Tank change question

[dannyp02908]

Back story

I have a 110 in wall. Due to an issue (not tank related), I had to pull that tank out of the wall. I moved everything (water included) except the sand bed to a spare 90 I had. So now i have a bare bottom 90 that is doing very well. The original sand bed didnt make it so i cleaned it and dried it. The 110 is now back in the wall. I added the dry sand and some dry base rock i had and all new water. I have ammonia, which i expected, so the cycle has started.

Now my question.

This tank is now what most would call sterile and immature. I have a lot of corals and need to move them from the 90 to the 110. When i take all my LR from the 90, does that automatically make my tank mature enough to handle this move? I know some corals, despite water parameters, need to be in a mature established aquarium. Will the established live rock be enough to make this tank support the life provided all other params (alk, calc, ph, salinty, temp) are in order?

 

[Bao]

I don't know too much about the chemistry of it.
But I moved a tank like that before. I transferred all the clean water and live rock over to the new tank and move my corals and fishes over. The whole process took about 4-5 hours and they all survive the move. After that I have to test cal and alk and then adjust them again to the level of my liking. I didn't move any sand at all. After seeing all the dirt and all that black stuffs in the sand, I never want to use sand again.

 

[dannyp02908]

I am not taking the water from the 90. I have a fresh 110 gallons plus sump cycling right now. I plan to do a 50% water change after the cycle and use fresh salt mix again. Get the levels where i need them then do the move. Looking for someone to tell me i am stupid for doing this and i will lose most of my livestock when i do (not really, but more or less experience).

 

[stingythingy45]

Your bio-filter is the live rock.
The bacteria on the live rock should be plenty enough to support the live stock you have now.
So yes,moving the LR from the 90 back to the 110 should be fine.You'll still have diatoms on the new sand bed and some cyano issues.
But any ammonia should be minimal if even detected.

 

[stingythingy45]

How much old cured LR do you have compared to the new stuff?

 

[dannyp02908]

Ive not had an issue with Cyano since the tank was setup. Just an initial diatom bloom. When i moved it, i had no issues either. I would say that I have a 50/50 split of new and old. I do plan to wait for the 110 to cycle. I have noticeable ammonia and will give it time to be undetectable. I am more concerned with the move itself since the tank will go from fallow to full of life.

 

[Owen386]

You should be fine, your doing it a safe way, no worries. You could even I`m sure just have moved all your rock/corals etc to the in wall as your Bio filter is your rocks. Sure you might have some issues but just keep and eye on things. As I am to assume when a "tank" is cycled as your 90 is, it is the rock that is actually cycled so when moving Rock/livestock/corals etc over to the new tank you will have already been cycle. Someone please correct me if I am wrong in this assumption.

 

[dannyp02908]

Owen - That is my assumption as well. That is part of the answer I am looking for. The other part is that people say not to get stony corals if your tank is "new". They say even if the tank is cycled it is too new for stonies. I have some LPS and SPS that i am worried about the tank being too new for.