cycling with established tank water.

[randymon2]

Will I go through a full cycle If I start a new 10 gal. tank using water from my 3 year old established 125 gal. reef? I will be using new cured live rock from my local lfs. If no, how long b-4 adding fish? This tank will be set up for a bunch of impatient toddlers.

 

[Scooterman]

The rock is what makes a difference, the water is just adding old detritus filled water LOL
You can't speed that up, unless you put the new rock in the big tank & use some rock from your big tank & new water for the little tank, that would speed it up.

 

[gary shandling]

Useing the other tank water would help but if the LR isnt fully cured then this will cause a cycle. I would wait atleast 4 weeks in either case. Let your beneficial bacteria population grow.

 

[varpanus]

with my 5gal, i used 3gals of water from the lfs, and 3lbs of sand. the only thing that wasnt established was the rock. it took mine a month to cycle.

 

[ac7av]

I set up a 10 gallon tank with live rock, live sand, and water form my 210 gallon and there is no cycling needed. Fish and coral frags were in the tank by the end of the day and purple coralline all over before long. It’s been set up for 3 months now and there are sps and a purple clam in there now too and things are doing great. Like Scooterman said I would put the new rock in the 125 and use rock out of the big tank to set up the 10. Throw some sand in there too if you use it. You’ll have a instant tank ready for anything.

 

[nanshaw2001]

Ya'll are so inspiring!!! Love this place.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

The rock is what makes a difference, the water is just adding old detritus filled water LOL
You can't speed that up, unless you put the new rock in the big tank & use some rock from your big tank & new water for the little tank, that would speed it up.

Listen to this dude... existing water doesn't do squat.

Now if you use fully cured live rock, or rock from an existing tank, you can use just about any type of water you want (used or new) and probably skip the cycle or at least have a minimal one.

But I always like to "test the waters" by throwing in an ammonia source and waiting to see the results.