Upgrading tank question

[gavinb612]

I unfortunately made the mistake of settling for a lesser than because it was cheaper, and now I am switching to what I wanted, but my question is, will me moving all my rock, ceramic, marine pure, and possibly some of the water cause a cycle in the new tank? I’m moving from a 24g Aquatop that’s quite overgrown it’s size by now to a Red Sea Reefer 170 (43 total gallons). I’m aware that if you’re say moving from a 10 gallon all the way to something like a 60+ there’s probably gonna be a cycle, but i’m not sure about 20 gallon difference. Another factor is, i’m keeping the rock and adding a good amount of dry rock, but i’m ditching the sand and putting fresh live sand in, as well as adding some bacteria.

I’ve done this before with freshwater, with mostly just media, but i’m not sure if the sand/rock will play a role and possibly cause a cycle? I do know that live rock will because of die off, but as for dry i’m not sure.

Honestly i’m asking so I can get this other tank out of my now crowded area but I tend to be pretty cautious with my fish so I am figuring i’ll end up just dosing bacteria, moving some of the rock and media over, and running through the normal cycle time period while watching the levels, but I’ve yet to make my mind up. Another thing to note is that i’m not really adding anymore fish as soon as I upgrade, just moving everyone over, so no extra filtration needs.

Thanks.

 

[Ron Reefman]

With all your old live rock, new live sand (probably not worth it) and adding bottle bacteria, you are unlikely to have anything but a super small cycle and you may not have one at all.

I upgraded from a 40g to a 90g tank and I never saw any ammonia even just 1 hour after adding some directly to the tank.

 

[Braves Fan]

The one thing I have learned over the years of tank upgrades ,,, the "" Most "" important thing ,, have a understanding wife or husband JMO don't go from a 24g to a 40g ,, go to a 90g at least ,, or you will be doing this again

 

[gavinb612]

The one thing I have learned over the years of tank upgrades ,,, the "" Most "" important thing ,, have a understanding wife or husband JMO don't go from a 24g to a 40g ,, go to a 90g at least ,, or you will be doing this again

I would have liked to, but i’m limited on space, and the 40-60 range is my preferred tank size typically. I can see myself wanting to upgrade at some point, but definitely not until I move out, and I’ve still got 5 more years of my college before that happens. And honestly, i’d probably wanna do a predator tank instead of a coral tank if I went that big.

 

[aurora.k]

I also have the same question,

I'm moving from a Red Sea 250 to a Red Sea 900 (hopefully soon!) and I have a very understanding husband, luckily, who will help me do a semi-built in thing so all the gear is in a wet closet behind the wall behind the tank. (This is my second upgrade, my first was from the small-no-name-do-I-even-like-salt-water to the 250-yes-I-do!, but now we are moving to a bigger house! yippee!)

If I move all the live rock and the media from the sump, I'm thinking that will also be ok? Going to about triple the water, but will probably add new sand. I was thinking I could add in the new rock later if all goes well with the new sand so everything isn't added all at once? Alternately, I could let the new rock cycle in the 250 before I break it down....

Thoughts?