. just not right now.

1 hydor 425 gph powerhead

1 150watt eheim jager heater

aragonite reef sand

figi live rock

i will be getting very shortly a 36" 4x t5 ho 156w lighting. with moon leds. i currently have 2 coralife 24" pc 50/50 lights to work with.

if you need any more details please ask

 

[MarinaClown]

What did you end up doing? I'm in the same boat now. Any advice is appreciated.

 

[mr funktastic]

i switched everything over to the new aquarium slowly over a week. i used new sand. put 1 handful of the old sand in as well to help seed it. one all the rock was in i let the tank run for a week to make sure everything was clean and there were no spikes. once i knew everything was fine i switched over the fish. i only had 1 clown and a few hermits so there wasnt a lot of bio load. i got about 15 pounds of new rock and put it in my old set up. i let it sit for a week to make sure it was good and nothing bad was on it that i could see. i then added that to the new tank. i did a water change the day after adding the new rock.

everything seemed to be fine. levels all stayed stable. everything seemed happy. i then drained the 15 gal tank and turned mine into my sump.

 

[MarinaClown]

Glad your transition was smooth. I am taking thing slow as well. Thanks.

 

[Ericwm]

I am planning an upgrade in a few months, I keep looking for threads of people who have don't them. I am gonna go from a 29 to a 90 so I will have a bit more livestock to transfer. Any more tips? Things you were glad you did or wish you had done looking back on it?

 

[mr funktastic]

it was really quite simple. only annoying thing with new sand is the outbreak in diatoms you usually get. if you do it i would allow for as much time as possible for everything to settle in the new tank. and make sure you are as happy as possible with the rock formation. having a tank with no fish in it is the best time to get things moved where you want them. make sure you have room around the edges so you can clean glass. just make sure that your have enough rock and everything so it seeds the new tank as fast as possible.