Reef setup almost ready / a few ??s

[1-900-REEF]

My new 29 gal. setup is almost complete. I hope to add sand & water this week! A few questions...
I will be using live rock from my existing tank, half of the water will probably come from the existing tank, along with some sand to seed the new sand, & chaeto. Will I have to wait for a cycle before I can transfer my corals, or will transferring the rock effectively transfer bio filtration to the new tank?

Some guys have sand in the fuge. Is there a big advantage to this, or can I just have chaeto?
I have not installed baffles in the fuge yet - it is a 20 long - If I don't have sand, or a skimmer, is there a reason I need to divide up the sump? Seems like I could just use eggcrate to wall off a section for the pump.

Thanks,
Todd

[grallster]

I would just put sand and rock in the tank, fill it up, let it settle for a day or 2, and then add the live stuff. I wouldn't think there would be a cycle. You might want to swish the rock in a spare bucket of water while you have the chance.
You don't need sand in the refugium. There might be a chance that chaeto might slip through the eggcrate and get into the pump, but theres always a chance of that happening anyways.

[bklynmet]

I've heard mixed things about moving sand because of the 'bad' stuff you might bring along with it... a cupfull of live sand is all you need to reseed a tank... sure it will take longer but you don't run the risk of transferring crud... just my $0.02

[digitalis]

Putting the rock in will definitely give it a serious jump start on the bacteria, but it won't be up to full par. It depends what your bioload is. I had a couple corals, and a few fish and I transferred immediately from a 55 to a 125, but I also used the entire 55 gallons of water in the 125, in addition to the new water I made up for it.
As for the sand, you can take the top 1" of sand from the existing setup for the new one. Don't go any further than that 1" or so or you will get into the icky stuff that smells really bad and can crash your tank.

[1-900-REEF]

Thanks for the replies.
I'm real anxoius to get this tank up & running.
There won't be much bio load other than corals - just a false perc., a shrimp, & whatever clean up crew I add. I'll add a small clown soon in hopes of pairing them up.
I'll try to get pictures up soon. Lots of DIY.

[1-900-REEF]

Just a quick pic. Still have some fine tuning to do with the arrangement, & not everything has opened up yet. I'm REALLY liking the 29 so far. So much more manageable than the 125.

[grallster]

Looks cool! That sarcophyton will have to be moved/fragged before too long...

[1-900-REEF]

Yeah, It's a little tough to fit everything you want to keep from a 125 into a 29.
I'm a bit worried about the Hammer to the right of the candycane being a little close once he opens up fully.
The good thing about having limited space is that I can now walk out of an aquarium shop with money still in my wallet!