New tank questions...

I'm a semi experienced axi owner with three juveniles, two male and one female, I think. I'd like to separate them before we have any babies on the way, and they are getting cramped in their current tank also. I plan to move the two males out to a larger tank that is currently housing some fish. The tank has been running for several years and is fully cycled, but I will be changing the gravel out for sand, and changing out some of the rock as well. The rock I'm taking out was purchased at an aquarium store and the ph of the water is stable. Do I need to do a complete water change in order to add axis to the tank (once the fish are moved elsewhere). If so, will the tank take several weeks to cycle or should I expect it to go more quickly since the filter, artificial plants and tank are remaining the same? I'd like to know what to expect before I begin moving everyone around.
Any thoughts would be appreciated!

a 100% water change itself wont make much difference to the cycle if all the old ornaments are in there.

Having said that, the cycle still might crash

I dont know if the old water or ornaments carry any risk of crossover infections?

For a species change in the tank i'd personally be inclined to strip and clean it and just put up with establishing a cycle.

Just what i'd do

Bren

I think I would clean out the old tank and start anew. You are able to put your axies in without having the tank cycled BUT you have to do daily water testing and daily water changes until the tank is cycled again.

I know I'm technically able to move my axies before the tank is cycled, but I know myself well enough to know that I'm not going to be able to manage daily water testing and water changes. Life is too busy at the moment! I wouldn't want anything to happen to our axies so I'd rather wait to move them until the tank is stable. I'm a teacher and a mom- I need to be realistic. Thanks for your thoughts, though. It seems to be the general consensus that I should start the new tank from scratch with new water just to make sure it will be safe. I'll probably move the fish out this weekend and get the tank cleaned and refilled with new water and then watch the chemistry to see what happens. Hope for the best! Maybe with a mature filter the cycling process will be finished more quickly.

I know the feeling Im a mother of five and I work full time so i can understand where you are coming from.
Having a mature filter will help the tank to finish cycling a lot quicker. We would love to see photos of your finished tank
lea

As soon as the tanks are settled I'd love to post pics. I'm not sure how to do it, so if you have any pointers I'd love to hear them. I have three kiddos and three axis - one is pet to each. Riley is a wild type, Charley is a golden albino and Luke is a leucistic, hence his name.

I disagree. I wouldn't clean out anything. If the fish were healthy, there is no reason to worry about crossover, and the risks from re-cycling the tank are greater. If you're going to be using a mature filter pad anyway, there is absolutely no point in cleaning out the other stuff. If it were me, I'd keep as much of it uncleaned as possible.

Whether or not you keep the same old water or change most of the water won't matter much to the cycle. It would certainly be a good time to do a large-scale water change, particularly if the nitrate level in the fish tank is high. Just be sure that the new water you add is dechlorinated before being added, and don't let the ornaments and things dry out during the change.

I was under the impression juveniles are too young to sex....

That's the reason I said, "I think." They're about 6.5 inches long, but getting crowded anyway.