OK, so where to begin....I guess a little about me...
First, I still consider myself a rookie, even though I've had my aquariums for several years.
I have a 20-gal freshwater tank with 4 Angel Fish (we bought them when they were little and figured 2 would die right off, but they didn't - and here it is 4 years later and they are still alive and well, but a bit cramped.
My other tank is a 6 gallon saltwater Biocube with some live rock and a couple of clownfish. We had someone set it up for us, so I had no experience with actually putting it together and dealing with cycling.
My niece just gave me her 14 gallon Coralife Biocube saltwater aquarium, which has live rock, live sand, and some snails and hermit crabs (yet to be seen). She only had it for about 3 months (and probably did no maintenance), but she got it from someone who seemed to be relatively experienced with saltwater tanks. Last night, I put the live rock back into the tank, added the old water, and it's up and running.
So my questions....
I am wondering whether it would it have been better to start with fresh salt water? Will the tank have to go through a cycling process now that everything was disrupted by the move (I am assuming so). Will it be a shorter period of time than if we started the tank with new water? I have not yet tested the water - how long should I wait to do it? I figure everything is still settling. I'd love to add some plants to it. Do I do that now, or do I have to wait until the tank is stabilized? And if I do it afterwards, is there another period of stabilizing the tank will go thru? These are the only questions that come to mind now. If anyone else has other issues I should be concerned about, I'd appreciate the input.
Thanks!!
Angie
First, I still consider myself a rookie, even though I've had my aquariums for several years.
I have a 20-gal freshwater tank with 4 Angel Fish (we bought them when they were little and figured 2 would die right off, but they didn't - and here it is 4 years later and they are still alive and well, but a bit cramped.
My other tank is a 6 gallon saltwater Biocube with some live rock and a couple of clownfish. We had someone set it up for us, so I had no experience with actually putting it together and dealing with cycling.
My niece just gave me her 14 gallon Coralife Biocube saltwater aquarium, which has live rock, live sand, and some snails and hermit crabs (yet to be seen). She only had it for about 3 months (and probably did no maintenance), but she got it from someone who seemed to be relatively experienced with saltwater tanks. Last night, I put the live rock back into the tank, added the old water, and it's up and running.
So my questions....
I am wondering whether it would it have been better to start with fresh salt water? Will the tank have to go through a cycling process now that everything was disrupted by the move (I am assuming so). Will it be a shorter period of time than if we started the tank with new water? I have not yet tested the water - how long should I wait to do it? I figure everything is still settling. I'd love to add some plants to it. Do I do that now, or do I have to wait until the tank is stabilized? And if I do it afterwards, is there another period of stabilizing the tank will go thru? These are the only questions that come to mind now. If anyone else has other issues I should be concerned about, I'd appreciate the input.
Thanks!!
Angie
