Difference between hard and soft cycling your tank

[john.m.cole3]

I've heard that a hard cycle consists of using ammonia chloride and a live nitrifying bacteria addidtive.

Soft cycle uses a live, hardy fish or piece of raw shrimp to get the cycle going..

What are the pros and cons of each?

I need to transfer my livestock from my 46 gal to my 72 and want to do it the BEST and SAFEST way possible. Thanks!

 

[Brian Kim]

Are you going to transfer your rocks and some of your current equipment? I don't think you should worry too much about cycling the new tank since this is a transfer.

Make sure you save most of your current water, filter media and have enough water to fill the remaining of the larger tank.

BTW, get new live sand or go bare bottom

 

[john.m.cole3]

Got new live sand. ALL new equipment. The reason I am hesitant to do a transfer is b/c the current was a used freshwater tank and I don't know if the tank was dosed w/ copper. If it was dosed w/ copper, do you think it could have leached into my rock? I sent off a Triton test last week to confirm. I'd almost rather be safe than sorry hence the new thread... Corals have not grown in this tank until this past month (14 month old tank). I'm scared that my rock/tank/equipment is tainted but want to be sure first. Another point, my water was at SG 1.020 due to me not calibrating w/ 35ppt solution. Now that my SG is 1.026 using Reef Crystals, I've seen growth in my zoas and hammer corals.

 

[Brian Kim]

Got new live sand. ALL new equipment. The reason I am hesitant to do a transfer is b/c the current was a used freshwater tank and I don't know if the tank was dosed w/ copper. If it was dosed w/ copper, do you think it could have leached into my rock? I sent off a Triton test last week to confirm. I'd almost rather be safe than sorry hence the new thread... Corals have not grown in this tank until this past month (14 month old tank). I'm scared that my rock/tank/equipment is tainted but want to be sure first. Another point, my water was at SG 1.020 due to me not calibrating w/ 35ppt solution. Now that my SG is 1.026 using Reef Crystals, I've seen growth in my zoas and hammer corals.

Did you sterilize it before turning it into a saltwater tank? Also, did you run carbon in your system? I hardly doubt there are any copper left in your system after running it for over 14 months but glad you are getting your Triton test result soon.
You should be perfectly fine recycling your current water, 1.020 would have not harmed the beneficial bacteria. I would recommend purchasing a bottle of Bio Spira and add it to your new system after the transfer.

 

[saltyphish]

If copper was used with the rock then it most definately absorbed the copper. That is one of the reasons why liver ok is not used in a QT tank being dosed with copper. The rock soaks it up making it difficult to keep the copper as consistent therapeutic levels.

 

[saltyphish]

If copper was used with the rock then it most definately absorbed the copper. That is one of the reasons why liver ok is not used in a QT tank being dosed with copper. The rock soaks it up making it difficult to keep the copper as consistent therapeutic levels.

But after 14 mths I'm not sure if it has leeched back out or not

 

[john.m.cole3]

That's why I'm doing the triton test, just to be sure. I've learned a lot these past 14 months and I want to do this new tank correctly!

 

[nervousmonkey]

John, just to be on the safe side, why don't you use a polyfilter pad to see if there is any copper? I doubt that there is any since you have coral growth, but one way to find out is the polyfilter pad, and if you are still worried, try running some cuprisorb. That will get rid of copper and all other heavy metals....