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Coral Vue Hydros

Switching two nano tanks into one 40 gallon breeder


Bcb577

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Well I'm wanting to upgrade by taking my 14 biocube,and 10 gallon standard,and combining them both into a 40gallon breeder.I'm not sure the best way to go about it.should I use all the sand from the old ones,or should I use dry sand and just seed it with a cup or two from the established tanks?I know ill be using about 24 pounds of my live rock,and ill probably just use some dry rock and let the 24 pounds of established rock to seed the dry rock.I'm trying to avoid a cycle as much as possible,if that is even possible?collecting the components for this switch will take a col months and I'm in no hurry to do this under a strict deadline,my main concern is upgrading using as much beneficial sand,rock and water from the old tanks ,but I have a feeling that some sort of cycle will still take place,any assistance would be greatly appreciated!

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If you do it right there will be no "cycle" at all - really cycle just means that the necessary bacteria are present to break down organic waste before it builds up toxic levels. The concept is simple - the rock is your biofilter - as long as you transfer that you'll be golden. If you don't want to transfer all of the rock that's okay, but I would transfer most of it, then gradually swap it out for other rock if you want.

 

With the sand it's best to save off a few cups then take the rest and either rinse it really good (can use tap here) or toss it and buy new. I prefer to rinse it really good because I'll end up having to do that anyways with the new sand also because I don't like the cloudy stuff.

 

It's not a bad idea to have some Seachem Prime on standby as well as a few extra gallons of water ready to go but honestly this is pretty simple and done all the time.

 

Try to get the 2 tanks at the same water parameters as the new tank (temp, pH, salinity) and then you can quickly move them over without having to acclimate them at the time of transfer.

 

Good luck

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Well I'm wanting to upgrade by taking my 14 biocube,and 10 gallon standard,and combining them both into a 40gallon breeder.I'm not sure the best way to go about it.should I use all the sand from the old ones,or should I use dry sand and just seed it with a cup or two from the established tanks?I know ill be using about 24 pounds of my live rock,and ill probably just use some dry rock and let the 24 pounds of established rock to seed the dry rock.I'm trying to avoid a cycle as much as possible,if that is even possible?collecting the components for this switch will take a col months and I'm in no hurry to do this under a strict deadline,my main concern is upgrading using as much beneficial sand,rock and water from the old tanks ,but I have a feeling that some sort of cycle will still take place,any assistance would be greatly appreciated!

couple ways you can do this, im in the middle of setting up another upgrade. i would maybe get some of the dry rock and put it in either of the old tanks to seed as much as possible. or you can get the new tank set up and get a base structure set up, fill and do a quick cycle with some seeded live rock, then slowly move rock over to the new tank. what kind of live stock are you moving? any fish?

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There are a few options.

 

I would use all new sand, if you use livesand it doesn't need rinsing and comes with a packet of bacteria. Seed it with a cup of old sand.

 

You can either buy dry reef rock, give it a nice rinse in ro/di to remove dust etc and place it in your existing tanks to start seeding it.

 

You can just add the dry rock when adding the liverock but it will take time to seed it.

 

You can get caribsea life rock(its dry aragonite with bacteria in it already) add that with your liverock.

 

I've used the life rock and its great. No issues at all with it and i've added it to existing tanks.

 

If you do the move right, you shouldn't have a cycle.

 

I'd fill buckets with existing water(don't stir up any sand etc, just syphon it from tank to bucket) and put the rocks, coral, and fish in them with a heater and powerhead.

 

Have new water made up with the correct parameters.

 

Move out the old tank, put in the new one.

Add the rocks, add sand, add saved water, add new water.

 

Done.

 

Have seachem prime on hand in the even of anything

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Thanks to all who replied! I had a good idea but you guys confirmed what I was thinking,this should be pretty easy move a few hours on a day off.I'm looking at tanks tonight,pretty sure I'm going with the 40 gallon breeder,but options are open,but depending on what tank I buy,will determine what light/lights to buy,been looking at the ai prime.and I love having a hob filter,I want a protein skimmer,have the heater ,need power heads,and misc, stuff.this is taking place over a few months,that way I can buy as I go,and not settle for anything less and regret it later,Any suggestions are appreciated,thanks everyone!!

couple ways you can do this, im in the middle of setting up another upgrade. i would maybe get some of the dry rock and put it in either of the old tanks to seed as much as possible. or you can get the new tank set up and get a base structure set up, fill and do a quick cycle with some seeded live rock, then slowly move rock over to the new tank. what kind of live stock are you moving? any fish?

great ideas! I have a col of fish,clown,ywg,firefight,a few softies,a cpl lo s,but in all not moving much but I HATE losing animals so I want to do this right!
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1 ai Prime won't be enough for a 40g. It covers 24x24 the most.

 

I have a 15g tank, its 24" long with an Ai, i have no shadowing but any longer and i would. If you go with a cube tank you can get away with 1.

 

Have you considered going AIO?

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1 ai Prime won't be enough for a 40g. It covers 24x24 the most.

I have a 15g tank, its 24" long with an Ai, i have no shadowing but any longer and i would. If you go with a cube tank you can get away with 1.

Have you considered going AIO?

yeah I've considered it,but most of the aoi as soon as you get it everyone immediately starts listing all the changes you need to do to update it,more powerful pump,instant media basket and so on and so on,I have a 14 gallon bc and it's been nothing but a pain in my butt since I got it,my arms are too big to really be able to work in the back and such,also I like piecing my tank with equipment that I've chosen myself like I did with my ten gallon which is a joy to work on,just my preference,but yes it did consider it.
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To be honest I have a 10g IM and a 15g standard with an hob.

 

I prefer my 15g. Far easier to work on, easier to clean, and has run much smoother. I also prefer rectangular tanks to cube.

 

Cleaning the back chambers, removing the pump is PITA and I have very small hands.

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