# Question about changing my tank



## andy (Jun 26, 2012)

My bc 29 is running for one and five months now with bioballs, I gonna upgrade to a bigger tank and i think i am not gonna keep the bioballs but i will put live rocks in the sump of the new tank. So is there gonna be a mini cycle in the new tank or i should keep the bioballs? I know I can cycle the new tank first before putting anything into it but i dont have space for running two tank in my house so i need some advice for it please. I have 29 lbs live rock in the bc 29 and i will buy some more for the new display tank. Actually i just change it to a standard 29 gallon becuase i dont want a square tank anymore and i can have a sepbrate 10g sump under the stand plus there is more room in the standard 29g.


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## violet (Jun 29, 2006)

I think you should be fine. When I started my tank I went to Hamilton (Im in Mississauga) I bought the live rock with corals and fish from someone there. Took everything from his tank including water. Transported everything and put it in my tank, I only lost two corals and there were Sps. Everything else was fine.


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## DamFish (Feb 9, 2012)

From my recent reading, you won't see the cycle as you will be moving the good bacteria in the bioballs and live rock. 
The cycle is the process of waiting for the good bacteria to develop


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## CRJ (Sep 7, 2012)

DamFish said:


> From my recent reading, you won't see the cycle as you will be moving the good bacteria in the bioballs and live rock.
> The cycle is the process of waiting for the good bacteria to develop


wrong, the cycle is any die off of bacteria, and the transformation of waste from ammonia to nitrite then nitrate.

you will see a cycle, just disturbing your rocks. your fish will survive it, and most corals will as well.

be sure the water your adding is the proper temp/salinity, and that its been mixed for 24hrs+. think of it as a big cleaning in the tank. keep your rock wet, do not rinse your sand. get the sand in wet, get the rock in, add water, let run till its almost clear, add fish. you can keep the fish in a bucket with a heater and small pump for up to 3-4hrs without concern.

OR, setup a tank at a friends house. i will be taking on a friends tank while they renovate, and im happy to take care of them.

also, just so you are aware. live rock is much more pourus then bioballs, giving more bacteria per object then any other item. meaning, if you have live rock, your bioballs are pointless and can actually increase your waste trapped in your tank. I would remove them, and add a bit more rock. take a look at my setup if your wondering a way to run LR in a filter.


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## andy (Jun 26, 2012)

violet said:


> I think you should be fine. When I started my tank I went to Hamilton (Im in Mississauga) I bought the live rock with corals and fish from someone there. Took everything from his tank including water. Transported everything and put it in my tank, I only lost two corals and there were Sps. Everything else was fine.


So ur filtration is new when u putting the everything in?



DamFish said:


> From my recent reading, you won't see the cycle as you will be moving the good bacteria in the bioballs and live rock.
> The cycle is the process of waiting for the good bacteria to develop


I am not gonna move the bioballs to the new tank



CRJ said:


> wrong, the cycle is any die off of bacteria, and the transformation of waste from ammonia to nitrite then nitrate.
> 
> you will see a cycle, just disturbing your rocks. your fish will survive it, and most corals will as well.
> 
> ...


Nice upgrade  how many gallon of ur new tank and how many pounds of live rocks in ur sump? For the sand I gonna buy 30lbs new live sand for the new tank so i just keep the water and the live rocks.


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## DamFish (Feb 9, 2012)

CRJ said:


> wrong, the cycle is any die off of bacteria, and the transformation of waste from ammonia to nitrite then nitrate.
> 
> you will see a cycle, just disturbing your rocks. your fish will survive it, and most corals will as well.
> 
> ...


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## sig (Dec 13, 2010)

DamFish said:


> CRJ said:
> 
> 
> > Wrong is such a harsh & decisive word. Try disagreeing or IMO instead of telling someone their opinion or interpretation is wrong
> ...


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## andy (Jun 26, 2012)

Yea i really scare to move the sand bed, i think should just leave it and buy new live sand. For the sump, how many live rocks do i need in a 10g sump?


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## duckhams (Oct 13, 2009)

Depending on your bioload, I would just move the live rock from the display over to the new setup. No bio-balls, no sand. Let the tank establish for a few weeks, do water changes as needed (things will spike, water changes will be your life saver) , then slowly add the sand with a 2 Litre coke bottle to reduce the dust. Same with the live rock, go slow, or add dry rock to your sump one piece every few weeks so that nothing spikes. 
By not adding the sand right away you will leave time for all the detritus on the rocks that's shifted during transport to be siphoned off the bare bottom keeping your ammonia, nitrates and phosphates down. (Short answer, but you get the idea). Good luck!


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## duckhams (Oct 13, 2009)

Dont worry too much about starting another cycle, focus on keeping water quality up. The results will be better than trying to control a cycle. As a rule of thumb, if it will negatively effect water quality, dont do it.


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## sig (Dec 13, 2010)

I know million people will have million opinions.

You can always do things in very complicated way and you can achieve the same result in the easy way.

I had experience with increasing size of the tank 3 times 29 >>80 >>> 120>>>> 150

to say more the new tanks always went on the same place where previous tank was standing.

The process was always the same and I never lost a coral or fish. I do not push anybody to follow my advice, but just share experience hoping it will help.

I always use the old sand, after quick rinsing in RO water. why to waste money and dispose old sand? I also assume than even after quick rinse using kitchen strainer it still have a bacteria inside.

Here is the process: 
(your new tank is has already washed new sand inside and is on the stand"

drain enough water from the tank to the buckets/tanks to accept corals and fishes
take corals to the baskets 
Live Rock to the buckets 
Fishes to the buckets 
drain remaining water to the baskets, but leave 1-2 inches of the water in the tank
put one side of the old tank on one or two 2X4 and start to pick sand using kitchen strainer (dirty water will leak back to the old tank)
rinse it quickly in the basket with RO water and put old sand in the new tank
mix with hand old and new sand
start to fill new tank with a new water (heated) start to make structure with existing Live Rock ( if you have cured rock, add it also)
drain water to the tank from baskets which holded LR 
put corals in the tank >>> put this water in the new tank
start circulation (good to have sponge sitting somewhere to accept dirt)
after hour or 2 add fishes

for sure you will need to arrange LR later. For me just to switch from 120 to 150 took more than 12 hours by 2 people.

I always run carbon and GFO on all tanks and probably it also helped to avoid ma many problems and for sure water changes

Good luck

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## duckhams (Oct 13, 2009)

Sounds like another good method.


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## andy (Jun 26, 2012)

Yes sounds like a gd advice. Thank you SIG. For standard 29g, i gonna get a hydor 600 and a 450-500ghp return pump and also i had nano hydor 425, is this gd enough flow for SPS?


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## andy (Jun 26, 2012)

Thanks for the advice too duckham


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## duckhams (Oct 13, 2009)

andy said:


> Thanks for the advice too duckham


That's what we're here for!


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## sig (Dec 13, 2010)

you will not be able to point 600 on the front glass - it will blow sand. I run 600 in parallel to the back wall on my 24x16x16, but I do not have corals in path of the 600. I use it to push water in the overflow box. I prefer more small power heads them one but very powerful.

I assume your return line will be used as flow also and I would go with 3 x425s. It will help to eliminate dead spots.

.. but it is very personal and will also depend on the type of corals and their location

you can see below how I locate power heads. I also has ~ 250GPH return line on the left. I have there 2 x 425 and 1 X 600 and 2 returns ~ 300 in total

[URL=http://s258.photobucket.com/user/Sig_1959/media/DSC04592_zpsad86b10b.jpg.html]

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