Upgrading Tank need lots of help Please

[Dusty]

Okay I'm going to tell you what I have, My main tank is 2 1/2 months old 29 gal Salt Water Tank, 3" live sand bed. 20lbs of live rock. A 10 gal wet/dry with 10 lbs live sand, Protein skimmer is big enough for what I want to do. 500 gph return pump. 6 gal Refug with 15 lbs of live sand 10 lbs of live rock. I have a 75 gal Fresh water tank with 80 lbs of sand in my living room the FW sand will be trashed. Now I want to move everything from the 29 gal to the 75 gal, Turn the 29 gal in to the wet/dry and the 10 gal in to the refug. Okay I have 27 diffent kind's of coral in the 29 gal and I want to move it all to the 75 gal without cycleing the 75 gal tank. Can that be done if I move all the sand, rocks, and water from the old system to the new 75 gal tank. I am asking because that would be like 55% more new salt water added to the system. Everything I have, lights, skimmer, pump, power heads are all enough for the 75 gal, I kind of over did the 29 gal tank. Ive never changed s/w tanks over so I need some input on this and how to do it.

my total system is 45 gallons
the new system total is 95 gallons
if i put all the water from the old in to the new it want keep it from cycleing?
also im using all RO/DI water will that help?
also i have 60 lbs of live sand in the old tank i cant just move it over?
the reason i dont understand is, to me its like a 50% water change only im not taking the water out of the system.
i cant put more rock in there now, i have close to a 100 lbs of diy rock thats on its last two weeks and i can use it.
i dont have to move everything over right now,i can put a pump on the tank to keep the water moving so it can set for a week or month which ever would be best to keep everything a live when its moved to the new tank..

 

[Marcellina]

In theory it sounds like you should be able to do this. But I have a nagging feeling that you *might* get a cycle, maybe just a small one but a cycle just the same.can you possibly do a true 50% water change on your 29G and put the 'dirty' water into the 75 G with some fresh RO/DI water (but dont fill the tank completely- leave room for the rest of the 29G tank water in the next few days) and some of the Rock you are going to use? Keep the water moving with a pump and test the water parameters for a few days at the least?

I know someone with more experience will chime in. I would like to know this answer myself as I have the same size tank you do and hope to upgrade to a 75 soon

I just know that slow and steady is the name of the game in this hobby.

 

[jaa1456]

You can get away with it I have in the past. Do NOT add all of your old sand at all. You will need all new sand and just regular dry sand as oppose to the live sand you can buy. That live sand will throw the tank into a cycle. It says you are going to use DIY rock. If it is still dry and never used it will be fine, if it is in the process of curing then you need to let it fully cure. If it is still Dry than that is better. The reason you can not use the old sand is because different bacterias live at different levels in the sand. Once you disrupt their habitat you will have a lot of die off and that will throw you into a cycle. I have started new tanks like this plenty of times and never had a cycle. And use your old water as well, just don't use any dirt that might be under the rocks or detrius. It's not 100% guarenteed but this is the best way to go.

 

[Dusty]

the 75 gallon has been up and running for two days now. i put 10 gallons from the old tank...i did a test on it and kh was 7dkh, cal 450, phos 0, no2 0,no3 0, alka 2.1, ph 8, ammo .25 i check it tomarrow to see what its doing.

 

[fcamargo6thave]

the 75 gallon has been up and running for two days now. i put 10 gallons from the old tank...i did a test on it and kh was 7dkh, cal 450, phos 0, no2 0,no3 0, alka 2.1, ph 8, ammo .25 i check it tomarrow to see what its doing.

Hey just becareful because i am close to 100% sure u will have an amonia spike

 

[INNEED]

just wait it out just to be safe u already have ur 29 set up n running let the 75 cycle for atleast 2 to 3 weeks

 

[Dusty]

i going to let the new tank run until i know its ready i dont want to kill my fish and corals not like that..

 

[INNEED]

yup +1

 

[Dusty]

i tested it today and well its going to cycle
3/26 3/27
kh 7 7
ph 7.4 7.4
alka 2.0 2.0
ammo .25 .50
no2 0 0
no3 0 2.5
phos 0 .5

 

[Keith P]

Sit back and ride it out...