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Upgrading from 26 to 75. Nitrate cycle?


cliff

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I'm upgrading my 26 to a 75. I already added 50 lbs of sand and 50 lbs of rock. Both dry rock and sand. I'm going to add all of the sand water and rock from my old tank to the 75. My refugium will also remain the same. Just transferred to my old tank to my new tank. My question is. Can I add my fish right away after acclimating? Technically it's just like doing a 66 percent water change. Also. Will I have to wait for my tank to cycle all over again? Thanks in advance.

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The answer is complicated. What you're doing is basically starting over and adding some cured rock to the new tank. Carrying the water over doesn't do much except add some bacteria from the water column. If you added 50 pounds of dry rock to an established tank, then the rock probably wouldn't cause a cycle depending on if the rock has anything to release. Adding 50 pounds of dry sand would likely cause a cycle, but there are too many factors to list.

How much rock and sand do you currently have? That sounds like a ton of stuff in a 75g.

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What dry rock is it? Even though it's dry, it's not uncommon for it to kick off a cycle. The BRS pukani has done that to me several times. I'd err on the side of caution and assume it's going to cause at least a soft cycle, which is usually complete in 7 - 14 days instead of the normal ~30.

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I think 50 lbs of anything in a 75 gallon will cause a substantial cycle. I put a 10 lb rock into my old 125 gallon and it caused a baby nutrient spike.

If you have current inhabitants of the old tank, I'd leave them in the tank, cycle the new tank with new rock and sand, and once its cycled, move only the old rock over and the inhabitants of the old tank.

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Ok, so I added about 30 lbs of rock. Kept the existing 30 lbs from my 26. I used dry sand. I moved my refugium to the bottom of the new tank and it's running. All my levels are good right now. We will see! Thanks everyone.

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As long as you didn't move any livestock, it shouldn't be much of a gamble. When I've used dry rock, I seed it in a durable black Tupperware/plastic container before using it in a display. I use water from my water changes for the bacteria and a small power head to keep circulation.

The first time I did this, I used 50lbs dry and 30lbs seeded live rock. It took a month for my levels to stay down and I was using Seed. Ammonia peaked several times before it finally stayed down.

Test you're levels daily, if you have anything you want to keep alive in you're refugium, pull it out and keep it somewhere else.

Good luck

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I have both my tanks are up and running and cycled, if you need temp space for anything, if that helps , other than live rock a few corals an a fish my tanks are empty, but i sure you could put a heater an a pump in a big tub too

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Everything leveled out. All levels 0. The "mini cycle" did not last long. And my pods survived. Thanks everyone for yalls help.

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