well as of tonight i have been given a 55 gal tank. It is in good shape and leak proof. Right now i have a mature 30 gal tank that has been running for 7 months. I plan on using everything from my 30 in the new tank. I have 27 pounds of LR and 40 lbs of live sand. I do want to add more live rock and sand of course and that is my question. Should i buy the rock and sand now and put it in another tank (i have spare 10 gal) and let it cycle in there or can i mix everything together in the new 55 gal. My livestock right now is 1 true clown 1 yellow tail damsel 2 turbo's and 3 a. snails. Im looking for any suggestions..Thanks
upgrade to 55gal need some help
- Thread starter cmill4
- Start date
SaltwaterJim
In Memoriam
You should use all new sand in the tank.. If your buying base rock then you don't need to cycle, just add the rock from your 30g and the new baserock to the 55 gallon. I would use all the water you can get out of it and just make up 25 or so new gallons and you should be fine.. Make sure the temp is the same also.. good luck!
SaltwaterJim
In Memoriam
The old sand will be full of nitrates and other stuff if you use all the sand it will stir up everyting and release it into the new tank and you will need to cycle all over again.. i made the mistake when i moved from my 30g to 55 and lost almost everything because i didn't think of this! Yes base rock is just dead rock and if your using base you won't need to cycle it will become live pretty quickly.. You can seed the new tank with like a cupfull of sand from your 30g
Playa-1
In Memoriam
Well considering the old sand is just 7 months old and has a very light bio-load. I think I would likely go ahead and use it. I do see Saltwaterjim's point though and it would not be a bad idea to take the opportunity to change out the sand bed. They do have a limited life. I would not use any sand that came with the 55.
Since your not immediately adding an additional bio-load to the tank then you could cure some additional rock in a separate container or maybe go out and cherry pick yourself a few good pieces of rock that's already cured. It can be done either way.
Buy uncured rock, cure it separately.
Buy cured rock and add it.
It's up to you. Obviously cured rock is a little more expensive.
If it were mine I would be considering using the 55 as the display and the 30 as a sump/fuge. Just food for thought.
Since your not immediately adding an additional bio-load to the tank then you could cure some additional rock in a separate container or maybe go out and cherry pick yourself a few good pieces of rock that's already cured. It can be done either way.
Buy uncured rock, cure it separately.
Buy cured rock and add it.
It's up to you. Obviously cured rock is a little more expensive.
If it were mine I would be considering using the 55 as the display and the 30 as a sump/fuge. Just food for thought.
