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04/06/2019, 02:53 PM
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#1 |
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Registered Member
Join Date: Apr 2019
Posts: 43
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Cycling used tank?
I bought a Red Sea Reefer 250 used. It was full of green algae and it came with 2 fish. When I brought it home i got rid of all the old water, scrubbed and clean tank. I bought new live sand and put back same live rock it had before.
Do I need to cycle the tank again since I used all new water? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
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04/06/2019, 03:09 PM
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#2 |
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Join Date: May 2017
Posts: 632
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All newly set up saltwater aquariums will go through some kind of a cycle. Using new live sand will help the cycle go quicker...although using the old live rock could be counterproductive if there is some die off coming from it. Test your water...that is the best way to know for sure. If the ammonia starts going up, you know you're going through the cycling process.
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04/06/2019, 03:13 PM
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#3 |
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Join Date: Apr 2019
Posts: 43
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So far it’s been 3 days since installed and ammonia is at 0 but I can start to see some brown/green algae on sand and rocks
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04/06/2019, 05:40 PM
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#4 |
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Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 20,050
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If the rock was kept damp/wet then you should have little to no cycle as the rock should have a sufficient bacterial population on it...Most bacteria is on the surfaces of rock/sand and not much is free floating..
One can do a 100% water change and not need to go through a cyling process at all..
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04/06/2019, 06:04 PM
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#5 | |
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Join Date: Apr 2019
Posts: 43
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Quote:
Thank you! I’m going to continue testing for a week or two before putting more fish. If i don’t see any spikes in ammonia I would assume it’s been cycled. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
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04/06/2019, 06:49 PM
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#6 |
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Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: Denver, CO
Posts: 43
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Agreed, if the rock was kept sufficiently wet to not have die off, you should be good to go.
When I moved my stuff across Canada a few years ago, I kept all of my rock in buckets heated and aerated, and monitored everything when I started it up in the clean tank with new sand, and never had a cycle. Left my corals and fish in another tank until I was sure it was all good to go though. That was a stressful 4 day drive, and lugging buckets in and out of hotels every day, but it went off perfectly. It actually feels weird cycling a new tank right now, since it has been so long. The old stuff is still going strong after ~13 years, but that tank is staying with my ex for now. |
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04/06/2019, 06:57 PM
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#7 | |
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Join Date: Apr 2019
Posts: 43
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Quote:
Yea, rock were in buckets with salt water for only a day before putting them back into the tank. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
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04/10/2019, 05:59 PM
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#8 |
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Join Date: Apr 2019
Posts: 43
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These have been my parameters so far. It’s been a week and haven’t seen any spikes in ammonia. I feel like tank it’s cycled. What you think?
I do see diatoms on the sand and rocks.  Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
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04/10/2019, 07:29 PM
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#9 |
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Registered Member
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 20,050
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Yep...tank is likely ready to start slowly stocking
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04/20/2019, 02:04 PM
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#10 |
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Join Date: May 2013
Location: La Crosse, WI
Posts: 1
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What kind of algae was on the rock? I hope it wasn’t hair algae- that stuff is hard to get rid of!
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04/20/2019, 02:09 PM
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#11 | |
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Join Date: Apr 2019
Posts: 43
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Quote:
It was brown algae but it’s going away now. Also placed a chemi blue bag and water looks much better. I’ll eventually get a media reactor Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
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