Insta Cycled or Insta Stocked or something else?

[MnFish1]

The trap most people fall into.....

They go to a big box store, or even the corner LFS, and they buy everything they need, including the API saltwater master kit. And you can't blame a noob for buying a cheap kit when they just dropped a huge chunk of coin for a complete setup. No one thinks testing is that critical when starting out, hence the cheap test kit.

Now you know, as we all should by now, that there is always a hint of green when using API for saltwater ammonia tests. So everyone thinks there cycle is "stuck". When in fact, it's just the fault of the API kit.

Once I stopped using the API kit(I use salifert now when needed) I realized you could insta cycle a tank and add a small bioload on day one.

I'm not a noob, and I use API test kits. I have never had a problem. Ive used the others as well - I find the colors extremely difficult to tell apart at times, and with the auto-testers - I found them just as cumbersome. I think we get too hung up on an alkalinity of lets say 8.5 and 8.7 for example. When I use my alkalinity API test kit for example, If the color matches exactly at 7 - I assume its 7. If it matches at 8 I assume its 8. If its somewhere in between - I assume its 7.5. I have never had a problem. Now - I have one time 'tested' the API ammonia test kit - and it worked fine. It was not for cycling, it was designed to check on a problem. Since then - when I've done new tanks - I use bottled bacteria (per directions), added rock and fish on day 2 - and never test anything. Is that an insta cycle? I don't know.

 

[MnFish1]

Thoroughly cleaning and re using your old sand would most likely help keep your new tank cycling without a hitch.
Any major changes during upgrade should be thought about and planned for.
Having said that you may not have any issues at all in your rock or media may be able to handle bioload on its own.
How much liverock media are you moving to new tank?
This really all does come down to setting up new tank. Transferring your rock/media over and monitoring what your ammonia does.
A good tool of measurement like seneye will let you know when ammonia is actually safe.

I actually wonder how much the 'sand' really does - since - for the most part there isn't a huge amount of flow through the sand. My guess is it makes no difference. Now - my philosophy on sand is - I use only a very small amount - perhaps 1/2-1/4 inch - and there are areas where - with flow - bare glass is seen at times.

 

[LRT]

Oh - In my example I added Seachem stability for 7 days BUT - I'm not at all sure that was necessary.

What was interesting in my upgrade was I took entire old mature system and split it up into 2 new identical tanks. Same amount of liverock, water volume etc. Pretty much identical.
Tank 1 I used no bottle bac.
Tank 2 I threw a bottle of Fritz turbo in.
The craziest part about tank 2 was the wierd cloudy water blooms I experienced. Super wierd PH swings and had a real hard time getting ALK to settle. I went through all this for first couple months with tank 2 and still kinda dealing with with algae blooms as well.
The only common denominator between the 2 tanks was I used bottle bac in the tank im experiencing issues in.
I have to chalk that up to using bottle bac as thats the only real thing that was done differently.

 

[LRT]

I actually wonder how much the 'sand' really does - since - for the most part there isn't a huge amount of flow through the sand. My guess is it makes no difference. Now - my philosophy on sand is - I use only a very small amount - perhaps 1/2-1/4 inch - and there are areas where - with flow - bare glass is seen at times.

Id love to hear what @taricha has to say. I feel like in yours, mine and plenty of others that posted great results in here that perhaps sand was not needed at all for our success.
That plenty of bacteria was transferred over on surfaces of rock, coral and old gear used. So sand was simply not needed to achieve successful transfer.
Def wasn't needed in mine as I transferred bare bottom system without sand.
Not sure if it would hurt anything and may help if old sand was used but thoroughly rinsed as technically sand is supposed to have greatest surface area for bacteria and that should help processing in theory. Totally not needed if your media is already handling and processing bioload though idk.

 

[slacker036]

I performed a move/upgrade from my 75g to my 109g in a 2 Mile move on Sept 4th this year. I finished filling the new tank with water a little after midnight the morning of the move. I was so behind schedule getting the tank ready for the move I never even bothered to rinse the new sand or rock before filling. I did not move any water, sand, or manufactured bio media to the new tank. I moved about 60lbs of now live rock along with the livestock adding about 20lbs of new dry base rock and a new liter of Matrix bio media. No additives added, No noticeable ammonia spike, No noticeable cycle. Water source for new tank was the same as the water changes for the previous 3 months, made sure the tank water was in line with the temp of the old tank so captured livestock in bins drove the 2 miles and dropped livestock in new tank. Today Oct 9th everything is loving the new room so far look happy and healthy.

Livestock Moved
Hippo Tang, Sailfin Tang, 2 Clowns, 6 Green Chromis, Orchid Dottyback, Hermits, Mithrax crabs, Snails, Pencil Urchin, Pincushin Urchin, a handful of soft corals

Equipment Moved
Skimmer, Tank Lighting, heater, wave makers

Things not moved
Old water, Sand, Old Matrix Bio media, Fuge Light, Chaeto (was a thick mat I was never able to get close to tumble)

Added in the month since move
Sea Lettuce, RBA

 

[Just a Wrasse.]

Thanks to @LRT for the QOTD idea!

Have you ever moved the inhabitants of a reef aquarium to a new tank? Maybe it was a tank upgrade. Maybe you bought someone's entire reef and set it up in your own new tank. Would it need to cycle? Would there be a cycle? What would you even call that? Let's talk about it!

1. What would you call a fully transferred, instantly stocked tank? Insta Cycled or Insta Stocked or something else?

2. Have you ever relocated an existing reef ecosystem to a new tank and how did it go? Did you experience a cycle?

Image via @happyhourhero

Cool tank!

 

[Nemo&Friends]

Transferred from a 55g to 120g. Kept the rocks, the water the fish and the CU. Added extra water, no problem. But I do not have corals.
Also I created a smaller tank just using water from the big tank and a few rocks. No problems.

 

[LRT]

There may or may not be a bunch of corals that where taken as frags and made it through the 24hr challenge