Cycling Question

[d2mini]

So for the new tank, I'm going to be ordering all my rock, sand and cuc from TampaBaySaltwater.com instead of transferring my current HA contaminated crap.

You can go to their site and read about how "The Package" works and how he sends it to you, but basically you get the first shipment which is sand and rock. It's pulled out of the ocean in water, brought back to land in water and shipped to you overnight in water by air freight and you pick it up at the airport so it's fresh and full of life and you have a very short cycle with tons of stuff surviving. But due to me having to leave on vacation over xmas, i have to wait till i get back to order it.

So my question is.... can I take maybe one of my clean rocks in my current tank, and maybe a little bit of the water and sand, and put it in my new tank with mostly all freshly mixed saltwater and get the cycle going for the next two weeks or so? Will this make any difference? Or should i just fill it completely with new saltwater and just leave it running with nothing else for those two weeks?

What would you do?

 

[SeaBee]

I would say, where are you going over Christmas and can I stay at your house??? I'll stare at your tank for ya!!!! Lets have some eggnog and get this party started!!!! WOOOOOOTTTTT

I used to live in LaPorte, you know where that is? I was 8 at the time and lets just say Jimmy Carter was president....

 

[d2mini]

Going to London and Italy to freeze our butts off walking around old churches with cold concrete and no heat. Sounds fun, eh? Thank god for the plethora of good wine. :D

We're probably close to the same age. Born in 73 but spent my carter years and many more in NY. Only been in h-town for 11 years.

 

[daugherty]

you will be fine doing thast but it may still kick off a bigger cycle when you get back the big thing to keep the life alive with there rock is keep doing water changes everyday to keep the ammonia and nitrite down as low as you can at 1ppm do a large water change to get the levels back under 1ppm

 

[d2mini]

the big thing to keep the life alive with there rock is keep doing water changes everyday to keep the ammonia and nitrite down as low as you can at 1ppm do a large water change to get the levels back under 1ppm

Ya, that's exactly why I'm waiting until i get back.
And this is why I'm wondering if it's even worth "seeding" the water 2-3 weeks prior to getting their rock.

 

[daugherty]

prob not worth it just because when you add that much new rock there is no way for it to keep up with any die off on the new rock and there will be some

 

[yote]

With TBSW,there probably wont be much die off,if any at all.
I've seen their rock come into the store and have live fish in the box.Found eels,octopus,all kinds of shrimp and crabs,even live corals growing on the rock.

 

[Rcpilot]

Yeah, and mantis shrimp and NON reef safe crabs of every sort and kind.

That's the LAST place I'd order rock from. That's like opening a box of chocolates. Ya just never know.............

 

[dcantucson]

Yeah, and mantis shrimp and NON reef safe crabs of every sort and kind.

That's the LAST place I'd order rock from. That's like opening a box of chocolates. Ya just never know.............

Okay Forrest! :lol:

Dennis it sounds like an adventure to me. I like getting a few critters free, myself.:^: