contemplating an upgrade....

[Dr.Nate]

Alright--

The wife and I have been contemplating an upgrade for some time. I currrently have a 55 with a 20 gal sump/fuge.

I would like to get a 180 with a 30 sump/fuge.

Yes, big upgrade, I know. I'm just trying to get it right in my head first. Should I expect a cycle or not? Obviously, I'm gonna add some rock--preferably dead rock as I currently have about 80 lbs. of live rock in my 55 I'll be using.

I guess I'm curious what you think if I add all of my lr, ls, and water to the new system along with dead rock and a lot more sand and water. Woould it cycle? Or would I be better off removing all of my inhabitants ( a huge pain)?

 

[roka64]

Are you planning on moving everything out of your 55G?

 

[Dr.Nate]

yes, I do--sorry, forgot to mention that. You can check my info and I believe it is still accurate.

 

[roka64]

I doubt you would get much of a cycle. I would have some pre mixed water, ready, just in case you stir something up from your substrate.
I would move the substrate, test the water, then the rock, add your base rock (test), then your critters. That old 55G would make a nice sized sump/fuge....The 20G would make for a great QT, or even a 30G....

 

[Dr.Nate]

what do I keep my critters in in the meantime?

 

[melosu58]

I`m thinking that if you added you already cured LR and BR and just some of your sand as their are alot of nasties in their you dont want to transfer to the new tank you should be OK as you dont have a big bio load with the few fish you have. I dont believe you`ll have that much of a spike IMO

 

[roka64]

My suggestion would be (anyone else feel free to comment) to move at least half of your water from your old tank and add to the new.
2. Move the LR/Sand to the new tank.
3. I would then add some premixed water (to the new tank), test and see what you have.
4. At this point, you should have an old tank with your critters in it and about half the water.
If you don't see any problems in your new tank, you have an easy way to catch your critters and move them over. If you keep the parameters in both tanks that same, you should be good to move the rest over, including the rest of your old SW. J
5. Just make sure you have extra water, for the purpose of a PWC.

 

[Dr.Nate]

thanks everyone, that's what I was hoping! Let the dreaming begin....

 

[newfound77951]

Good info for me, too, I'll be going from 10g to 30g soon....not quite as big of a dream as a 180, though! what about critters attached to the LR? I have a duster that is attached....I guess wait to move that piece of rock? Also, move all the sand or just enough to get the new sand seeded....I am worried about what icky things are in there...although I'd have to dig out the nassarius snails.

 

[melosu58]

I would just move some of the sand as you get down deeper the nastier it will get. IMO just enough to seed. When I moved over to my 125 I didnt bring over any of my sand. I just added the sand and got some LS from my LFS that he had in a LS tank and seeded with it. You`ll still be ok with using some of yours.