Cycling and Livestock

[OceanCrazy]

Hey guys as i said in another post i got my bro to switch to saltwater tank, and the LFS here filled my bro's tank with water from his show tank. I just wanted to know if the tank will go through the same cycle process as any new water being cycled. Cause he really wants to see some living organisms in his tank before i get back to the US lol.(he in doubt). His last threat was if i dont get this right he gonna stick me in that tank till i get it working.

 

[OceanCrazy]

1 more thing, how much rock is needed for a 55g tank?

 

[BL1]

Using old water won't make too much of an impact on the cycle as most of the bacteria lives in the rocks. There's no saying how long the cycle could take either way. For a 55 gallon tank, the general rule is 55-110 pounds of live rock but you could add more if you liked the look of it.

 

[OceanCrazy]

TY lots Brian, figured that much but the LFS was insisting.Good thing i dont listen to them.

 

[wontonflip]

Insisting that you buy fish already you mean? Yeah, they're in it for the money. If you're in a rush, buy a couple of live rock pieces and maybe get a cup of sand from them. It will speed up the cycle.

 

[OceanCrazy]

I did it the best way i know how, threw in a shrimp and waiting on it.

 

[Bifferwine]

That's the way to do it. If you bought the tank with lots of mature live rock, then you probably wouldn't need to cycle it. But as BL said, using old water won't make much of a difference.

 

[OceanCrazy]

Yeah the Lfs gave us the live rock from his show tank cause my bro been getting his equipment from there for the past 5 yrs.Dont have any dry rock in it. I did all the tests today and only could find low lvl nitrate in it where as the 5g tank is at the nitrite stage.
He offered to come and do everything at the house for free, but i told my bro not to accept cause then where is the fun of do it yourself.

 

[OceanCrazy]

Now all we been trying to do was to build a sump, so been looking for the right size for a 50g and right thickness of glass too. Any ideas would be appreciated. Oh and my bro took the shrimp out of the tank late at night, was gonna stick it back in there but will wait see if any cycle will happen again.Found a tiny long spine urchin, 2 snails , some feather duster lookalike on 1 of the rocks and a snail/slug. will try to post a pic soon about that one.