starting new tank with mature water?

[ryguy]

I'm gonna start my 1st tank fairly soon and am wondering if there are any downsides in using water from a friends tank that he'd take out at water change time to help me skip past a long cycle period? Thoughts?

ryan

 

[Hara]

yeah, the down side is it wont help the cycle
the bacterias grow on surfaces, not in the water column. What it will help, is saving the expense on the first tank full of water. If he cared to donate live rock to help seed your tank, or filter media if he uses filters, that would help things along a bit.

 

[ryguy]

don't think i'll get any live rock but i'll try for a few cups o' sand from him. So should I still drop a raw prawn in the water if he gives me it and the sand?

 

[pkremer]

Do you mean you don't think HE will give you live rock or you don't plan on getting any at all? That would be kind of a shame! Live rock is not only gorgeous, it makes cycling an aquarium so much easier than you can believe!

I got some water from my friend when he did a water change, and it had about 0.2 ppm ammonia in it (must've just fed them or something). I placed about 5.5 pounds of cured live rock from my LFS into the 10 gallon aquarium (quarantine), and gave it about 3 or 4 days...the ammonia was gone, the nitrite was nonexistent, and the nitrates were up just slightly. I put a fish in, and have never seen ammonia or nitrite again. Using the live rock, I cycled my tank in less than a week and didn't have to bother with the "shrimp method."

Paul

 

[ryguy]

oh no, I plan on gettin' some live rock. I got 50 lbs of Vanuatu on order. (46 G tank) i just have to wait til it gets here.

 

[pkremer]

What a coincidence! I am setting up a 46 currently too!

Is this rock that you are waiting for "cured" or "uncured"? If it was cured before, you probably don't need the shrimp, the dieoff from the new rock can serve as your source of ammonia.

Once you put the new rock into your aquarium, it will take some time to cure, as any life that died during the shipping process will release ammonia into the water to get your cycle started. The nice thing is that there are bacteria already on and in the rock that will help speed up your cycle. Eventually, with proper water movement and water changes, the live bacteria on the rock will eliminate the ammonia from the inevitable dieoff during shipping...

Paul

 

[ryguy]

I have a 46G with a ecosystem sump filter that i will be using along side my remora skimmer and live rock. the only thing is that the ecosystem sump filter says that i need to wait a couple of weeks before i introduce cured live rock....still can't figure out why that is, but i guess i should wait if those are the instructions. I'll just cure the rock in some tubs until the tank is ready for it....

 

[Hara]

put the rock in the tank right away, toss in the shrimp and let it cycle. The rock needs to build the bacteria.