New Tank Vs. Mature tank after moving it

biglurr54 · 10/23/2012, 12:46 PM

Back in college I had a small tank that I moved back and forth with me. It was small and had hardy corals and they always survived. Mostly softies and a few LPS. When I graduated I got a 120 gallon reef given to me. A really nice lady took an add out to sell her aquarium and my wife and I went to look at it and she said we could have it if we paid for the add. It cost 7 dollars. I moved everything and it all survived. This had Anemones, a ton of fish, all different corals. Nothing died. Everything I read about cycling a tank says to wait till your blue in the face but it all seems to go out the window when you move a tank. What is the difference between a new tank with live rock and live sand and an established tank that has been dry for a day and then loaded with live rock and live sand. Is this waiting business being overly cautious? I know the idea of cycling is so the bactria can build to take the bio load. But if the tank is dry for a time while moving what is the difference between a new tank.

If i bought a new display tank everyone would most likely advise me to just move everything from the old tank into the new one. No waiting for cycles or anything like that.

I found that I had bigger ammonia and nitrite swings when I moved my little tank compared to the cycle i just went through when i set it up from scratch on my desk at work.

Im not saying waiting is a good idea I'm just wondering why its preached so much in certain areas and not in others like moving an established tank or changing display tanks.

10/23/2012, 12:46 PM	#1
biglurr54 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Averill Park NY Posts: 406	New Tank Vs. Mature tank after moving it Back in college I had a small tank that I moved back and forth with me. It was small and had hardy corals and they always survived. Mostly softies and a few LPS. When I graduated I got a 120 gallon reef given to me. A really nice lady took an add out to sell her aquarium and my wife and I went to look at it and she said we could have it if we paid for the add. It cost 7 dollars. I moved everything and it all survived. This had Anemones, a ton of fish, all different corals. Nothing died. Everything I read about cycling a tank says to wait till your blue in the face but it all seems to go out the window when you move a tank. What is the difference between a new tank with live rock and live sand and an established tank that has been dry for a day and then loaded with live rock and live sand. Is this waiting business being overly cautious? I know the idea of cycling is so the bactria can build to take the bio load. But if the tank is dry for a time while moving what is the difference between a new tank. If i bought a new display tank everyone would most likely advise me to just move everything from the old tank into the new one. No waiting for cycles or anything like that. I found that I had bigger ammonia and nitrite swings when I moved my little tank compared to the cycle i just went through when i set it up from scratch on my desk at work. Im not saying waiting is a good idea I'm just wondering why its preached so much in certain areas and not in others like moving an established tank or changing display tanks.