Switching Tank

[15milerd]

I am getting ready to switch my 70g to a 90g. My 70g is 2yrs old.
My new 90 will sit in the exact place of the exsisting 70g. So I have to first move the 70g and then put the 90g in it's place. I am thinking of using a spear 60g for the switch, my thought is to siphon water from the 70g to the 60g. As water deplete's from the 70g I will place the rock inside the 60g.
I will also be using the exsisting sand bed.
Q) :?: Should I replace some of the sand bed and if so how much?
Q) :?: Will this switch cause another cycle in the new 90g?

Any help from those who have already done a tank switch, with out a crash, will help a great deal.

 

[Krish]

Welcome to RF! I did a similar thing recently, but went from a 90 to a 75 gal for better dimensions. The whole process took me about 3 hours total and if I did have a little cycle afterwards, I didn't notice. You should be fine...Best of luck

 

[Blazer88]

I went from a 26 to a 65. I ditched my old crushed coral sand and went with new Aragonite and didn't have any sort of cycle. Just make sure you have plenty of buckets/bins on hand and you should be fine. I let 40 gallons of new water mix up overnight which is a good idea. If you decide to go with new sand, it will clear up much faster if you rinse it before it goes into the tank.

 

[15milerd]

I have Carbi special grade sand and wonder if I should replace some?:shock:

 

[bc_slc]

I would probably replace some of it. If it is 2 years old and you want the continued buffering capacity, I would replace about 50% of it. This would also help to dampen any cycle.

I also would suggest being prepared by having some water on hand, and a few extra heaters and powerheads as well. I never seem to be able to do it in a coordinated fashion and the project ends up taking more than a day. I like to have the water cleared up before I add the rock and such back in, but I usually end up short of water. If you got all the water set up, the sand and rock moved over, then you would just need somewhere to keep the fish/corals while things settled down.

Mat

 

[15milerd]

Thanks I feel a little more confident now, Whewww, wish me luck!!