New Tank and Live Rock

[hube]

Finally after months I’m going to start filling my 75 gallon tank with water. My plan is to take some caribsea rock from my old 30 gallon tank and put it into this one. The caribsea rock has been in my in my tank since May of 2023, I added it with dry rock for my rock scape. I would assume it’s now teeming with bacteria.

So my question is this:
1. It accounts for maybe 1/3 of my scape in my 30 gallon, is it ok to take it out or would that affect my fish/corals? Would I need to do a water change?

2. Recently I have been having a cyano outbreak again, it’s hard to take care of that tank since I moved out and started building the one where I am now. Is it ok to put the live rock in a bucket with some chemiclean for a day or two and THEN put it in my new 75 gallon?

3. Once I add it, do I have to cycle the 75 gallon tank? Do I add something like Turbostart or is the live rock enough?

Any advice on setting up the new system would be helpful, it’s my first time setting up a tank with a sump so it’s quite a learning curve.

 

[PotatoPig]

My 2c:

The ammonia processing capacity of the live rock in most systems far exceeds the demand on the tank. I’d be amazed if removing some caused you any cycle issues in the current tank. Note that it will reduce habitat and hideaway spaces for your tanks inhabitants so you may want to replace it.

The new 75g tank will, or at least should, be cycled the moment you put this live rock in there. Only reason to wait would be if you leave the live rock out for a bit and get die off.

 

[Gelinas101]

1. Should be fine... depending on the amount remaining.

2. Chemi clean depletes Oxygen, if you put it in a bucket to treat, you need to keep that in mind, by adding an oxygen pump. You would also need flow.... My advice would be to either treat for cyano in your 30 before moving the rocks...... or scrub them in a bucket, rinse them well and add them to the 75, if it comes back do a chemiclean treatment....

3. You'll still have a mini cycle, it will just help it go faster.... depends on the amount added and the biolife in the rock, bottle bacteria will be needed if you add something in it directly, but I would advice to do as you would to cycle your tank before, the bacteria from your liverock will need time to multiply as needed

 

[hube]

My 2c:

The ammonia processing capacity of the live rock in most systems far exceeds the demand on the tank. I’d be amazed if removing some caused you any cycle issues in the current tank. Note that it will reduce habitat and hideaway spaces for your tanks inhabitants so you may want to replace it.

The new 75g tank will, or at least should, be cycled the moment you put this live rock in there. Only reason to wait would be if you leave the live rock out for a bit and get die off.

Awesome,

1. Should be fine... depending on the amount remaining.

2. Chemi clean depletes Oxygen, if you put it in a bucket to treat, you need to keep that in mind, by adding an oxygen pump. You would also need flow.... My advice would be to either treat for cyano in your 30 before moving the rocks...... or scrub them in a bucket, rinse them well and add them to the 75, if it comes back do a chemiclean treatment....

3. You'll still have a mini cycle, it will just help it go faster.... depends on the amount added and the biolife in the rock, bottle bacteria will be needed if you add something in it directly, but I would advice to do as you would to cycle your tank before, the bacteria from your liverock will need time to multiply as needed

I’ll probably run chemiclean in the 30 gallon first then, was just afraid of having to keep track of it since I’ll only be able to take glances at the tank as the treatment goes on compared to being able to always keep an eye on it if I take the bucket with the rock where I live now.

In terms of the bottle bacteria, you’re saying I should add it first then add the live rock? I would, of course, want to avoid adding bottle bacteria, but if it’s needed alongside adding the live rock I’ll do it.

 

[Gelinas101]

Awesome,

I’ll probably run chemiclean in the 30 gallon first then, was just afraid of having to keep track of it since I’ll only be able to take glances at the tank as the treatment goes on compared to being able to always keep an eye on it if I take the bucket with the rock where I live now.

In terms of the bottle bacteria, you’re saying I should add it first then add the live rock? I would, of course, want to avoid adding bottle bacteria, but if it’s needed alongside adding the live rock I’ll do it.

Well, are you transferring fish instantly into the new tank? Or are you adding the live rock, letting it stabilize, and then adding fish? If you are adding fish when transferring the rocks, yes you'll need bottle bacteria for sure, your live rock can help reduce the cycling time for sure, but it needs time to seed the other ones. Otherwise no you won't need the bottle bacteria

 

[hube]

Well, are you transferring fish instantly into the new tank? Or are you adding the live rock, letting it stabilize, and then adding fish? If you are adding fish when transferring the rocks, yes you'll need bottle bacteria for sure, your live rock can help reduce the cycling time for sure, but it needs time to seed the other ones. Otherwise no you won't need the bottle bacteria

Gotcha, yeah I want to add the rock and maybe a week from now add some fish into the tank after the holidays. Should be enough time for them to hopefully get into the nooks and crannies of the tank. I’m also thinking of adding copepods before adding the fish, do I also need to wait around a week or is it ok to just add them once a couple days go by after the rock is added in?

 

[Uncle99]

Your putting in almost 2 year old rock.
Nothing else is required, but adding bacteria not going to hurt, your choice

I did mine over 3 days only because I wanted to add the aggressive crowd last.

 

[hube]

Your putting in almost 2 year old rock.
Nothing else is required, but adding bacteria not going to hurt, your choice

Awesome, thanks!

 

[Gelinas101]

Gotcha, yeah I want to add the rock and maybe a week from now add some fish into the tank after the holidays. Should be enough time for them to hopefully get into the nooks and crannies of the tank. I’m also thinking of adding copepods before adding the fish, do I also need to wait around a week or is it ok to just add them once a couple days go by after the rock is added in?

What I would personally do in this situation, I would do the chemiclean treatment in your 30, then transfer to your 75, and let 1-2 days go by... you can ghost feed a bit 1 or 2 times during that week to feed bacteria, help them multiply a bit add your pods as well. I would get a bottle of bacteria still, add it 24 hours before adding fish, and then watch how it pans out. You can do 1/2 a bottle and adjust after if needed.

 

[Gelinas101]

Your putting in almost 2 year old rock.
Nothing else is required, but adding bacteria not going to hurt, your choice

I did mine over 3 days only because I wanted to add the aggressive crowd last.

I agree, but personally I love to add bacteria to be safe haha

 

[Uncle99]

I agree, but personally I love to add bacteria to be safe haha

Some believe that adding different sources increases diversity!

 

[Gelinas101]

Some believe that adding different sources increases diversity!

When I swapped my 3 years old 32g into a 50g with a 30g sump I was in the same boat, I added all the rest of my almost empty bottles of bacteria (seachem, fritz, bio spira) it should be diverse enough:face-with-tears-of-joy:

But I never had anything scary in term of cycle, in fact now I struggle to have No3 and Po4:anxious-face-with-sweat: