Upgrading tank size, can I transfer water?

JDM_SOHC · 01/14/2012, 06:05 PM

I'm upgrading from my 30g mixed reef to a 55g or 75g and just trying to figure out if I can use the water from the 30g and transfer it to my new setup to speed up the acclimation/cycle process.. I'm not sure if cycling is for any new tank or if by using water that I know is perfect, will it speed up my process.. Thanks..

sporto0 · 01/14/2012, 06:13 PM

You may get a slight argument here but using old water will not speed up the process, very little if any of the colonized bacteria is free floating, it is attached to your rock or glass or bio media in your filter, in fact I always feel new water is better, now the only good thing I can think of about the old water is it might have some ammonia in it which will initiate the cycle, but you must still throw in a cocktail shrimp or fish food to ensure you have started the nitrogen cycle.

divewsharks · 01/14/2012, 06:22 PM

You can use some of the water, but I wouldn't use it; especially after your stir up the sand and rock and it gets all cloudy/dirty.

Saltydrip · 01/14/2012, 06:27 PM

But if you are using all the old rock and substrate and your tank is already alive you won't get much of a cycle. I just did the same thing. I swapped over everything, water and all. I had a slight spike of ammonia and a ton of nitrates fire up from totally overturning the crushed coral. I ended up swapping the coral out for sand and my chemistry is back under control after 2 weeks. If you do the same substrate swap I would cut your new sand half plain dry sand and half live sand. Jumping to a bigger body of water you need all the bio you have if your going to keep your fish alive.

reefergeorge · 01/14/2012, 07:57 PM

If you are doing a tank swap then use as much tank water as possible so the fish and corals don't have a huge shock, but it won't speed up the cycle imo.. I switched from a 90 to a 125 in 12 hrs without any losses.

divewsharks · 01/15/2012, 12:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by divewsharks

You can use some of the water, but I wouldn't use it; especially after your stir up the sand and rock and it gets all cloudy/dirty.

mine should have read: .....but I wouldn't use MORE THAN HALF OF IT;.....

Typing on an iPad, not always easy.....

JDM_SOHC · 01/15/2012, 07:33 PM

even tho I'm going from a 30 to a 55, wouldn't just about all the water in the 30g be about half of what the 55g can handle anyways..?? May be wrong, just doing quick math in my head lol...

DrBegalke · 01/15/2012, 08:30 PM

You can use the water. Transferring the live rock is what will speed the cycle though.
I would not transfer more then a cup full of sand though.

BlueDartReefer · 01/15/2012, 11:09 PM

We upgraded our 90G to a 265G about seven months ago. I used almost all the existing water and rock and about four gallons of the existing sand. To this we added about 100 pounds of live rock and 100 pounds of new sand. Four days later the water passed all tests and we moved all coral and fish over with no problems.

Reefing Newbie · 01/15/2012, 11:25 PM

I wouldn't use the water or all of it. I would use the water from some water changes on the 30 to help match up the water chemistry. Don't use any of your sand, but maybe a cop to seed the new sand because your sand is probably holding lots of detritus.

JDM_SOHC · 01/24/2012, 08:10 AM

i dont have any sand currently, but i do plan on adding sand to the new tank...

jerpa · 01/24/2012, 12:02 PM

You shouldn't see a cycle in the tank if you move your live rock over. I just transferred from a 29 to a 120. I put new sand and dry rock in the 120 and filled the system the day before. The day of I removed the livestock then transferred the rock and about half the sand from the 29 over. I rinsed the rock in a bucket before putting it in the 120. Coral and fish were fine in a bucket with a heater, powerhead, and a small piece of rock. I let the dust clear from adding the sand, did an ammonia check, and put the fish and corals in the new tank. From taking the livestock out of the old tank to putting them in the new tank was about 6 hours.

If you plan on adding more live rock I would cure it separately and add it to the tank once its cycled. The rock you already have will support your current livestock until you can add the cured rock or you can cure it beforehand and add everything at the same time.

pkirby · 01/24/2012, 03:43 PM

You can keep some of your existing water or you can ditch it and use all new water... The benefit of using part of the existing water is that it helps match the parameters by dilution... new water may have very different parameters than the water that's currently in your tank. As long as you get the temp, ph, and salinity of the new water to match the current tank water you should avoid a shock from transferring the fish to the new tank. It doesn't have to be exact, but it should be very similar. For example, ph of 8.1 vs 8.2 isn't going to matter... but ph of 8.4 vs 8.0 would matter.

As mentioned by someone else, your current rock will be enough to support the current livestock. Don't immediately add new fish and corals since you have more room... let things settle and go from there. Also as mentioned, I'd let new live rock cure in a separate container and I would add it to the new larger tank over time depending on how much additional rock you are adding.

JDM_SOHC · 01/24/2012, 03:51 PM

I def dont plan on adding new anything once I get the tank setup... I actually have about a week or so that I can use the old tank before I plan on switching to the new one... I just got the tank it's a 55 gallon, nice lil upgrade from the 30, but still not to big for my lil apartment... I'm doing a water change this week so once I do the water change I'll use about 9 gallons for the new tank and fill the rest with all new water and than give it a few days to do it's thing... Thanks for ur input guys, anybody else wanna chime in feel free...

01/14/2012, 06:05 PM	#1
JDM_SOHC Registered Member Join Date: May 2011 Location: 239, Lee County Posts: 369	Upgrading tank size, can I transfer water? I'm upgrading from my 30g mixed reef to a 55g or 75g and just trying to figure out if I can use the water from the 30g and transfer it to my new setup to speed up the acclimation/cycle process.. I'm not sure if cycling is for any new tank or if by using water that I know is perfect, will it speed up my process.. Thanks..

