move to a larger tank

[newellio]

so right now i have a 5gal salt tank with 2 fish in it. i was looking at larger tanks the other day and was thinking about a 20gal hex tank. Wanted an opinion on setting it up. does anything think its possible to just move my existing setup to the larger tank and have it ready to go or does a new tank like that have to go through the whole cycling process. i'd be adding about 15gal of new water to it, so i'm not sure if that would be a culture shock to the fish and 1 shrimp i have in there???

thanks

[leebca]

It is a bit of stretch for me to even think of what two fish you'd have in the 5 gallon marine tank. That tank is usually only good for a reef tank. Most fishes are put into nothing less than 29 gallon tanks with 40+ being the preferred.

However, if the rocks, substrate and landscaping material are all moved into the new tank without disturbing the bacteria, and the filter and equipment is moved over to the new tank too, the new tank should not cycle. If you will be adding more substrate to the new tank, then you want to put that in first then layer the old substrate on top of that, assuming you want to have the exact same substrate in the new tank. If you are changing filters and equipment, then you might expect a cycle until the bacteria take up residence in the new equipment.

[newellio]

ok.. ya i have 2 baby clowns.. less that 1/3in in size..i know they will quickly out grow that tank..(makes me wonder why i even started with it in the first place)

i'd def have to do a new filter for it.. so maybe cycling the tank would be the best option..