Transitioning to a new tank, looking for advice

[VoiceInTheDeser]

I'm transitioning to a larger tank (taking my 20L up to a 40B) and I'm curious what opinions you all might have regarding how is best to move the rock/sand/livestock.

My initial thought was put the clean sand in the new tank with a few pieces of rubble from the old setup and let it go for a few weeks. I figure when the cycle is done, add the sand/rock from the old setup, let it settle/skim for a few hours while fish and corals sit in buckets and then add them in when the dust clears.

My current sand bed is not very deep and was actually recently disturbed rather significantly when I moved, so I'm not super worried about a nitrate spike when I stir it up again.

So any opinions are welcome, just looking for personal experience advice.

 

[vincent92]

20 gallon to 40 gallon?

 

[82ndengineer]

Your plan sounds good and should work well. Just plan on having saltwater on hand in case of an emergency.

 

[woodwrangler]

How old is the old sand?
Adding more rock?
What types of corals?

 

[VoiceInTheDeser]

Yeah, it's a 20 gallon to 40 gallon.

The sand has been in the tank as long as the tank has been active, so a little over two years. I'll be adding a bit more rock, my plan was to put that in with the few pieces of rubble and let it seed while I waited for the tank to cycle.

Corals are mostly LPS and Zoas.

 

[82ndengineer]

If the sand is that old you may want to just use a scoop or two and get new sand for the rest. The old sand may have some stored up stuff you don't want transferred over.

 

[Henchman24]

If you have the time to cycle the new tank for a few weeks that is a great plan. The only thing that would concern me is transferring of all the old sand from the 20 gallon to the 40 gallon after the cycle completes. I don't think it is worth the risk / hassle. I would start with all new sand in the 40b but add a few cups from the 20 into the 40b when you start cycling it to seed it. Then when the 40 gallon finishes cycling you can transfer the remaining live rock & livestock over without risking a nitrate spike from the old sand. This would eliminate putting the fish in buckets as the sand would already be settled. I would just throw away or give away the sand left in the 20 gallon tank.

 

[vincent92]

If you can post pics before during and after. I'd like to know for near future when I move how I will do so