Upgrading tanks soon. How to make a seamless transition?

[Danyole]

Hey everyone i'm looking to upgrade my Fluval 15G to a Red Sea Reefer 250 (55 Gallons) in the next week or so and trying to make as few mistakes as possible. I ran some bio media in my tank but not nearly enough for my new tank. I purchased ceramic bio media sticks to go in my sump but was wondering if I did a water change and tossed in the media along with my old tank water with an air stone would it help seed the media? I could add a light as well if that would help. Also any other tips/tricks? I have about 20lb of cycled rock and 20lb of new rock on the way along with new sand.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Hey everyone i'm looking to upgrade my Fluval 15G to a Red Sea Reefer 250 (55 Gallons) in the next week or so and trying to make as few mistakes as possible. I ran some bio media in my tank but not nearly enough for my new tank. I purchased ceramic bio media sticks to go in my sump but was wondering if I did a water change and tossed in the media along with my old tank water with an air stone would it help seed the media? I could add a light as well if that would help. Also any other tips/tricks? I have about 20lb of cycled rock and 20lb of new rock on the way along with new sand.

If you are transferring your rock and ceramic biomedia to the new tank, as long as you're also transferring the current livestock (and not adding more right away), then the current biofilter that's supporting the current bioload will continue to do so regardless of how big a tank you're putting them in.

Think of it this way - If you added a 40 gallon sump to your 15 gallon tank, you wouldn't need to worry about "cycling" the extra water... It's the same principle here.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

If you are transferring your rock and ceramic biomedia to the new tank, as long as you're also transferring the current livestock (and not adding more right away), then the current biofilter that's supporting the current bioload will continue to do so regardless of how big a tank you're putting them in.

Think of it this way - If you added a 40 gallon sump to your 15 gallon tank, you wouldn't need to worry about "cycling" the extra water... It's the same principle here.

Also, while it's fine to use the old water if it's convenient, it won't transfer a meaningful amount of nitrifying bacteria to the new tank.

 

[taricha]

agree that your established surfaces in the smaller tank contain plenty of biofilm to seed a new larger system.

be patient, expect some uglies. surface maturation for the new material you add will take longer than you think.

 

[randomfishdude]

I did my upgrade over 2 days.
First day was setting everything up getting new sand and rock in and doing a 10 gal waterchange from my tank. Taking the old water from current tank and puting it in new tank.
I also put a few pieces of old rock in along with a small powerhead.
Day 2 I kept doing the waterchange thing new water goes in old tank and old water goes in new tank. Eventually I started just adding new water to the new tank.
I started to add coral once I got to the point where the tank started to have water going into the sump.
Once there was about a inch or so of water left I removed all the fish and rest of the corals and added them into the new tank.

Also I moved the anenome into a bucket for when the new tank was more full. So I added it when I did fish.

Then finally to finish off I went back to the old tank took out all the sand and sifted it to get the snails and whatnot out. It was also the only time I saw a bristleworm. Haven't seen one since.

Also do not use your old sand without washing it first. I would just go with new sand if not alrety.

After everything it's just waiting for a small ugly stage. I added a new fish to the tank about 2 weeks later. So I would wait a minimum of 2 weeks before adding anything.