Upsizing tank question?

[SmyrnaReefer]

upsizing from 75g to 125g. what is the best way to come up with the new 50gallons of water. i am assuming it would be bad to add new water with the 75i already have. im trying not to cycle a new tank.

i also have a freind taking down his 75g tank. would it be bad to mix his current water with my current water on the day of the move to make up my 125 gallons.

any suggestions would be appreciatted........thx

 

[supertech99]

Adding 50 gallons of new water is the way i would do it unless you have nutrient issues it sounds good to me. I would not add tank water from another tank into mine, not even the little bit that I get from the fish store with frags or fish. The majority of your bacteria is not free swimming it is attached to hard surfaces so as long as you plan to transplant everything and do not introduce any more bioload you should be good although you will proibally need to skim and do a wc soon after the transplant as you will kick up some detritus when you start moving around old rock! Good luck

 

[andywe]

I agree with supertech 100%. Making up new water would be the safest way imo.

 

[Deep Thief]

^^^^What they said ^^^^ just add new water, you are doing a 40% WC on your new tank before you even set it up:lmao:

 

[MVlk]

If you can get the new tank setup in place before the change, mix up about 75 gallons of water in it a few days before the transfer. Do not do just the bare minimum as you are likely to need more. I.e. the last 10 gallons of so in the tank are like to be heavily polluted with junk from the gravel being stirred up. More will be lost for other various reasons.

If you are putting the new tank in the same place as the old, things get trickier. I would suggest buying 2 or more large garbage cans to pre-mix your water. Some local people to you may have one you can borrow.

What are you doing for the gravel/sand? That can be another pain to move as well. I moved a tank or two in the last year and the gravel was the riskiest part in my mind. A lot of junk gets trapped in there. Ideally you could start with fresh gravel. If that is not $$ possible, try to rinse the old stuff in saltwater before adding to the tank. There goes some more water... hence the need for plenty on hand.

 

[SmyrnaReefer]

thanks for all the suggestions. i will have the new tank in a new location which makes it easier. i plan on adding new water and new sand into the tank a couple of days before the transfer, possibly 4-5 days. thats my plan so far but suggestions are still welcome.

 

[MVlk]

Having the new tank in place is ideal. Get the new sand in with about 75 gallons pre-mixed. Toss in a heater and powerhead for a few days. You move should be fairly easy then. Good luck! You can always add the old sand after a rinse to the sump if you plan to have a refugium in there.

 

[SmyrnaReefer]

when adding the new sand and new water, should i seed the sand with a little from my existing tank. If so, should i do it before or after i bring eveything over?

 

[commonstranger]

I would say do a water change on the tank you have now and save the water from it in containers. Then I would make some new water to add as well. When I started up the new tank I would add the water from the water channge,the water in the tank I was transfering from and the new water all to the new tank. I would also say to seed with some of your old sand. If you like the old sand then I woud add all of it to the new tank. I just dont like taking a chance on my new tank cycling and killing some of my stuff. I should have a new tank within two weeks and this is what I'll be doing it. I wish you the best.

 

[SmyrnaReefer]

Thanks everyone for the help and info. Tank has been up for nearly 3 weeks and everything seems to be going good. please check out some pics at my so called website.
i will try to add more pics as i try and figure out my camera
thanks again.....

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