45 gallon build: 2 questions

[themartins]

What we want to do is take our 10 gal. nano down that has been set up for a year and use everything in a new 45 gal. build this fall.

1.) Will we need to cycle the aquarium or should we be all set using the established live rock, sand, water, etc. from the 10 gal. aquarium?

2.) What is a good filter for a 45 gal. reef tank?

 

[carey]

I've upgraded my tanks quite a few times and have not had any cycles when using the same live rock. I always use new sand as you may not want to chance that the "used" sand will cause troubles with parameters as it contains alot of gunk and other nasties. The water is also not necessary to move over, beneficial bacteria mostly reside on surfaces such as rock.

The ideal filtration would be a sump but if that isn't possible then a hang on back filter will work just fine. At 45g you may want to consider a hang on back protein skimmer as well. The skimmer can be optional as long as you are diligent about doing water changes.

 

[themartins]

Thank you, Carey. That all sounds really good and we already have an older Emperor 400 HOB filter that works great. That tank is currently FW, now we just have to find a good home for the FW fish ) so we can begin the upgrade.