Moving from 20g to 40g help please?

[Reef_at_Sea]

Hello,

i will be buying a 40g tank soon, currently i have a 20g & i'm planning to take my sweet time setting up the new tank & make it everything i want it to be.
But how can i make the cycling on the new tank as short as possible?
My current tank has around 6kg of live rock that i would like to re-use (because it's pretty well cycled rock) but at what time can i move it to the new 40g?
Can i set up the new tank with 12kg of live rock & add the rock from my current tank or will my current tank suffer from this?

My current tank holds 2 clownfish & couple of soft corals + snails.

i was also thinking about starting with dry rock, but that will take way to long i guess.

Can anybody with experience help me with a game plan? this is my first time

 

[Townes_Van_Camp]

Near instant cycle = real ocean live rock and or real ocean sand. If you go this way, you can add your fish and rock and everything else really quickly. Some may say immediately. I would wait until I measured no ammonia and a couple ppm nitrates.

You should still test for nitrates and ammonia though that's your ultimate indicator

 

[Reef_at_Sea]

Instant cycle = real ocean live rock.

I was thinking about using 50% ocean live rock & 50% LFS cycled rock.
The cycled rock from my LFS is pretty good, almost skip cycle material.

 

[Townes_Van_Camp]

I was thinking about using 50% ocean live rock & 50% LFS cycled rock.
The cycled rock from my LFS is pretty good, almost skip cycle material.

You will cycle fast like that. Just test. You will probably still have some form of the uglies also.

It will all pass relatively quickly if you go that direction.

 

[Reef_at_Sea]

You will cycle fast like that. Just test. You will probably still have some. form of the uglies also.

It will all pass relatively quickly if you go that direction.

Yeah, only downside is, no reefscaping.
Just stacking rocks lol

 

[Townes_Van_Camp]

Yeah, only downside is, no reefscaping.
Just stacking rocks lol

Not completely true. You could stack stuff until you are comfortable that your cycle has passed. Then use water tank (JB Water-Weld)/ reef epoxy with super glue to scape, under water, in your reef. It won't hurt a thing.

Or you could take the rocks out and use the same adhesive combo, or just use super glue with baking soda as an accelerator. That sets up instantly and can go in immediately.

 

[buruskeee]

Your live rock and sand has already supported you bioload. Doubling what you have with dry rock will be fine as there won’t be die off. Just don’t add any new fish until your new rocks have been seeded and then add slow.

Just monitor that you’re still seeing nitrates being converted too.

 

[Reef_at_Sea]

Your live rock and sand has already supported you bioload. Doubling what you have with dry rock will be fine as there won’t be die off. Just don’t add any new fish until your new rocks have been seeded and then add slow.

Just monitor that you’re still seeing nitrates being converted too.

So you say i could transfer my live sand, live rock, fish & corals all at once to my new tank & there would be no problem as long as i use dry rock to add more?

 

[Reef_at_Sea]

Up

 

[buruskeee]

So you say i could transfer my live sand, live rock, fish & corals all at once to my new tank & there would be no problem as long as i use dry rock to add more?

I’m saying there should be no change to bioload or capacity, but be cautious … the sand definitely could release nutrients into the water so you should probably give it a quick rinse before putting it into the new tank. Just plan it out and monitor the nitrogen cycle to make sure it’s converting ammonia.

You can add more live rock, but make sure it’s live the whole time you acquire it and add it to the tank - this isn’t a new tank so you don’t really need live rock as your rock is already live and it’s 50% what you need in mass already.

 

[Reef_at_Sea]

Up!

My tank can remove 2ppm ammonia to 0 in 24hours so i think my tank is ready?
I still measure around 1ppm nitrites & i can measure nitrates.
But my tank has alot of neon green algea atm (where the light hits the rock).

Can i move my corals and fish towards my new 40g tank?
it's 1 clownfish, 1 cleaner shrimp, some snails & 4 soft corals.

Thanks!

 

[Reef_at_Sea]

Anyone?

 

[buruskeee]

If you don’t add any additional bioload, then it’s basically the same tank with a 50% water change assuming you reuse the 20g of water. Just increase ammonia producers gradually (don’t double fish stock in one go) in order to make sure you’re allowing the bacteria to keep up with the supply.

EDIT: wait, you cycled the new tank? I thought you were moving everything from the old tank to the new tank? As long as you’re seeing nitrates, you’ll be fine, especially with a single fish.

Corals could have been moved day one, as they actually consume the ammonia directly.

 

[Reef_at_Sea]

If you don’t add any additional bioload, then it’s basically the same tank with a 50% water change assuming you reuse the 20g of water. Just increase ammonia producers gradually (don’t double fish stock in one go) in order to make sure you’re allowing the bacteria to keep up with the supply.

EDIT: wait, you cycled the new tank? I thought you were moving everything from the old tank to the new tank? As long as you’re seeing nitrates, you’ll be fine, especially with a single fish.

Corals could have been moved day one, as they actually consume the ammonia directly.

Yes i did, the new tank can remove 2ppm ammonia within 24 hours and im reading nitrates.

Im still worried about my 1ppm nitrite & the fact that theres alot of neon green algea, grows a film on my glass every single day & on my rock (see me build thread)

 

[buruskeee]

If you transferred the rock from the 20g while keeping the same inhabitants, then you wouldn’t need to cycle again. Algae is a nutrient problem, not a nitrogen cycle problem.

 

[Reef_at_Sea]

If you transferred the rock from the 20g while keeping the same inhabitants, then you wouldn’t need to cycle again. Algae is a nutrient problem, not a nitrogen cycle problem.

I didn’t transfer the rock. I used new live rock & live sand.