New 90 RR need advice?

[dcsurfer88]

Just filled my 90 gal up pumps are running and skimer is a skimmin', my questions is i have added about 40 lbs of dry base rock a couple of the pieces being lava, along with a couple of small pieces of cured live rock. I have the tank set up with apprx 90 gals of fresh saltwater, ten of those 90 gals are from a water change coming out of my 30 gal reef that is already established. I just inherited 26 gals of water from a buddy who also has an established reef. if i add the 26 gals plus another 20 or so gals from my existing reef tank what would be the odds of a healthy start for my existing corals and live stcok in this new tank? and what would be some things to look out for in water parameters if i did do this? any advice would be greatly appreciated. This is my first upgrade in this obssesion of mine.

 

[DonW]

Dirty water wont help anything. I would just dump it and start off with all fresh. I'd also remove any lava rock you have in the tank.

Don

 

[dcsurfer88]

That's it dirty water won't help? So your telling me that when you do a water change you empty your whole tank out then fill it back up with fresh water? If i'm not mistaken what i'm wanting to do is pretty much vise-versa from a water change? no? By adding apprx. 46 gallons of both my current reef tank's water and my buddy's water in which both parameters were pretty darn good, don't you think there is a better and shorter cycle time involved with nearly 50% of beneficial established water?

 

[Krish]

You won't really have a shorter cycle by using water from 2 existing tanks. Most of the bacteria will be found in your live rock or sand bed which is why it is suggested to use cured live rock on start up to shorten any sort of cycling time and not use all used tank water. I personally always took the advantage of a tank swap or new setup using mostly all new water...Good chance to get rid of any "nasties" in the water.

when you do a water change you empty your whole tank out then fill it back up with fresh water?

Maybe you don't know Don all that well He changes 100% of his water every week and has one of the most stable systems around

 

[dcsurfer88]

Thanks good info Krish no i don't know don didn't mean to sound harsh, but that's what i was always led to believe, about water changes and i am new to the upgrade scene. thanks for the info from both don and your self.

 

[dcsurfer88]

what's up with no lava either heard it was bad, but why?

 

[DonW]

what's up with no lava either heard it was bad, but why?

It all good, you could change 100% of your water if it weren't for dry docking the fish.
Why is lava rock bad? Lava rock is like a hot dog, nobody knows what is in it. It could be just about anything to include copper. Think about how it is made.

Don

 

[returnofsid]

The beneficial bacterias you're wanting do not live in the water column. They live attached to your glass, in and on your live sand and live rock. Lava Rock is notorious for having TONS of silica in it. This has the potential of causing major phosphate and nitrate issues. Lava Rock can also have any number of potentially hazardous metals in it.