sea horse Posted October 25, 2006 Share Posted October 25, 2006 Is it possible to avoid cycling a tank by filling it with water from various established tanks? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GKarshens Posted October 25, 2006 Share Posted October 25, 2006 It is not the water that is the main part of cycling. It it the stuff in the tank like rock, sand, and even the inside of the tank itself. If you set up a tank with established cured live rock you might have a very small cycle. Cycling gives the tank time to establish the bacteria that converts Ammonia into Nitrites and then into Nitrates. Ammonia and Nitrites are very poisonous to your fish, Nitrates less so. And Nitrates can be removed through water changes. So after all that, the answer is no. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hammondegge Posted October 25, 2006 Share Posted October 25, 2006 if you are moving a tank or setting up a new tank and transferring stock you may avoid a new cycle by using the mature sand, rock, and water. as Gabe said though, the water is the least important component. the rock and sand contain the microbial populations that have grown to appropriate sizes to consume the wastes in the tank. if you are transferring to a larger tank you may be adding more live rock. make sure the live rock is fully cured or you will start another small (or large) cycle. for the sand, rinse it well with RO or salt water to remove the detritus that has been trapped deep within. the bacterial populations will have to reestablish a balance in the new system so go easy on feedings and adding more live stock until you are sure that your parameters are stable. the smaller the change in size the less likely you will see any cycle as the bacterial populations do increase very rapidly. if the new tank is a very large one i would be more cautious and let the new tank run for a week or longer - until there is no sign of AM and Nitrite. g'luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sea horse Posted October 25, 2006 Author Share Posted October 25, 2006 Would the live sand you can buy at the LFS work? Right now I have a 25 gallon & I'm thinking about getting a used salt water 55 gallon (+ a sump) Could I just fill the new tank with all the stuff I have now? (adding more water though of corse) Would I even need to bother putting the water from the old tank into the new one? I'd not be adding any rock except fully cured. -Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GKarshens Posted October 25, 2006 Share Posted October 25, 2006 In that case you would probably be OK. Just keep a close eye on the ammonia and nitrites for the first couple weeks and have fresh saltwater already made so you can do a quick water change if needed. Using the live sand from the store would help also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael_t Posted October 30, 2006 Share Posted October 30, 2006 A ?Cycle? is a period of highly toxic water which will most likely kill tank inhabitants. The end result of a cycle is a balanced ecosystem that can support salt water life. A ?cycle? is SW hobbyist term used to describe the natural process where dead material decomposes into (mostly) safe components to be reused by the reef. As this material decomposes it releases Ammonia which is converted into Nitrites which is converted into the safer Nitrates. Having said, that when you ?establish? a new tank what you are doing is inviting bacteria to cultivate in the tank to convert waste material. This invitation period is what most people coin as ?The Cycle?. Bacterium is an essential part of the life and food chain of the saltwater world. Once bacterial levels grow large enough Ammonia and Nitrites can be naturally eliminated from the tank and fish can be added. Anytime you add uncured live rock to a tank the dead material will go thru the process of decomposing or ?cycling? producing higher than normal levels of ammonia and nitrites. If you are adding sand you have added a large volume or zone which is not populated with bacteria. This zone can not break down the waste it collects which can cause the tank to become unbalanced. Until it is cultivated with bacterial you could have a ?mini cycle? starting. In conclusion unless you move 100% of an established tank to a new tank you will have a cycle. In other words you will have a period of highly toxic water which will most likely kill fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aquarius Posted November 1, 2006 Share Posted November 1, 2006 i did basically what you are describing a couple years ago. upgraded from a 55 to a 120. i simply added more sand and fully cured liverock, along with almost all of the old water, and added new salt water to make up the rest. i ran a magnum 350, with fresh carbon, on the tank for a couple of hours before moving the livestock in, which had been waiting in a few icechests on my livingroom floor. then left the magnum on for about a week afterwards. i had only one loss, a clown that went over the overflow the first night. looking back even this could have been avoided, as the clown was obviously disoriented, and, being a week swimmer, got pulled over the overflow while trying to find a spot to settle in for the night, since i finished this whole operation at about 3 am. anyway, good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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