01/14/2012, 06:27 PM	#4
Saltydrip Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2012 Posts: 1,826	But if you are using all the old rock and substrate and your tank is already alive you won't get much of a cycle. I just did the same thing. I swapped over everything, water and all. I had a slight spike of ammonia and a ton of nitrates fire up from totally overturning the crushed coral. I ended up swapping the coral out for sand and my chemistry is back under control after 2 weeks. If you do the same substrate swap I would cut your new sand half plain dry sand and half live sand. Jumping to a bigger body of water you need all the bio you have if your going to keep your fish alive. __________________ Current tank 48" 75g DT w/ 55g sump/fuge.

01/14/2012, 07:57 PM	#5
reefergeorge Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: St Louis MO Posts: 4,222	If you are doing a tank swap then use as much tank water as possible so the fish and corals don't have a huge shock, but it won't speed up the cycle imo.. I switched from a 90 to a 125 in 12 hrs without any losses. __________________ $35-50 for a <1" frag of some stupid named thing that came from a colony you bought for $40-60 wholesale and chopped into 20-40 pieces? No thanks. "JasonH" Current Tank Info: 125 aggressive reef, DIY led lighting, swc cone skimmer, 33 gallon sump, posiden Ps3 return.

01/15/2012, 08:30 PM	#8
DrBegalke Go Buckeyes! Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Phoenix area, AZ Posts: 2,599	You can use the water. Transferring the live rock is what will speed the cycle though. I would not transfer more then a cup full of sand though. __________________ ~Jason Begalke Current Tank Info: Latest project: JBJ Cubey

01/14/2012, 06:13 PM	#2
sporto0 Moved On Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Pittsburgh, Pa. Posts: 2,924	You may get a slight argument here but using old water will not speed up the process, very little if any of the colonized bacteria is free floating, it is attached to your rock or glass or bio media in your filter, in fact I always feel new water is better, now the only good thing I can think of about the old water is it might have some ammonia in it which will initiate the cycle, but you must still throw in a cocktail shrimp or fish food to ensure you have started the nitrogen cycle.

01/14/2012, 06:22 PM	#3
divewsharks Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: San Jose, CA Posts: 1,905	You can use some of the water, but I wouldn't use it; especially after your stir up the sand and rock and it gets all cloudy/dirty.

01/15/2012, 07:33 PM	#7
JDM_SOHC Registered Member Join Date: May 2011 Location: 239, Lee County Posts: 369	even tho I'm going from a 30 to a 55, wouldn't just about all the water in the 30g be about half of what the 55g can handle anyways..?? May be wrong, just doing quick math in my head lol...

01/15/2012, 11:09 PM	#9
BlueDartReefer Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Lehi, UT Posts: 77	We upgraded our 90G to a 265G about seven months ago. I used almost all the existing water and rock and about four gallons of the existing sand. To this we added about 100 pounds of live rock and 100 pounds of new sand. Four days later the water passed all tests and we moved all coral and fish over with no problems.

01/15/2012, 11:25 PM	#10
Reefing Newbie Registered Member. Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Minnesota Posts: 2,435	I wouldn't use the water or all of it. I would use the water from some water changes on the 30 to help match up the water chemistry. Don't use any of your sand, but maybe a cop to seed the new sand because your sand is probably holding lots of detritus.

01/24/2012, 08:10 AM	#11
JDM_SOHC Registered Member Join Date: May 2011 Location: 239, Lee County Posts: 369	i dont have any sand currently, but i do plan on adding sand to the new tank...

01/24/2012, 12:02 PM	#12
jerpa Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Pittsburgh Posts: 2,174	You shouldn't see a cycle in the tank if you move your live rock over. I just transferred from a 29 to a 120. I put new sand and dry rock in the 120 and filled the system the day before. The day of I removed the livestock then transferred the rock and about half the sand from the 29 over. I rinsed the rock in a bucket before putting it in the 120. Coral and fish were fine in a bucket with a heater, powerhead, and a small piece of rock. I let the dust clear from adding the sand, did an ammonia check, and put the fish and corals in the new tank. From taking the livestock out of the old tank to putting them in the new tank was about 6 hours. If you plan on adding more live rock I would cure it separately and add it to the tank once its cycled. The rock you already have will support your current livestock until you can add the cured rock or you can cure it beforehand and add everything at the same time.

01/24/2012, 03:43 PM	#13
pkirby Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Posts: 408	You can keep some of your existing water or you can ditch it and use all new water... The benefit of using part of the existing water is that it helps match the parameters by dilution... new water may have very different parameters than the water that's currently in your tank. As long as you get the temp, ph, and salinity of the new water to match the current tank water you should avoid a shock from transferring the fish to the new tank. It doesn't have to be exact, but it should be very similar. For example, ph of 8.1 vs 8.2 isn't going to matter... but ph of 8.4 vs 8.0 would matter. As mentioned by someone else, your current rock will be enough to support the current livestock. Don't immediately add new fish and corals since you have more room... let things settle and go from there. Also as mentioned, I'd let new live rock cure in a separate container and I would add it to the new larger tank over time depending on how much additional rock you are adding.

01/24/2012, 03:51 PM	#14
JDM_SOHC Registered Member Join Date: May 2011 Location: 239, Lee County Posts: 369	I def dont plan on adding new anything once I get the tank setup... I actually have about a week or so that I can use the old tank before I plan on switching to the new one... I just got the tank it's a 55 gallon, nice lil upgrade from the 30, but still not to big for my lil apartment... I'm doing a water change this week so once I do the water change I'll use about 9 gallons for the new tank and fill the rest with all new water and than give it a few days to do it's thing... Thanks for ur input guys, anybody else wanna chime in feel free...