upgrading procedure suggestions

[pass1over]

ok, ive been trying to do as much research as I can to make this transition as stress free for my little aqua-world as possible, but i'd like to see some others opinions. Here goes:

current have 55gal + sump with skimmer in it
upgrading to a 75gal + larger sump + fuge

Im going to need more sand and rock to fill the tank a bit more and this is where I run into issues. I bought 25lbs of cured base rock (not arrived yet) but havent bought sand yet.

I was thinking of buying like 20 lbs of live sand, 20lbs of "dead" sand and putting all that in the new tank, along with the base rock and a piece or 2 of live rock from my tank (approx 5 yr old tank). Then, a week or so later, drain half the water and add the rest of my stock into the new tank.

Since my tank has been up and running for so long, how much of a cycle will it go through if I just added it all into the new tank? additions would be approx 35gal of water, 35lbs of sand(mixed live and not) and 25lbs of base rock

[hummer]

just along for the ride good luck....

[Iconz]

well, here's some things to think about bud...

- When you stirr up your sand thats currently in your tank, you're likely to get some deterius stirred up. This is probably going to cause some sort of nutrient spike.

- Adding anything "live" will give you a mini-cycle. The best way to avoid one is to make sure that your stuff is well-cured... Take your sand and rock, put it in a rubbermaid tub w/ a heater and a ph for a couple of weeks, do a few huge water changes, then put it in your tank.

- You'll want to wash your dead sand very well... adding it in the tub with the above two (after washing) will help as well.

- I would add it all in at the same time, to avoid a prolonged mini cycle.

I went back and re-read your entire post... Lemme make sure I'm understand this right, cuz I don't think I did the first time...

You're Completely tearing down your 55g, and putting its contents into a 75g?
You're increasing your sump size.
You didn't have a fuge before, but you will now...?

Just makin sure... Hope this helps a lil...

-JD

[pass1over]

yes, completely tearing down my 55gal, increasing tank and sump size and adding a fuge.

im aware of the silt in the bags of dead sand, was planning on rinsing it VERY well.

im pretty sure all the sand and rock thats in my current tank is well cured. Even though the base rock im getting says its cured, I should still cure it here on my own as well?

Thanks for all the help.

[Iconz]

In your situation, I would. Not for as long as you would Un-cured rock. But Maybe a week or two. I say this because, you're already going to have a mini-cycle from stirring up your sand that's currently in your tank.

So, adding more LR in there will only increase the severity of it, IF there is any un-decayed or still decaying organisims on it... IE: die-off from shipping. Giving this new rock a week or two in a QT with good flow and large water changes will assure to help keep those dead organisms out of your tank. Which, in turn, reduces the chance of another mini-cycle from happening, or at least, reduces the severity of the mini-cycle.

Hope that made sence.

[perpetual98]

If you're waiting for the rock to cure before moving everything into the 75, then curing it for a little bit is a good idea. If you're moving everything to the 75 and the 75 is running for a couple weeks, then I wouldn't bother curing it, I would just put it all in at the same time. Reason being that even if you move everything from the 55 to the 75, you're going to have a small cycle, just because everything is stirred up. All of the benthic organisms that are buried in your sand now will be introduced back into the water column and that's bound to cycle you a bit. I'd rather have one larger cycle than draw out smaller cycles over a period of a few weeks.

Eric

[dakar]

Can you define what you mean by "cured base rock"? It's kind of contradicting itself.

When curing live rock you are for all intents and purposes cycling the rock to remove the majority of die off in a container separate from your dispaly tank/system. Curing base rock (land rock) in my way of thinking would do little to nothing besides maybe moving some of the minerals from the surface of the rock to the curing tanks water.

The time needed for base rock to become live rock is not short by any means, 6-12 months to populate with nitrifying bacteria would be a good estimate for medium porosity type rock.

IMO, exceeding 20-25% base rock to Live Rock yields little gain in the near term, adding a few pieces of base rock to an established LR system every couple of months is the better route. Allowing the bacteria colonies to establish and spread to the base rocks over time rather than having a huge void if using larger quantities.

Though frowned on by some, we use plenty of base rocks, most if which nobody could tell thier origin after a year or so without smashing it to see the inner layers.

[Iconz]

I'd rather have one larger cycle than draw out smaller cycles over a period of a few weeks.

Eric

Really? I figured the increased spike of nutrients would be worse on the livestock than the prolonged exposure to said nutrients... But, again I'm very new, and could be wrong.

[pass1over]

I bought what they were calling "fully cured base rock"

my 55gallon currently has id say 50 to 70lbs of live rock in it. Im a bad guesstimate on weight, so once I get the 25lbs in, I can give a better guess as to how much LR I currently have. But id say my first guess is close.

my plan was to put it down first, then my LR around and on top of the base rock

[pass1over]

Heres a link to the base rock I bought ... they claim its fulyl cured and ready to use.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...6451&rd=1&rd=1