Cycling question

dtown47 · Oct 28, 2021

Looking for some advice on upgrading my 29 gallon to my 125. My 29 gallon currently has about 30 lbs of live rock in it as well as about 15-20lbs of sand. I’ve got my 125 filled with saltwater as well as a bunch of sand and some dry rock. Could I immediately transfer all the live rock, sand and filter media as well as the 2 clown fish and the BTA over to the 125 and have a good amount of bacteria to avoid a huge ammonia spike? Or should I let the 125 cycle on it’s own before adding anyone

chipchipbro · Oct 28, 2021

@brandon429 can help you for sure

brandon429 · Oct 28, 2021

This summary will save 49 mins reading the tank transfer thread heh

move live rocks and the corals and fish into new system matching temp and salinity between them. The new tank is just inert surfaces it’s not going to harm anything it’s not full of ammonia etc

the rocks moved over can carry this current system alone, without the sand, per our sand rinse thread. The bac you need come with the rock moved

if you want to leave this sand out, you can

if you want to move it, it must be rinsed to total clarity in tap water, an hour of straight rinsing final rinse in ro, so you don’t cloud up the new tank

brandon429 · Oct 28, 2021

This transfer reverse engineers this way: in the sand rinse thread if you wanted to remove your sandbed right now you could, and be bare bottom no sand. Rocks carry the load instantly

all you are doing is moving that to a new tank with better dilution and now more attachment surfaces you didn’t even need, the fish bioload isn’t increasing. The whole thing works perfectly unless old unrinsed sand is moved, that’s the only way it could go wrong

by mere association alone, no bottle bac required, the inert surfaces catch / can pass independent cycling proof in a bucket/ within 20 days no longer. your biofilter is ready for the fish you want in 20 more days after the move, or instantly if you cheat and add biospira for seven bucks heh. I like to review no purchase required options, so that we all don't become total doserheads for every move in reefing but there are indicated times for the purchase, depending on desired start dates for more fish here.