Cali Kid Corals

Swapping existing rock for new rock?

So my tank is doing great finally, sps growth is noticeable and colors are coming in. But im not happy with the rockwork. The existing rock are huge pieces of live rock, the new scape will be with new pukani and tonga.

Whats the best way to swap in the new aquascape? Im thinking of tossing the new rock into a spare tank for a month to cycle, then swapping out a couple pieces of the old for the new. Repeating that over until all the old rock is out and new rock is in. My thought is that the current rock is filtering part of the tank bioload, if i remove this and add new rock, the new rock will need time to take in the bacteria. doing it over a period of time would keep stress down for the fish and coral.

thoughts? maybe seed the new rock in the spare tank with a couple pieces of existing rock?
 
Your idea is sound. Been dong it on my 225 for awhile. Getting rid of aiptasia and blue Clove infested rocks and replacing with clean rock and some emaco structures as well. I generally put the pieces in my sump for a bit first to seed them and I also have a marine pure bio media block to help maintain enough bacteria.
 
I also would hesitate to replace all at one time. Less of a chance of a mini-cycle that way. Slow and steady. And another thumbs up on Marine Pure. I use it in both my tanks and have a new one ready to go for the new tank.
 
I did it in two sessions. 40% on the first go and then 60% on the second go. Didn't cycle the new stuff or anything. Just slapped some cement to adhere the pieces to each other, took out the old rock, chipped off the corals, placed new rock in and then reattached the corals to the new rock. Some water was used to keep the old rock wet before I can chip off the corals and get the new rocks in. Due to this a larger amount of water was used than my normal water changes.

Once there were signs of coralline on the first 40% of the rocks, I did the second 60% transfer. It took ~1 month for the entirety of the swap. I relied on the sandbed (2-3"), 8x8x1 marinepure block, and the 2L of siporax to provide the bacteria for the swap.
 
I am a bit of a clean freak in my tank which means I often vacuum up some amount of sand as I do my weekly clean (which is why I will never have a deep sand bed and prefer something like Marinepure.) Anyway, every 3 months or so I have to buy another ten pound bag of sane to fill things in. Even though I use live sand I still do it in stages. I'll do a pound or so every couple of days till it's done just to make sure I don't overload the system.
 
I'll be doing something similar with my impending tank upgrade, I have a MP 8x8x4" block seasoning in my fuge now so I can transfer it to the new tank along with a few of the old rocks but mostly a new rockscape. About half new sand and half old (washed in SW). Will be using Dr. Tim's One and Only also. New rock will be already cured. My intention is to avoid any significant cycle since my livestock will be sitting in a large stock tank in my family room during the transition so I don't want it there long.

Also interested in encouraging coralline algae growth on the new rocks so they match my old rocks, which are completely covered in the stuff except where there is already coral. Is just having a couple old rocks in the same tank the best? Have you ever chipped off some and sprinkled it on the new rocks to move the process along or is that nuts?
 
I left some rocks in the tank and then just scraped the back wall. Here's what the new rock looks like 3 months after being changed out.

coralline_082317.jpg
 
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