Some good ole upgrading tank questions (54-125)

[JLAudio]

Ok, so im currently moving in middle of the month and for multiple reasons have decided to upgrade tanks. Currently I have a 54 w/ probably 50-75 lbs. live sand, 75-100 lbs Live rock and fish coral etc.

My questions are pertaining to avoiding a massive cycle. I am going to be adding some 50 lbs. no living sand, and 25-50 lbs, of completey unliving base rock (with no living matter, just for more rock).

1) Will all this new surface area create a cycle?

If so, any advice?

 

[ZZROCOOL]

yep

Nice that what I prgraded from 54 corner to the ELOS 120xl
definatly cycled again. But was managable nothing died off just a lot of water changes necessary 15-20% a week was what worked for me for the first month or so

 

[ellebelle]

It probably will cycle a little. When I switched over my 40 to a 75, I added base rock and completely changed my sand bed. The first day, I had a tiny ammonia spike but by the second day everything had stabilized. I didn't lose any livestock. I think you should be able to manage it with water changes.

 

[michael Jack]

Start now put the new base rock in a tub with some of you live rock a power head and a skimmer you will start the cycle

 

[JLAudio]

Ok, so XTRA watra changes are definitly one measure, but what about sand? Should I throw it all away and start from scratch or add mine to new. I did this once before, but tank had a lot of problems and was quickly broken down. The main problem I have is due to all my livestock, I cant give it time to cycle before stock is added. However all my fish are extremely hardy, tank raised, clowns, damsels, etc. Not sure if this matters

 

[JLAudio]

Oh and as far as for base rock, could I just use some boiled rocks from lanscaping company or something? Its just going to be to elevate my 100 lbs. of extremely 6yr + live rock

 

[Marteen]

For base rock you are still going to want it to eventually become live rock. I'd recommend marcorocks.com or bulkreefsupply.com for dry live rock. The problem with rock from quarries and landscape is they can contain hazardous metals that can really mess up your system, so it's best to avoid them. As for sand you'll probably want to save a couple pounds from your old system to seed your new system. This will help to shorten any cycle you might see.

 

[JLAudio]

For base rock you are still going to want it to eventually become live rock. I'd recommend marcorocks.com or bulkreefsupply.com for dry live rock. The problem with rock from quarries and landscape is they can contain hazardous metals that can really mess up your system, so it's best to avoid them. As for sand you'll probably want to save a couple pounds from your old system to seed your new system. This will help to shorten any cycle you might see.

The only problem with the marcorocks is they need to be kept for some 4-6 weeks in order to cycle them due to some decayed matter and id rather avoid this, so I was thinking about those rocks that are typically sold in petstores for freshwater, just as base.

I will check out that bulbreedsupply link and see what they have. Thank you for some great info though