cycle question

so i am soon starting up a 15 gallon for a mantis tank

will i still create a long cycle by doing it this way??

15 lbs. of lr from my established tank, 10 gallons of water also from my current tank, 5 gallons of new sw, and using a 20 lbs of dry aragonite sand.

 

I think you will have a very short cycle.

 

maybe but my expirence is no or a really small one that unless you are constantly testing for you will miss

 

When I think my tank is cycled, I test them with a little ammonia. I call it my "Bag-O-Guts" method.



This was a big fish that was going in there, so I put the equivalent of a single feed in the bag. If ammonia shows up... it's not ready. If it can handle this, the fish goes in.

The bag is for easy retrieval (you don't want that nastiness to stay in there) and being suspended like that keeps the carrion snails away.

 

Nope....it will be cycled instantly unless you leave the rock out a long time. If you're just moving rock over from one tank to the next instantly, you could put a mantis in there once the water is at the proper temperature. (Obviously, I'm assuming you are moving the Oxygenated water as quickly as your rock and your new saltwater has been moving with an airstone or powerhead that distrubs the surface of the water in the bucket).

At the shop, I could set up a nano as a display for new models in about 15 minutes complete with a small amount of livestock. Within 4 days, it could be fully stocked. (I used aragalive though so I wouldn't have the sandstorms). That's from using old water and rock from an existing tank. There's nothing to cycle if you move the rock quick enough. I also traded the sponge from the new nano with one from a nano that's always running too.

 

I still have no idea why people don't buy those Ammonia Alerts. They are inexpensive, last a whole year, and a quick glance is all you need to see that all is going well.

 

Agreed. They aren't accurate as in you can't look at it and say... today I have 0.05, 0.2 or 0.5. But they WILL tell ya when there's ammonia present and when it's rising. They are invaluable in a QT, especially if it's not cycled. It gives me a heads up to go grab the real test kit.

You can see my Bag-O-Guts didn't cause a blip and the fish went in.

 

ok awesome thanks alot guys,

as for the process i would literally be siphoning the established tanks water right into a bucket then into the new tank, and the live rock will only be out long enough to walk it over to the new tank. maybe i will go with the arag-alive sand aswell.

 

I move my rock around all the time to set up new tanks. I just bought a new fish I put in a 10 gallon QT and stole rock from the sump of the seahorse tank.

 

Just remember, Aragalive can cause a sandstorm too (but in much lesser amounts). After you put the sand in, use scissors and cut the plastic bag over the sand while filling. After the water is halfway up GENTLY remove the plastic barrier, put the rock in, then fill the rest of the way.