Cycling new tank with preowned substrates

[insearch]

I am currently buying the insides of an existing 90g reef tank to start my own brand new 55g. The tank is stable and has been for over 2yrs. It has supposidly never had a disease problem. I made a deal with my LFS (great guy) he is recieving all the fish and inverts while I will take the 90lbs LR and 80lbs LS to cycle with. We will be breaking down the 90 and setting up my 55 in the same morning. 1hr travel time between the two locations. My question is : I really don't know the history of this tank other than heresay from the "seller". What precations if any should I take and would it be wise to bring any existing water from the 90 to cycle my 55 or just use all new water? Should I dip the LR in saline to remove any undesirables or would this hurt the life on the rock. How long do you think it would take to cycle. Should I give the LS a good vacuming? Any help or advise would be appriciated.
Thank you.
Supposed reason for selling(The seller is getting ready to do a major house remodel and has to remove tank ) Attached is pic of 90

 

[Anonymous]

Hiya!

Your new tank will have a cycle no matter what. Even if you used all "mature" substrate and water from the old one, the general upheaval/disturbance of the substrate will cause a cycle. Also, a substrate tends to accumulate detritus. It's just my opinion, but I would prefer to put in a new substrate and seed it with a few pounds of the substrate from the existing aquarium.

Your cycle might be a bit shorter, how much, who can say?

The main thing I would do is to try to match your new water parameters with the water params that the LR and stuff is used to: ph, nit/nit, ca and alk etc ... I would also not use any of the water from the old system.

Nuisance Hitchhikers may be less of an issue in established LR, ostensibly the owner would have eradicated all aiptasia and other such things.

Good luck!

 

[insearch]

I understand adjusting ph/ca/alk and temp but how do you adjust nitrites and nitrates in new salt water?

 

[Anonymous]

The only way to 'adjust' them is through waterchanges or to just let the tank cycle.

I agree with Hwrang, about the substrate. Moving an entire sandbed to an new tank is difficult, if not impossible. Taking the sand out of the tank will stir up the sand, and could set you up for a longer cycle. I would put new sand in the new tank and then add like the top inch of sand from the old tank. I would also sift through the rest of the old sand looking for cool worms, but that is just me.

That combined with the rock should set you up for a quick cycle. How long? No one knows. Monitor Ammonia, nitrite and nitrate to keep track of what is going on. It is possible with all that cured liv rock that you get no cycle at all. I would still go slow and check paramaters frequently.

I wouldn't rinse the live rock at all. While moving it keep it submurged in tank water, and truck over as much of the old tank water as possible.

 

[insearch]

Thanks for the input on the sand bed I will go that route.
Also I am sure that some of the polyps and stuff will not remove from the rock. should I worry about removing them or just monitor what dies off and spot remove as nessisary?

 

[Anonymous]

If you take your time setting up the rock in its new how, you should be able to get all the stuff on it to surrive.

 

[insearch]

Should I try to control temp during transit? And any special packing techniqes other than keep it submerged?

 

[Anonymous]

Remove the polyps? Why would you do that?

For transit...
1. If you live in a very hot or cold zone, bag your livestocks up and put them in a styrofoam cooler. Or anything that will provide a little insulation from the heat/cold
2. Many reefy things don't like contact w/ air ... especially sponges, etc
3. Proper acclimation will be your best thing in the long run, it will help more than trying to maintain a certain temp during the transit (how long is the transit? a car ride or less? then don't worry about that stuff).

 

[romunov]

I would also not use any of the water from the old system.

May I ask why? I reckon it would be better to have some water saved... If nothing else it would shorten the cycle and help the bacteria a bit. If the tanks is "ill" he will bring vectors in LR and LS anyways...

 

[insearch]

Anybody out there have a laundry list of test kits I should have as a minimum? I know there are tests for everything but what are the bare essentials.

 

[Anonymous]

I think the bare essentials for a reef tank are ph, alk, ca and salinity. Ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite are only really used by most people during the cycle as your animals are a better indication of problems - but they are nice to have around.

 

[buoymarker28]

I wouldn't use the water from another tank especially if yours is stable. You're going to cycle regarless and the water isn't going to help matters that much compared the pollutants that you might be introducing. I'd take the the rock and leave the sand and water behind. Plus hauling water is HARD and HEAVY. Benefits don't outweigh the gains IMO

 

[romunov]

Oh, I understood that he's going to set up a _new_ tank with the old material - hence saving the water. I think you might have misread. Or was it me?

 

[Baianotang]

yes good idea

 

[insearch]

Well it is done. I took the rock and most of the sand, and water. Set it up on saturday, it cleared overnight. Star polups are starting to open and mushrooms everywhere. Everything looking good. Put aprox 105lbs rock in my 55g tank looks nice! Anice 2.5inch leather coral came with one of the rocks. it is getting a bit darker and it does not seem to be standing up as well as it was. I currently have just a garage shop light over the tank because my light will not be in till tues or wed. Is any light better than no light, other than residual light from the window across the room? In the sand bed I did not see any organisims at all. There were hermits and sand shifting stars but I did not see any brissle worms or nothing else of the sort. Also my skimmer is not hooked up yet it will not be in until wed. I know I was a bit ahead of the game but the deal could not have been passed up. I am planning on doing a 20% water change this evening because my nitrates are up to 15 to 20, Is this a good idea? The only reason I was thinking on doing this is to try and help my leather coral out. Salt levels, is it wise to be on the low side, that way for evaporation you would have a buffer? Anyway I will try and get some pics tonight to post them.
Thanks for all your help and any further advise would be appriciated.

 

[buoymarker28]

so how deep is your substrate bed now?

 

[insearch]

3 to 4 inches

 

[insearch]

Does anyone know of a web site with photos so I can cross reference my corals and polups. What type they are and best care for them?

 

[insearch]

anyone out there?

 

[Anonymous]

Give a guy a chance to get going on a Monday morning! :wink:

A 20 percent water change will not be enough. I suggest a 50 to 75 percent water change (but make sure the water is mixed and heated for 24 hours before you use it, or buy water from the ocean and heat it). Smaller waterchanges aren't helpful in either removing or diluting toxins. Be ready to do more waterchanges over the next couple of days.
It is important that you get your skimmer up ASAP.

I wouldn't worry about the lighting.

For coral id I suggest you pick up a good book - The Reef Aquarium Vol 1, or Sprungs Coral id book. Other than that I acutally don't know of a website that does what you are looking for, I suspect because there is more money in putting it all in a book than on the web. You could browse the livestock photos at Marine Depot.

You salinity should be kept as stable as possible - putting it on the low side doesn't help the animals. Evaporation needs to be dealt with either by building an auto top off unit, or by topping off the water by hand with good water, like RODI water.