Tank Upgrade - Cycling process ?

k2- · Aug 22, 2023

Hey Folks question :

My upgrade tank is going to inhert:

1) Rock from my existing sump as well as quite a few rock from my existing reef tank (atleast 40 lb)
2) Alot of rock was cured and is been cycling from past 10 days and most probably another 10 days before it goes into tank
3) A dry rock aquascape (as pictured in my build thread)
4) Live sand
5) Tank will run my existing zeovit reactor until i retire it in few months (why change whats been working)
6) Content of my refugium

I do have KZ zeoBak which i do intend to keep dosing for the health of my tank

Question :

Do i still need to wait for 15-30 days before i can start moving the fish / coral ?
Any other consideration on cycling process ?
if i am bringing most of the content of my existing refugium - How soon can i move my mandarin dragons into the new tank ?

Come to think of it , Am i not just changing the glass cage, new sand and electronics (pump, flow etc) - while all live stuff (60% + rocks, refugium, etc are still the same), Am I over thinking this ?

UtahReefer · Aug 23, 2023

You'll find all kinds of info on the forum as to how people have done this. Many prefer different ways. What I can say that IMO I would cure the rock for a longer period. I recently did a transfer to a larger system. I broke up some of the rock (pest free) from the smaller system and put it in the new sump during the transfer. The rock / aquascape for the new system was dry AF dry rock. I cured this for several months pryer to the transfer. During that period I dosed multiple sources of bacteria daily / weekly and AF Life Source (mud from Fiji). You need time for the bacteria to colonize / multiply into the rock. You'll know when it's working correctly when the ammonia levels drop from the food source you initially put in. The better the rock is prepared, the easier time you will have. My new system has been running for two months now. No ugly phase and relatively good stability for a transfer. Best of luck with your new system, always and exciting time!

Mr. Mojo Rising · Aug 23, 2023

I've done a couple of upgrades, I take the rocks from existing tank to new tank, then move the fish over to the new tank. The nitrifying bacteria is in the rocks. If your 40 lbs of rocks supported your fish before, it will still support the fish in the new tank even if you add new rocks.

But I like to do it the way you are doing it, which is cure (or cycle) the rocks in a seperate container before adding to the new tank. But I do it for several months, and I put a damsel in the tank with the rocks.

I would suggest to you to put your newly cured rocks on the bottom, and stack your old rocks on top, this will limit the algae growth. (it takes several months of rock cycling to completely avoid the algae)