Cycle/Setup New Tank w/Existing tank's water

DaddyO NJ · May 13, 2019

My son wants to set up a 30g tank quickly, of course. Can I use 15 gal of water from my existing (and healthy) tank along with 15 gal of freshly mixed RODI water and be good to go?

He will also be adding some live rocks and sand, but not from my tank.

The rocks will be some leftovers I have that are "clean" and dry. Do I still need to do something like Dr. Tim's Nitrifying Bacteria to get it going quickly?

DLHDesign · May 13, 2019

Water - for the most part - does not contain enough bacteria to seed a tank. Bacteria generally grows on surfaces (rocks, filters, tank walls, etc.). If you have dry rock that hasn't been bleached or the like, then you should expect there to be a measurable cycle - which means you won't want to add fish nor corals until it's completed. Yes; some form of bacteria-in-a-bottle can help this process along, but it's unlikely to make things ready in any kind of quick manner - not if you want long-term success.

Sounds like this is a great opportunity to teach your son the golden rule of reefing; "Nothing good happens fast."

W1ngz · May 13, 2019

Get his rock now, and put it in your tank or sump, or choose a few pieces of your rock that you can trade against his dry rock. You don't need a lot, 15 gal of water, one or two decent sized established rocks and a few cups of established sand and you should be able to jump-start his cycle.

You'll still have to dose some ammonia to confirm that there is nitrification happening before buying fish, and fish will have to be added slowly, like 1 fish every 3 to 4 weeks to allow the bioload to stabilized before the next one.

DaddyO NJ · May 13, 2019

Sounds good, but he is adamant about NOT using sand or rock from my tank. I have a nice supply of bristle worms and an occasional aptasia. I am willing to just buy some fresh sand and rocks to give him a fresh start.

DaddyO NJ · May 13, 2019

Sounds good, but he is adamant about NOT using sand or rock from my tank. I have a nice supply of bristle worms and an occasional aptasia. I am willing to just buy some fresh sand and rocks to give him a fresh start.

W1ngz · May 13, 2019

Can't have it both ways.
Might be best to get the dry rock in a bucket with a powerhead, small heater and some ammonia today to start cycling it.

bluprntguy · May 13, 2019

Sounds like he'd be better off with all fresh water. Add some bottled bacteria daily. Fritz turbo start seems to be the best at jump-starting the cycle, but they all work to some degree.

brandon429 · May 13, 2019

This is how to skip cycle your tank:

buy premium cured, with coralline and animals attached, live rock. That simply moves from the pet store to your home tank without losing bac, make em pack it wet for the trip

BeejReef · May 13, 2019

Ofc, you know how important patience is.

Kinda depends on what he wants to accomplish "quickly?"
With estalished live rock and bottled bacteria, one can probably "quickly" get to a pair of clowns and some green star polyps.

I could do a lot of things quickly if you pay for the equipment and mistakes.. lol !

brandon429 · May 13, 2019

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/the-microbiology-of-reef-tank-cycling.214618/

no bottle bac is needed, live rock is ready always and stays ready if its kept wet, doesn't even have to be fed. it allows a skip cycle

skip cycles are ok, and handy when moving established fish tank to tank etc or for coral only setups etc

bluprntguy · May 13, 2019

brandon429 said:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/the-microbiology-of-reef-tank-cycling.214618/

no bottle bac is needed, live rock is ready always and stays ready if its kept wet, doesn't even have to be fed. it allows a skip cycle

skip cycles are ok, and handy when moving established fish tank to tank etc or for coral only setups etc

It sounds like the OP's son wants to avoid pests like aiptasia as well as avoiding bristleworms (which I totally understand).
Live rock will almost assuredly have both those things if not additional hitchikers that may be undesirable.

brandon429 · May 13, 2019

the live rock I buy doesn't, the bin in that pic was normal great live rock, occasional fireworm but far better than white rock taking 6 yrs to become half as colorful

plus that has less invaders above, the purple live rock from the thread. its better than white rock in every way for sure.

guess the source matters, some poor sources are full of bad worms. inspect the bin/helps. If he wants to do bottle bac addition skip cycle that works too, but in the end we buy frags from normal systems and end up turning ours back into normal/diverse ones the careful start always yields eventually to buying regular sourced items Ive seen. That doesn't take into acct the massive amnt of dino infestations those starting clean weren't ready for, you want live rock and ways to manage the worms, which there are, vs bare rock. the only reason to go bare rock is for eco friendly, its a total hassle beyond that.