Switching over?

JY13131 · 01-31-2007, 03:17 PM

I am swapping my 2 biocubes over to a 75 all at one time. I have probably 35 lbs of rock fully mature and going to use my sand. Also using same water + new water. I was told not to add any NEW live rock until the tank is done cycing and to feed lightly. Is this good advice ALA TRT?

Geoff · 01-31-2007, 03:28 PM

i would not reuse the sand. this is prolly even worse than adding new LR to the system.

if you are going to be switching things to a new system all at once than i also do not think that it would be a good idea to add new LR.

if you want to add more LR later you can, but i would first cure it in a bucket if you can. or if the pieces are small enough or already cured than you can go ahead and put them in.

G~

JY13131 · 01-31-2007, 03:30 PM

OK, I thought there was good bacteria in the sand, no? Or is it that there is MORE bad stuff that counteracts the good?

Geoff · 01-31-2007, 03:34 PM

it is the fact that over time the sand absorbs phosphates. it has a limited life before the sand bed will need to be replaced. it is easier to just replace it whenever you get the chance.

there is also all of the life in the sand bed. when all of this life is disturbed a fair amount of it will die causing a cycle. something you do not want when doing a tank switchover.

G~

JY13131 · 01-31-2007, 03:36 PM

Gotcha, thanks. All live sand or half and half?

Geoff · 01-31-2007, 03:43 PM

do not use live sand, just a waste of money. just get all dry stuff. there is nothing living in LS that is not already living in your LR.

G~

JY13131 · 01-31-2007, 03:44 PM

WOW! I would have never read that in a book!!!

Wiskey · 01-31-2007, 03:47 PM

True though. How live would you be if I sealed you in a plastic bag for a year

Whiskey

JY13131 · 01-31-2007, 03:53 PM

leveldrummer · 01-31-2007, 06:21 PM

if you want to add live rock to the tank first, let it cycle, then toss in your cubes when its done, thats what i did when i switched my 46 gal to a 120, i added about 100 lbs of base rock, and when it was done cycling, i put everything from my 46 in at once. didnt loose anything.

JY13131 · 02-01-2007, 09:14 AM

Yeah, I am considering that. How long for cycling? My living room will be filled with tanks and NO furniture!

leveldrummer · 02-01-2007, 09:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JY13131

Yeah, I am considering that. How long for cycling? My living room will be filled with tanks and NO furniture!

mine cycled in about 6 weeks, yes, my living room was destroyed during that time, and my girlfriend and i were NOT happy about the arrangements. but we couldnt be happier now, i used base rock, it should have been inert, but it apparently still had lots of dieoff in it, if you find good base rock, your cycle should be considerably shorter.

Geoff · 02-01-2007, 09:26 AM

depending on the LR it could take over a month to properly cycle the new LR.

G~

JY13131 · 02-01-2007, 09:37 AM

Difference between base rock and live rock? If base is not alive, what causes the tank to cycle?

fishinchick · 02-01-2007, 09:40 AM

Live sand: one of the industries absolute best marketing gimmicks second only to boxed natural saltwater.

Heck, if you buy that I have a bridge to sell you.

The only advantage to 'live' sand is that it's already been soaking in water and it will settle faster than dry stuff. Want to make your own store type live sand? Soak dry aragonite in regular saltwater for 24 hours or so. You don't even really need a powerhead for that short of time.
Same stuff.

They'll lead you to believe there are bugs or hidden seamonsters or something in that sand. There isnt. It's just sterilized saltwater dumped in with some well rinsed sand.

You can use a handfull or two of the old sand (I'd use sand from the top inch of the old tank) to seed the new sandbed. But if your live rock is decent I wouldnt worry about it at all. Most of the stuff that ends up populating a REAL live sandbed ends up comming from good live rock anyway.