cycling the new tank ...advise

[grannybj]

ok so now that the tank is running , I need to cycle it so here is my thought on it. I think if I put in a fresh shrimp or two and my excess live rock ...about 20 pounds...would that do it or should I try to pull some of my bare liverock out of the 29 and put in there too ? I have a fear of overdoing it and causing problems in the 29 before the 90 is ready . I remember it taking close to 3 weeks to cycle the 29 in the beginning and all I had in there was a few pieces of liverock and the sand. With the volume of water in the 90 I just thought I would ask a few questions before I start the cycle. I got the temp up to 79 degrees today so things are moving right along. It is still really cloudy but I can almost see the back wall now . most of the rock in the 29 has critters attached so i would only be able to pull out about 15 pounds. Plus I plan to harvest some sand from the 29 to go in the 90 to help with the seeding part.
Thoughts anyone....
BJ

 

[joeycadre]

all you need is a little sand, a cup full or so. put that in with a cocktail shrimp and just sit back and wait for the amonia spike.
bacteria from the sand should colonize what rock you have in the tank and you'll be on your way.
putting some live rock from the established tank wouldn't hurt either.

critters attached? just don't put any corals in and you should be fine.

 

[grannybj]

yep I knew better than to add rock with critters attached. I just did not know how much live rock to add. there is a lot of difference between 29 gallons of water and 90 gallons plus the sump capacity so I was asking to be sure. I can sure pull a cup or so of sand out of the 29 so I will get that done. I guess I should add that once the 90 is cycled..the 29 will come down so all the livestock and rock etc will be transferred to the new tank. That is if my hubby don't talk me into keeping both tanks going...he is trying to get me to keep both but we are a little crowded for that .

 

[joeycadre]

the water volume doesn't matter so much, it's the bioload. if there isn't much ammonia driving the bacteria growth then you won't get much bacteria to break it down to nitrite and nitrates.

but if you transfer the live rock after you have the ammonia spike from a dead shrimp or two you should be ok. just keep an eye on your params and have salt water on hand if the levels get out of hand.

 

[joeycadre]

for the record i set up a 90 and transfered the contents of my 45 that had been up for about a year. i just used some of the sand and the rock from the 45. left the fish and corals in rubbermaid tubs for a couple days. then put it all in the 90. i didn't have any problems at all.

 

[grannybj]

how long did you wait...till your params were in check ? Or since you used established stock , was it quicker? I was told by a very old long time salt person that I could just do it all in a day but I am afraid of that. I think for the sake of my critters I should give it at least a month, checking progress all the while . I managed to pull out about 40 pounds of live rock from the 29 ..that is all I could get with none of my babies attached. I got at least a couple of cups of sand too . The 29 has been up for a year and a half so that is definately a good start. Thanks for your input...
BJ

 

[teena]

would it of went any faster if you were to use the water from your other tank when you did a water change?

 

[SNAKEMANVET]

This is just a thought, what if you took your filter media out of your 29 and ring out in the 90, would that help the cycling process. It is full of bacteria that is from an established tank.I have also heard people doing what teena mention, useing water from a stable tank. If useing liverock and sand that helps alot.

 

[Doris M]

That is how a girlfriend of mine got her tank going. She kept adding my tank water whenever i did a water change but, she also had alot of live rock and live sand in there.

 

[grannybj]

Either way it will be a couple of weeks before I get this thing safely cycled . I added the cocktail shrimp this morning .I will try rinsing my filter in the new tank . I have 120 pounds of new live sand ...not the dead stuff but fresh live sand...in the 90 and now it has about 45 pounds of live rock from the 29 in the display and some rubble rock in the sump along with the cocktail shrimp and about 2 cups of the sand from the 29 . Tonight the water is clear enough to see all the rocks so things are looking better .The temp has stabalized at 79 degrees..the salinity is dead on 1.025 . Right now I have too much water to add any more and I am due a change in the 29 within the next few days but I will add what I can when I do the water change.
Thanks to all of you for your suggestions. I am just so ready to see my critters under the metal halides. I have PC's on the 29 so I know I am going to have to gradually bring them into the new light. I have some screen material that I am going to use to shade the tank...drape about 4 layers and take one off every couple of days till they get used to it .