Cycle or transfer?

MMcKenna1029 · Jul 19, 2021

Hey fellow reefers. I am looking for thoughts and advice on how to populate my new tank build. The build is a 40g display, a 20g frag tank, a 29g fuge, and a 20g sump running at 12g for a total water volume of around 100g gallons minus displacement. The display will be BB with dry rock.

This new build is an upgrade from a 29g system that has been doing well for 2 years. There is probably 15-lbs of live rock in this system that has been maturing in multiple systems for around 4 years. Inhabitants for the 29g are two clownfish, one firefish, a lawnmower blenny, a brittle star, and 14 frags on a rack, sps, zoas and lps. All seem to be doing very well. I dose alk and nutrition AB+ daily and adjust cal weekly. Tank has been nice and stable.

What I am trying to figure out is the best way to move everything over to the new system, (still dry at the moment). Should I cycle and then move everything over? That was my initial though but it occured to me that the new system would benefit greatly from the established live rock and that would help with the dry rock. If I just transferred over all at once with no cycle it would be like doing a 70% water change. Is that doable going from a 29g to a 100g system? After some water loss it would likely be 80g of new salt water.

Thanks for your thoughts,
Matt

P-Dub · Jul 19, 2021

If it were me, I'd transfer over and just slowly build the aquascape. either way will work. The only caveat is you will likely have some sort of "cycle" whichever way you go.

MarkDarnell · Jul 19, 2021

I transfered my 220gal to my 450gal about a week and a half ago. I added my existing live rock to about 100lbs of new dry Marco rock and new sand. I only have 5 fish, and about 9 anemones, 2 corals. I know I put around 250gal of new water and pumped all of the existing tank water into new tank through the filtration system. I ended up not using all my existing live rock also.

So far so good.

MarkDarnell · Jul 19, 2021

Forgot to add, I do have a diatom outbreak right now, but I expected that.

brandon429 · Jul 19, 2021

Here's how to skip the cycle here in this build

1. Pre rinse all your sand in tap water for hours until it's totally clear. Final rinse in ro

If this was harmful it wouldn't be listed as step one. It's key for enjoyment in new system: cloudless pre rinsed sand is what you want, don't follow groupthink and put up with clouding by skipping this rinse, it's key for enjoyment. We don't need your sandbed bacteria at all, we need cloud free setup instead

2. Move over some or most of your live rock, this effects a skip cycle like marine conventions who never cycle but get 350 tanks ready by a Friday. Swish and twist the live rock in a bucket of saltwater before moving over so it's detritus will be cast off and not moved into the new system.

3. The extra dry rock doesn't factor, don't add bottle bac. This is a bottle bac free job. Fifteen pounds of live rock in the middle display runs any common starting bioload in reefing. Move all your current live rock over in fact, ideally.

The inert rock portion will self activate in about a week or two merely by being in water with live rock

When done post full transition pics for our skip cycle thread