Cycling new tank for SPS, How long?

[GSMclowns]

Hello Everyone,

I am upgrading my tank from 75 to 120 gallons. And this is an all SPS tank. The new tank will have 50lbs of dryrock in it.
This is what I am going to do:
1) Move over about 30lbs of old liverock to the new tank to seed the bacteria.
2) Transfer about 60 gallons of old water(over several days) to the new tank.
3) Add in about 60 gallons of freshly mixed saltwater.

So how long do you think I should leave the new tank cycling before moving the fishes and corals over?

Thanks.

 

[markalot]

I'm doing this from a 40 to a 150, so I'm in the same boat.

My opinion on this, such that it's worth, is that old water is meaningless unless you want to add some nutrients, if any, to the new tank. I would also be concerned moving 30 lbs of rock from the 75 since this may leave the 75 biofilter compromised and create a mini cycle as the bacteria tries to catch back up.

My latest plan is to get the new tank running with new water and new rock, planning head as to where the existing rock from ,y 40 will go, and then do the transfer in hours. Making sure tank temp and measurable params are as identical as possible. I figure even though the tank is bigger the bioload will not be changing so moving all the rock will move will prevent any major cycling issues.

I always use Seachem Prime dosed daily for a week to prevent any ammonia problems. Not sure it helps, but it gives me peace of mind that the fish won't be dealing with ammonia issues.

 

[GSMclowns]

I think the old water still have some bacteria in there, that's why I am adding them to the new tank. Of course I throw some fish foods into the new tank to feed the bacteria as well. As for the old tank, I am not worrying too much about spike in ammonia or anything because I will change 15% of water every 2-3 days.

 

[ericsch333]

I just upgrade from a 40 to a 90 and I bought 90 pound of dry rock had 40 pound of seed rock new sand and new water. I just got a bottom of bacteria and used that to start and then used stability for a week. I wait 8 days total then added fish then wait 8 more days and added SPS's slowly.It's been 2 months and I have good growth on most of my SPS's just take your time and you will be able to tell when your ready by testing.

 

[Reefvet]

2) Transfer about 60 gallons of old water(over several days) to the new tank.
3) Add in about 60 gallons of freshly mixed saltwater.

So how long do you think I should leave the new tank cycling before moving the fishes and corals over?

What makes you think it's going to cycle ?

If you're going to take several days moving old water the new rock will have that time to begin to host beneficial bacteria. It will also begin to leach any phosphates if it has any.

And you don't mention what kind of bio load you're expecting the new tank to support. What are you moving ?

In the 40 years I've been in this hobby I've found that if a third of the rock in a new tank is moved from an established tank it will be ready to support a typical bio load. Typical meaning you aren't heavily stocking the tank from day 1.

 

[GSMclowns]

I have 1 Yellow Tang, 2 Lyretail Anthias, 2 True Perc Clowns, 2 Yellow Tail Damsels, 1 Royal Gramma, and 1 Cardinal.

I think I will wait 8 weeks for it to cycle to be sure. But if I get impatient toward the end, I think I will move them over after 6 weeks.

 

[Reefvet]

I have 1 Yellow Tang, 2 Lyretail Anthias, 2 True Perc Clowns, 2 Yellow Tail Damsels, 1 Royal Gramma, and 1 Cardinal.

I think I will wait 8 weeks for it to cycle to be sure. But if I get impatient toward the end, I think I will move them over after 6 weeks.

Waiting can't hurt but measure the water and I'll put money on you never see nitrites or elevated nitrates. It's not going to cycle.

 

[Bpb]

http://www.austinreefclub.com/topic/31030-bpbs-90-gallon-sps-dominant/

I recently just upgraded a 55 gallon sps dominant reef to a 90 gallon. I'm now 2 weeks into the new tank since swap day. Not only did I go up in size but I also changed from T5HO in the old tank to metal halide in the new one. This thread chronicles my tank swap from the day I picked up the new tank filthy and unclean, to pictures I took tonight. Hope this helps.

 

[tofucube]

If you are going to use that much rock and water from old tank then you won't see any cycle. Test your phosphate because chances are the dry rock will leach. Reefvet is spot on. If you want to make sure, then I would test regularly for Alk and once that stays consistent then you can pretty much start moving the sticks over.