Transferring Salt Tank to New Tank in Same Location

[thereseC58]

Hello all. Hoping someone can give me guidance on this. I have a 70 gallon, half dome glass salt water tank that I have had for years. Unfortunately, the base I bought with it is deteriorating so I want to purchase a slightly larger new acrylic aquarium with a more sturdier base and put it in the same location (this is the tricky part.) I have fish that I love and have had for years. I thought I would siphen/save as much of the old water is possible in food safe large bins, move the live rock in one bin and then the fish into the other, break down/move the old tank. Then, set up new tank in its spot with new rinsed sand, put in live rock, fill the new tank with the old existing water, fill the tank with 10-15% new water, warm it up and then put fish in the new tank. Will this work? I'm worried about the cycling of the water. What suggestions might you have?

Kindest regards, Therese.

 

[OldReefGuy]

should work with minimal re-cycle, but have some ammo-lock on-hand just in case yo0u get a ammon spike. ..use as much of the old stuff as you can.You dont mention filtration...are you using a sump?.The water, LR and fish you can save in a large brute trash can....doesnt have to be expensive food grade bins....

 

[T Diddy]

Hello all. Hoping someone can give me guidance on this. I have a 70 gallon, half dome glass salt water tank that I have had for years. Unfortunately, the base I bought with it is deteriorating so I want to purchase a slightly larger new acrylic aquarium with a more sturdier base and put it in the same location (this is the tricky part.) I have fish that I love and have had for years. I thought I would siphen/save as much of the old water is possible in food safe large bins, move the live rock in one bin and then the fish into the other, break down/move the old tank. Then, set up new tank in its spot with new rinsed sand, put in live rock, fill the new tank with the old existing water, fill the tank with 10-15% new water, warm it up and then put fish in the new tank. Will this work? I'm worried about the cycling of the water. What suggestions might you have?

Kindest regards, Therese.

That’s pretty much the way you want to do it. You’ll likely see a mini cycle due to the new sand, but adding a Fritz turbo start, or dr Tim’s nitrifying bacteria supplement should mitigate any major water chemistry problems

 

[griss]

Yep, I've done the above quite a few times over the years.