will my tank cycle

[clownandstripes]

i have a 5.5 nano and wanna upgrade to 20g. If i put live rock, bag of live sand, 10g of natural salt water, 5g of newly mixed saltwater, a pouch of biospira plus my 5.5g nano- Do you think it will cycle and kill my fish.

 

[drty811]

it will cycle but it will be a small cycle. i have switched tanks before and havent had any problems.

 

[reefman23]

Like Erik said there will be a small cycle, but nothing that should kill fish... They are pretty resilient usually.

Jesse

 

[unwired]

This brings up a good question... What actually causes a tank to cycle?

I was considering setting up a new Nano tank myself and was wondering if I needed to do that whole cycling thing.

I was considering asking the guy I get the live rock and corals from for some added water and trying to just start a tank with that and adding RO saltwater as nec. Is this feasible or will I also go thru a 'full' cycle with ammonia and nitrites killing everything in there?

 

[KidNano]

You can't avoid a cycle. You can minimize them as best possible however it's a little ecosystem that you're making and it needs to find it's own natural balance. Even if rock and sand comes from an established tank it has to rebalance itself for the new life that it's supporting. whether it's more or less life it's not going to be the same amount and must balance out. It's what makes the world go round my friend. That's why they say "patience is a virtue". So many of us don't have it. Be patient and wait for the tank to tell you when it's ready. slowly move things from your old tank to your new tank.

This is why a tank cycles. http://fins.actwin.com/mirror/begin-cycling.html

Be Cool man. :cool1:

 

[The Kapenta Kid]

This brings up a good question... What actually causes a tank to cycle?

You could replace the word 'cycle' with the phrase 'establishing a suitably large population of beneficial bacteria'.

The term 'cycle' presumably comes from the term 'nitrogen cycle' which describes the process whereby proteins/amino acids, i,e, food are converted (metabolized) by organisms progressively into ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and (with live rock) nitrogen.

In balanced FW tanks with herbivore fish it really is a cycle. The fish eat plants, their excretions are converted by bacteria eventually into nitrate, and the nitrate is in turn consumed by new plant growth. The only energy input into the system is artificial light or sunlight which drives the photosynthetic processes of the plants.

So, to cut a long story short, by 'cycling' you are just creating conditions for bacterial colonies to thrive, and if you add a ready-made population of bacteria by using e.g. bacteria-laden media in a filter or adequate quantities of live rock from an active tank you don't need to cycle.

In practical terms adding water from an active tank will not add enough bacteria to bypass the cycle. You will need to add live rock from an active tank in enough quantity to support the bioload you propose to start with.

 

[unwired]

How much live rock is nec. (and what's too much)?

My Nano is only 9 Gallons but the fuge/sump is 10G. On larger tanks I've seen suggestions of 1-1.4 lbs per gallon. Does that still hold true here? Does 20lbs of rock seem excessive?

Thanks.

 

[Trogdor]

Use as much live rock as you deem necessary. I know that sounds broad but don't over crowd your tank with rock if it's not the look that you are looking for.

 

[unwired]

I was more concerned with cycling the tank thru than the amount of rock I need to keep regularly. I can always remove rock later and give it to a friend.

After the cycling process completes its first phase I'll prob. remove most or all live rock from the fuge as it will only get things dirtier in there. I could move that rock into the main 9 Gal tank or just keep it out completely. Thoughts?