Transferring tanks, help with ?'s

I've hear great things about Dr. Tim's too. I actually just went through cycling my new 46g bowfront tank with Biozyme and it worked well (2-3 week cycle).

IMO I think you will be fine (in terms of cycling) if you transfer everything, except the sand to your new tank. I purchased my 24g aquapod off Craigslist and also a 20g standard full set-up. I took everything out of the 20g and placed it in my aquapod with new sand and I didn't see even a hint of cycling.

The big thing is to keep everything, so that all of the bacteria and same conditions comes over with it- rock, water, filter, etc. If you get new sand, get live sand, not dry.

My belief is that the reason we go through a cycle when you purchased rock from the store is that while the rock is live it is not a strong bio filter, due to the way it is kept.

The rock you have has been sitting in your other tank, building and is already handling the bio load that you have. The big thing is that you NEED to transfer all of the rock for this to work. If not, you will have to cycle.

How much rock do you currently have? I know you are going from a 55g to a 20g, so you may not be able to keep all of it.

 

I didn't keep it all, I had about 60lbs in the 55.

The 55g is gone, guy came and bought it this morning. I transferred about 15lbs of rock into the DT and the fuge of the 20, the fuge is also a 20g tank. I only have my B&W Clown at this point. Haven't seen any signs of stress or parameters change thus far.

No sand in the tank ATM

 

I have started many tanks using alot of different methods. The quickest way to cycle is what you have done. Transferring filters and rocks helps a great deal. I believe you need a great deal of biofilm to create a mature tank. That includes the glass and sand.If you purchase LR from LFS it usually has not been cured enough and you will have die off from the many creatures inhabiting it. Just because its not a strong cycle believe me your tank will still go through it. Whether its enough to do any damge to your animals is unknown. Proceeding with caution is the only way to succeed in this hobby and you want to take as much risk away as possible.With all this being said I realise your circumstances and the fact you only have one fish will greatly inhance your chance of success.Good luck and let us know how everything is doing!!8)