New tank, transfer, small upgrade

[Blue Spot Octopus]

Fusion | 15 AIO Cube Aquarium [Desktop] 4.9
I am going from a 12" cube tank to this tank, I will transfer all of my rock/coral/ fish and water and then add more, I have new sand, should I use 100% new sand or do a small mix of the old sand?

Thanks in advance

 

[Baka Mop]

That's the same tank I have. I think it would depend on how long the old tank has been up and how often you clean the sandbed. Is the new stuff live sand or dry? If you kept the old sand super clean, you might be able to transfer it over without kicking up hydrogen sulfide. I would probably just use all the new sand first if it's live sand, then wash the old sand and mix it in. You might not have to cycle the tank after.
If it's dry sand, I would wash the old sand and put that in first, then use the new sand to fill out the tank. You can then save the rest of the new sand for future builds or upgrades.

For the water, I think you should probably just go with all new water. There isn't much beneficial bacteria floating in the water. They'll be on the rocks, sand, and bio media. So just start with new water.

 

[Blue Spot Octopus]

Thanks, the sand is pretty thin, but I have been having issue with high PO4 is new sand.

PS I like your quote. WC every 2 hours.

 

[brandon429]

read this

Do you reuse your sandbed when upgrading?

I have a 150 gallon tank on order and a 25 gallon tank today. My plan was to move the sandbed over to take advantage of it as a bio diversity seed. However, as I type this I'm watching a video that says not to reuse the sandbed because it has trapped detritus and will cause a cycle. Would you...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[brandon429]

you wouldn't want to use any unrinsed sand at all if you want a safe transfer. if you want to wing it, transfer mud over and risk an unsafe transfer, then used unrinsed sand. transferring unrinsed new sand is simple clouding that may last days on end in a tank you wanted clean on day 1...so you'd rinse any sand at all to pure cleanliness before installing in the new tank.

 

[Blue Spot Octopus]

Thanks I checked out that thread, I will use all new sand. I was not trying to save money I was wondering if you need to seed it.

 

[LordofCinder]

Thanks I checked out that thread, I will use all new sand. I was not trying to save money I was wondering if you need to seed it.

I would rinse the new sand carefully too.
But yes, I normally take about 1 cup of sand from my established tank to seed the new tank.