Upgrading to bigger aquarium questions

[jp1986]

Hello everyone,

I currently have a 65 gallon reef tank that I will transferring to a new 150 gallon tank. Want to run my thoughts by you guys on how I am going to do this and see if there is anything I am not thinking of!

I have a 40 breeder that I will put some of the water from the 65 in and the current live stock in as well while I get the 150 all set up. No live rock will be in there as I need to set up the new aquascape with it. The livestock should be fine for the couple hours or so they are in there until they go in the new tank correct? It will have a heater and a powerhead.

I plan to put the live rock in a container with fresh salt water as I am working on the new aquascape. Do I even need to do that or can I they be out of water for a little bit while I work on the new scape? Not sure how long it will take me to get the scape just the way I want it!

Once the rock is set I will put in the dry special grade sand I have rinsed with RODI water. I will also seed that with a little bit of live sand from the old 65 gallon. Would I be better then to mix up the salt water ahead of time or just fill the tank with RODI water and mix right in the tank? Probably better to mix the saltwater ahead of time for all the live stuff of the live rock i'm thinking...

I will use some of the old water from the 65 gallon tank in the new aquarium as well. Plan to take the live stock out of the 40 breeder I had them in, get them in buckets to start drip acclimating, and use the rest of the water I had put in the 40 breeder in the new 150. I also have a marine pure block I had in the 65 gallon that will go in the new sump to help with any mini cycle on the new tank.

Anything I am no thinking of?

 

[HeyJay]

If anything I think you're overthinking. I don't think you'll need to drip acclimate your fish into the new tank if the temp and salinity match. And I don't think you'll have any type of mini cycle if your rock isn't out of water for long.

I'm about to start a similar upgrade. Currently filling the new tank with RODI about 3/4 of the way, then I'll mix in salt. After salinity and temperature is right, I'll add the rinsed dry sand, then start moving the live rock over.

If you want to reuse water from the old tank, drain it out and store it somewhere first. Once you start moving rocks and kicking up sand, the water is going to get dirty fast.

 

[Kryptonian]

Great upgrade! Gonna list out some stuff..

1. The live rock can sit out for a while as long as it stays wet. Bacteria is pretty hardy.
2. Livestock will be completely fine hanging out in the breeder for a few hours.
3. For sand, seeding with old sand probably isn't worth it as the old sand can have a buildup of bad stuff like nitrate, phosphate, ammonia, and old detritus. Just go all new imo.
4. Old water does not bring any beneficial bacteria with it so the only reason to use old water is so your parameters don't change too quickly and shock livestock. If temp, salinity, pH, alk and all that good stuff is pretty much exactly the same, the more newly mixed water the better.
5. For similar reason, mix salt in buckets then add to tank. If your rock is already in the tank, better to not dump a bunch of raw salt in there.

Your live rock and the marine pure block will probably bypass the cycle, though you might have a mini cycle doubling your tank size. (Edit - You're right tank size does Not matter, only bioload. So no new fish, your bioload is the same and you'll stay cycled).

 

[HeyJay]

though you might have a mini cycle doubling your tank size.

I don't think the tank size matters so much as the bioload. Assuming a bunch of new fish aren't being added in at the same time, the bacteria is already there to handle to current bioload.

 

[jp1986]

Thanks for the help! Knew I was overthinking it too much but it's my dream build so want to make sure it's done right. Been at this for over 15 years but still second guess sometimes!