Quick opinion Questions... its been a while...

[r00onmac]

So its been almost a year since i cycled a tank and honestly then i had no clue what i was doing...

a couple questions because im set to start moving tonight (to a temp apartment until next wed when i move to my real apartment)


i have the new tank up and cycling and it has been for about 2 weeks...

i have about 50lbs of rock to 30 gals of water and that has helped the piece of table shrimp utterly disappear in a matter of 5 days or so....

ammonia went way up and down to zero and has been for a few days... nitrItes are over 1 and nitrAtes are off the chart (50+)

i want to do as little as possible to disrupt this cycle in the move... here is my plan and let me know if you think there will be any issues:

i am going to put all the rocks into my rubbermaid sump with the heaters and quiet one 3000 pumping about 800 gph around in circles with as much of the original 30 gallons of water as i can move (probably no more than 10 or 20 gallons because that stuff is heavy..

i am going to leave ~1" of water over the sand so that it never gets exposed to the air, or if it does its as little as possible without risking breaking the tank...

When i finally get into my new apartment next wed or so i am going to setup the tank in its final place... and perform an almost 100% water replacement - including increasing the overall water volume to upwards of 45 gallons (maybe more if i get a bigger rubbermaid sump)

i want to get the corals and fish into the new tank as close to the moving day as possible because i dont have room in the new apartment for two tanks

do you think that the water change or the move will delay the cycle?

assuming i replace water and have about 45 gallons of new water... how long before i should test and see if the move caused a spike?

 

[Rogger Castells]

Matt, It is difficult to give you an accurate answer to your questions, however, I will give you some advice.
The rock will continue its cycle process while in the rubbermaid container, no need for a heater in the rubbermaid as it could break in the move and it is really not needed, the pump alone will raise the temperature considerably.
The tank the sand and the 2" of water should not be move together, this can potentially cause your tank to leak.
Do not rush into doing anything with a salt water tank, you will regret it sooner or later, take your sweet time to plan & set-up your tank correctly before you start placing animals in it.

 

[jeffbrig]

The water change should have no effect on the bacterial population dynamics that occur during cycling. The bacteria colonize the sand and LR, not the water column. You could do a ~100% water change without any real concern.

Your primary concern should be limiting your sand and LR's exposure to air. Any additional die-off from the move could create another ammonia spike, but this is not the same as starting over the "cycle", as your bacteria populations should be much more able to cope this time around.