Seeding New Tank

[BW1199]

I took advantage of the black friday sales and pulled the trigger on a new tank. I'm still pretty new to the saltwater world and this will be my second tank but my first new one.

I'm using reef saver dry rock in the new tank and was planning to seed the tank with a few of the nicer rocks from my old tank to help speed up the cycle process (wife says the old tank needs to go asap after the new one arrives). I'm starting to second guess myself as the old tank has some bubble algae, a lot of vermitid snails, and I'm sure some other pests. Should I just play it safe and not use any of the rock? Or could I use some of the water and avoid carrying over the pests?

 

[PDR]

I took advantage of the black friday sales and pulled the trigger on a new tank. I'm still pretty new to the saltwater world and this will be my second tank but my first new one.

I'm using reef saver dry rock in the new tank and was planning to seed the tank with a few of the nicer rocks from my old tank to help speed up the cycle process (wife says the old tank needs to go asap after the new one arrives). I'm starting to second guess myself as the old tank has some bubble algae, a lot of vermitid snails, and I'm sure some other pests. Should I just play it safe and not use any of the rock? Or could I use some of the water and avoid carrying over the pests?

I would pick out some of the nicer pieces of rock from your old tank and take some time manually removing any algae and pests you can find. I would definitely start with new water.

 

[125gSW]

I went with dry and I have not regretted it. Sure my peers started off with live rock/sand/water and were able to have fish/corals quicker than me. But I have had way less issues pest wise compared to them. The only pests I've encountered really are vermitids and stomatellas. As for the rest have dealt with worse and have lost fish/corals due to it. If you can really watch/control, sure go with live seeding. If you're lazy like me, start dry and let time do its thing

 

[Dragonreef202]

yes when starting a tank dry is always good. all you need is a couple of pieces of live rock to seed a tank. Just as long as it's pest free. You will see the change over time. No need to rush anything.