steps for upgrading to a 30

ok well currently i have a 20L reef. have a few corals and 2 fish. my 30 gallon is on the stand in another room and im just a little boggled on how im going to pull this off without hurting any livestock. i ordered about 40 pounds of dry rock and 40 lbs of sand to put into the 30. once i get that im going to setup my aquascape and put in the sand. now i was thinking about using the current well established water from the 20 and transferring it to the 30. and adding the difference in water. what do i do with my livestock while doing this? bucket? along with LR would be ok? there shouldnt be a cycle so after i put the LR i do have in the 30 i should be good correct? anyone have any suggestions on the transfer?

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I think I may be able to help here. I recently tore down my 55g added a 90g stand in the old 55g stand's place and put everything back. It took about 3-4 hours and was a peice of cake. I first started draining the water. Then I removed all of the LR and placed it in a 30g rubbermaid container(purchased at Home Depot for $13). Once most of the water was drained it was time to wrangle some fish. I have found it is pretty easy to catch fish swimming in 3" of water. I placed the fish in buckets as well and then started scooping out my substrate. When the tank was light enough to move, me and a realtive picked it up off the stand. W

 

Sorry accidently hit enter.

We then took out the old stand and replaced it with the new one. I put the new substrate in, filled the tank half way, and then began rockscaping. When I was satisfied with my rocks I filled the tank the rest of the way and then added my livestock. Forgot to mention I had put all of my tank water into trash cans.

It was really easy. Everything made the transfer fine.

 

Ok thanks for the info. Now the only thing I'm worried about is a mini cycle but I've read that since all my lr is staying in water I shouldn't have any die off. Thanks again 4phish. I'll keep u posted when I do the transfer. Should I wait for lights out so I don't have to interrupt a light cycle?

 

Lights off. I did however turn my lights on to rockscape, but I turned them off once I added my livestock and kept them off till the next day. As far as a mini cycle, if you keep your LR in water you shouldn't see anything. I would be a good idea to test your params before and after.

 

thanks alot 4phish. hopefully the transfer works out ill keep u posted.

 

I'm hoping to be upgrading tanks soon as well, and I'm really nervous about transferring and also a mini cycle. I'll be reading your thread and waiting for an update on how it went for you. Good luck!!!

 

The mini cycle shouldn't be a problem. Live rock can stay out of water for a decent amount of time before it starts dying off, as long as it's kept damp. I'd put the fish in a bucket, the live rock in whatever it'll fit in, and the water in either a rubbermaid or small trash can. Then all you have to do is make the swap and put everything back.

You already have live rock that is "cycled" to your bioload, so you won't necessarily have to worry about a cycle. A mini "cycle" will occur as the other base rock becomes live, but this will probably be unnoticable and definitely harmless.

 

cool thanks for all the replies im just waiting for the rock and sand to arrive!! and to finish my stand and canopy of course.

 

so i was wondering how much water do i need to transfer out of my 20 gallon into my 30 for the transfer to work out successfully?