Saltwater Tank Setup

I have a 30 gallon saltwater tank cycled it has been setup for about 3 months now. I have 2 clowns and a damsel in it with about 20 pounds or live rock and 40 pounds of sand.

But got a 75 gallon tank i have added 20 pounds of sand and like 5 pounds of live rock i just set it up 2 days ago the sand has cleared now.

My question is can I add the 30 gallons of water to the 75 gallon tank along with the rest of the stuff in the 30 gallon to the 75 gallon and have a cycled tank or should I leave it like it is for now or start and finsh the cycle process on the new tank.

I do know i have to have more live rock for the 75 but I am slowly buying more each week.

I have alot of questions about the new setup but i will ask one at a time i guess. And sorry if this isnt in the right topic.

 

You could move the rock and water over from the 30, the sand can be dangerous to move so I would leave it there and seed your 75 with a cup or two from the 30. Buy dead rock like Marco Rocks or something similar to help prevent a cycle each time you add some new live rock. Do the move after the 75 cycles with what it has.

 

Well said 2 in 10. I agree.

 

ok next question is what is the difference between a sump and refugium?
with that being said i have a hob filter on both tanks with protein skimmer on the 30 thats suctions down in the tank.

now i wanna know what is best to go with for the 75. sump or refugium? if there is any difference in them. i am only keeping the 2 clowns and 1 damsel as of now but may be adding another damsel (undecided) later.

and would a 10 gallons tank work for this

 

You probably want a sump with a refugium, and you probably want it to be bigger than 10g for a 75 gallon tank. I'd go 20+ gallons, 30 if possible. It's really most necessary if you are going to keep corals, but will help quite a bit to keep the water quality good in a FOWLR too.

 

ok I do plan to get corals later right now i wanna focus on getting all the sand and live rock for the 75. how much sand would you go with? some say shallow and some say deep so i am not sure

now i have gotta research how to build a sump myself cause i have no clue what to do or where to start and my husband isnt home but on the weekend so theres no time for him to figure or build it. the bad thing is is that i can barely read a dang tape measure i know the basics like inches then half an inch then a quarter inch thats it so this ought to be interesting

 

Go with a shallow sand bed in the display tank, maybe an inch no more than two inches IMO. Use a deep sand bed for your refugium but thats all my opinion.

 

Its Super easy. There are tons of diagrams on here and even just search Sump Building in Google and you should be set. I built mine in about 20 min. Just make sure to use PH (aquarium safe) silicon.