I moved my tank over to my new house 15 minutes down the street, drained water and put live rock into buckets. Left the sand inside the tank, it wasn't heavy at all. There was a little water inside tank when I moved it with the sand. Got the tank set up at new house adding live rock, then added the water and topped off with new saltwater. Put hob filter and power head on. Tested water and said I have .50 ammonia, not sure on nitrites, I don't have a tester, and about 10-15 nitrate. How long is it going to take for my tank to get back to cycled? I have my fish in a 5 gallon bucket with some live rock and tank water with heater and air pump at old house. Will they survive in the bucket till the tank get me cycled again? I transferred all the live rock wet with tank water. Hopefully it won't take too long, will it?
Cycle after moving tank to new house
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reefbeard
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It all depends on when your Ammonia and NO2 read zero. Bacteria will convert the ammonia to nitrite and then convert nitrite into less harmful nitrate. Nitrite is toxic to fish but less so than ammonia. I have used Intant Oceans BIO-Spira in the past to spead up the cycle which worked well.
BreaknBrad
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I'm following along on this one... I'm going to have to move my 75 gallon DT (25gallon sump) 15 min away as well at the end of the year... Hope everything goes smoothly for you fishboy!
reefbeard
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Nitrifying bacteria (Beneficial bacteria) live on all surfaces of your tank. When you allow a large portion of your system to dry out, ie. glass, sand, filter floss, overflow, sump, etc., a large population of the bacteria die off. The remaining bacteria population is not enough to convert the waste in your tank into harmless nitrate which is why you will see a spike in ammonia and nitrite.
If you are planning to move, add surface area for the bacteria to colonized such as ceramic bio-media or filter floss to your tank or sump a month before the move(the more media the better). Move the media in a bucket with tank water and install with your new setup. This should provide enough Nitrifying bacteria to kick start your system and hopefully avoid a cycle. Remember, bacteria will die with temperatures at or below 32 degrees F and at or above 120 degrees F. So don't leave anything exposed to summer or winter temps.
If you are planning to move, add surface area for the bacteria to colonized such as ceramic bio-media or filter floss to your tank or sump a month before the move(the more media the better). Move the media in a bucket with tank water and install with your new setup. This should provide enough Nitrifying bacteria to kick start your system and hopefully avoid a cycle. Remember, bacteria will die with temperatures at or below 32 degrees F and at or above 120 degrees F. So don't leave anything exposed to summer or winter temps.
reefbeard
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Hard to tell as I'm not a fan of the API kits and their color matching scheme but it looks like possibly 0-.25 Ammonia NH3/4 and maybe 10 ppm Nitrate NO3 according to their chart. How old are your API kits and are they within the expiration date? It is good that their is No3 present as this shows bacteria is consuming/oxidizing the ammonia and nitrite in your system. I would pickup a Nitrite NO2 test kit just to see where you are in the cycle and once that reads zero your fish can be introduced.this is nitrate on the left and ammonia on the right, according to the saltwater master test kit, I'm not sure what the ammonia is reading? Any help?
Unfortunately, the addition of your fish can still overwhelm the recovering population of nitrifying bacteria so you will want to test frequently and be ready for a water change if anything spikes. No substrate vacuuming at this time just old water out and new water in.
Amoo
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API test kits are notorious for showing ammonia when there isn't any, and have seen many reports of them doing so in RO/DI water. I would not worry about it personally. I would also file-13 those and get better test kits.
unless you shook bottle 2 every time like the directions stated since opening, the nitrate kit will be off the closer it gets to empty.
ammonia looks like an expired kit when it is that cloudy, or what amoo stated that it is giving off a false positive.
i would guess you have detectable ammonia, and 15 ppm nitrate based on the picture (and all things are sound).
I suggest Red Sea Pro kits, or at the very least the red sea marine care kit. It may be 2x the cost at $40 but it will give you some confidence of the readings.
ammonia looks like an expired kit when it is that cloudy, or what amoo stated that it is giving off a false positive.
i would guess you have detectable ammonia, and 15 ppm nitrate based on the picture (and all things are sound).
I suggest Red Sea Pro kits, or at the very least the red sea marine care kit. It may be 2x the cost at $40 but it will give you some confidence of the readings.
ReefMadScientist
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I have used this in my tank with FULL SPS AND LPS. It reduced a random Ammonia spike when I moved the tank as well. Just follow the instructions and turn your skimmer off. I got it at Walmart and it saved my tank. I did this everyday when I would see my Ammonia creeping back up. I would say it took 3-4 days until my Ammonia went to zero. Yes...call me crazy....everyone else does lol.
Amoo
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Even if you did induce a mini cycle, chances are you have more then enough bacteria left in the tank and rocks to combat the ammonia and process it quick enough to keep from killing all your stuff.
Without a good test kit there really is no way to know. The only thing you really do know is the fish are sitting in a bucket together without that same benefit. If it were me I would take my chances in the tank.
Without a good test kit there really is no way to know. The only thing you really do know is the fish are sitting in a bucket together without that same benefit. If it were me I would take my chances in the tank.
Amoo
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Like I said man, there's really no way to give any kind of solid 100% yes or no based on the information provided. If I tell you no, the longer your fish sit in the bucket, the greater risk of losing them there. If I tell you yes and you do actually have some legit spikes and your fish die in the tank, then I look like the fool, you're probably mad because you feel you got crummy advice and you may never come back here again.
It's a loose/loose situation that you are going to have to weigh the options for yourself and make a decision.
It's a loose/loose situation that you are going to have to weigh the options for yourself and make a decision.
ReefMadScientist
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Do this. Test your water now and see what your Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate are at. Post back when you have that.
