i have a 55 gallon salt water tank alraedy up and running. i want to get a small nano tank (20 gallons) and have it purely for coral and live rocks.. my question is, can i just take water from my 55 gallon tank, live rock, and corals and just put it into the 20 gallon tank from the start? or am i going to have to let the water cycle before i add corals?
2007-11-05 23:47:55 · 8 answers · asked by zasshi 2 in Pets ➔ Fish
You need to let the water cycle for a while before you add coral and fish. I think I was told for at least a month or more before adding coral and fish.
2007-11-06 00:48:30 · answer #1 · answered by yellow04ducky 3 · 1⤊ 2⤋
You need to cycle the tank. Those who are saying you don't aren't taking into consideration that water itself doesn't have (or has very little) bacteria that convert the ammonia or nitrite to nitrate. These are in the substrate and filter media (and some will be on the new live rock). So you might as well start with newly mixed saltwater and live rock (and you'll get some die-off from the rock no matter if it's "cured" or not). The fact that you're using live rock which has bacteria will shorten the cycling time, but you can also add an old piece of filter media from tour 55 to help seed the tank and shorten the time even further.
2007-11-06 02:40:15 · answer #2 · answered by copperhead 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
I have had large fish tanks with different types of fish so here is what I had. I had fresh water fish. The reason is that the fish are a bit cheaper, there is a wide variety that you can have in the tank, you can mix and match. Also it is must easier to clean and take care of than salt water tanks. In a fresh water tank You can add plants, rocks, and all types of decorations. In the salt water there are plants but they care a bit more expensive than fresh water. It is the price, the variety and the easy care that makes fresh water tanks betters. In my case, I had in a27 gallong tank fresh water, Angels, Neons, various tropicals, gold fish, and others. This makes the tank more interesting. The salt water tank can be interesting but again the price is an issue. Also cleaning is much easier because you do not have that heavy salt residue on the edges that gets caked and hard to clean off. For the fresh water tank, I empty it totaly. In a large 5 gallon clean pail I put fresh water, then on the edge of the pail I put the clean filters then add the fish. While the fish are in the clean pail of water with the filters, I wash the tank, plants and decorations. The tank is easy, I rinse it then add salt, yes salt because it is a natural cleaning agent and you do not have to scrub. Then I rinse the tank good. Place it back pour in the water from the pail add the fish and the filters then add what water is needed and then the decorations and done. I had fish that lasted me 8 years. An Angel fish that I got as a baby I had for 10 years. He was black and silver and very large. On person offered me $300 for him, but I said no because I grew him up from a tiny fish to an adult. He was beautiful. Large fins and a graceful body as he swam. But I suggest that you check with your favorite pet shop first. Also watch the pet shop. Some stores bring in the fish and leave them in the containers that they come in a long while before placing in the tanks and when you buy the fish they die soon due to not being attended early enough. I have mentioned this to the pet shop that I used to go to and they did not care. Many of the fish died. So I went to another shop where they take care of the fish and that is where I got my Angel fish that I had for all that time.
2016-05-28 02:35:33 · answer #3 · answered by cari 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That is exactly how I started my 6g nano reef.. commonly called Bingoing! I would take some of the water from your next water change, a few chunks of LR and even some of the substrate and add it to your 29. give it a day or 2 and then you can add critters.. slowly! Your going to get a short cycle ut it should only last a bout a week or or so!
good luck
2007-11-09 13:51:04 · answer #4 · answered by Ramoth41 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you are adding rock and water from your current tank the rock will already have a mature bacteria growth on it so you should be able to start adding things immediatly. I would recommend transferring the water first and get everthing running correctly and make sure the heater is set to the right temperature then move the rock and what ever else you want to move over.
2007-11-06 02:52:57 · answer #5 · answered by . 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
yes you can but you need to let the tank run for atleast a week to see how the filtration system affects your all ready established water sand and rock. i would suggest the nano cube tank with the light and filter in it allready, maybe get a cleaner shrimp and a cleaner goby as well once everything is up and running. good luck.
2007-11-06 01:55:55 · answer #6 · answered by Kyle 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There is no need to cycle the water again, as you are using everything from a cycled tank already.
2007-11-06 02:28:48 · answer #7 · answered by Roberto G 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you are useing the things from your existing tank that is already matured then there is no need to wait for it to cycle.
2007-11-06 01:21:20 · answer #8 · answered by millypeed my choccie Lab 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