Downsizing [emoji19] again

[lbannie]

Hi guys! It's been a while. Long story short, had a 40B reef, and we sold our house and moved in with my future mother in law so I downsized to a 29biocube. We're in the process of building a house, so my poor tank has been terribly neglected. I'm down to 1 clown and 1 watchman goby[emoji22] so I'm going to downsize again to a 10 gallon.
My plan is to use stuff I already have:
An aquaclear 30 hob filter
100 watt heater (with dial) might need smaller watt
2 12" panorama pro LEDs
Live rock currently in tank
Have some powerheads, not sure if I'll need them.

I bought new aragonite sand, but I plan to use some of the sand that's in the tank now to "seed" it.

My question is, do I need to wait for a cycle since I'm using the same rocks and some sand?

 

[nirbhao]

A few caveats:

I speak from freshwater experience, and that is limited. However!

When I upgraded from a 10 gallon to a 29 gallon, I moved everything- substrate, equipment, decor, plants, and critters. What I read and had been told was that I was effectively moving the cycled part of the tank and that the glass and water column were less important in terms of cycling. I measured parameters daily for the first week afterwards, and both ammonia and nitrites stayed at 0. Nitrates got up to 40, but I was able to get them back down reasonably quickly.

So my research and dissimilar but related experience says you will, at most, experience a mini cycle.

Sorry to hear you have to downsize, but I'm glad you're moving into your own place!

 

[lbannie]

Well.... Now I know why my corals didn't make it. My panorama pro LEDs are almost all burnt out! The blue/white strip looks totally dead. The all white strip only has 2 bulbs on.
I bought them used....[emoji57]
Maybe I'll go for the LED panel? Full spectrum? Too much for a 10 gallon? I want it fairly close to the water

 

[54seaweed]

no need to seed your new sand with the old it will do it on it's own, no reason to carry over any crud from your old tank, fresh starts are always better imo
the live rock should be enough to keep you up and running

 

[lbannie]

Thanks! Most of the rocks are in, new sand is in, waiting for it to clear.
Thoughts on LEDs to house corals? Would a 156watt panel be way too much? Found one at a killer price