Help!! Need aid in setting up a new tank, fast...

[Uriel]

Hey all.

Hopefully someone can help this newbie (except for keeping little tanks of Mantis Shrimp, that is...) out with a set up nightmare.

Situation: A friend is getting out of the hobby, and he has thousands of dollars worth of lights,gear and some prety nifty corals, evidently (The pics are really quite impressive).
He is willing to give everything to me, free...we work together.
However, he needs to get it out yesterday (figuratively), as he is moving very soon.

37 gallon, halides, mostly corals, a few fish etc...but he needs to make sure that I have a stable place for the critters (As do I...).

Me? I can't put these things into my existing tans, they are all small, mostly 5 hex, 6 or 12 eclipse, mantis tanks, as i mentioned. He has clams an scallops, etc...i.e., things that the mantis would love to eat.

I have empty tanks,4 30s, a 55, a 75, an 80.

I am setting up a stand tonight, using a 30 (needs some cleanng,though...no biggie), have a Skimmer,a hang on filter right off the bat, nothing plummed for sump etc...I have a 5 gallon Minibow that i can use for a sump, or a second of the 30s instead.

Problem: Water/tank cycling...what is the fastest that one can safely do this? I have bagged live sand that claims to need no cycling. I have existing live rock that I can steal from my other tanks (The mantis will be upset, as some of these comprise their homes, but oh well...I'll get them some more. I have pods, great bacteria heavy sand to help seed, grape caulerpa for the sump, if need be...

Ammonia cycle? I'm not sure how it works: Some folks have told me to dro a piece of fish/shrimp in the tank, as oppossed to the damsel in distress scenario. I prefer the dead fish to the damsel suffering through the cycle (And trying to get the damsel out later).

To top it all off, the LFS ran out of water today...so I have aprox 17 gallons to use. I was buying that for my mantis' weekly changes, but they can go another day or two without a problem.

I can get water from another shop tomorrow, but how quickly would the tank be ready, do you think?


Any help greatly appreciated.


-Ron

 

[boxfishpooalot]

I would not worry about an ammonia cycle. If you have rocks they will provide all the ammoniafication your aquarium needs.

One thing I would not do is use his sand. Get some new sand and use the old rocks. The old sand is going to contain alot of nasties that you dont want. Also the clouding of the sand will result in a lowering of oxygen due to bacteria having a greater surface area.

Only thing to worry about is just try to transport the rockwork wet in buckets. This way there will be minimall bacterial die off. Even if some of the bacteria die, they can double in population every 30minitues dependant on temperature and food availablilty.

I would not stick anything into your nano tanks, if your getting a 30gallon from him, just use his tank.This will mean less stress on his inhabitants due to the same tank mates.

Try and keep everything reletivly unchanged. Except get new sand.


Good luck.

 

[DensityMan]

If he's giving you everything it's just a move, right?

The tank will still go through a cycle from the act of tearing it down and moving it (disturbing everything), but if you keep on top of waterchanges (small weekly changes in this case as you monitor conditions) all should go well.

- Drain tank water into buckets, leaving enough to cover any sand only slightly
- place live rock into buckets, with the livestock either bagged seperately or in a bucket without rock
- Move setup
- Refill slowly with a mix of new and old water
- place rock back in tank
- Place livestock back in tank
- Setup gear
- Test water
- Don't panic
- Continue to monitor tank levels and do small water changes as necessary

Is there a sandbed in the tank currently? Is it deep or shallow? Removing all sand may increase the cycle's intensity. Placing all new sand may prolong the length of the cycle (as the sand is starting new. The LR is the most important part of the cycle and as long as it stays wet and warm it should minimize the cycles effects as it is already cured/cycled.

Good luck and congrats on the perfect deal.

 

[Crawling68]

Does it all have to be out ASAP. If it can wait for the weekend, i can help you. I have plenty of containers and 5g buckets. As much as i hate driving in the city, im only across the bay.

 

[donta42]

would bio-spira be a good thing to add in this situation ?

 

[Uriel]

Sorry, I left this hanging without answering. Thanks all, for the help.
The situation isn't/wasn't as dire as i thought, as my friend meant that he had to have them all moved by month's end. I should have a nice and cycled 30 gallon within that time span.


-Ron