Will complete tear down require a new cycle?

I just read what I wrote up above and I need to clarify. Do not bring your sand with you. These guys are right it will cause you problems. Vinny is also right on as your bacteria is in the rock not so much in the water.

 

+1

How long ago did you place the live rock in the container? Did you add any "food" for the bacteria?

 

Astrick's question is key. If it's been a few days then your rock will have maintained the majority of its bacterial colony and the cycle will be minimal. More than that and you've likely experienced some die off and the colony will need to replenish before you fully stock.

Other comments:

- If the sand had been placed in a container with moving water then "I think" it would be ok to use. Since it's been in stagnant water you can bet that you've got aerobic bacteria die off (as well as other organisms that require oxygen) and you've likely built up ammonia, etc. If you want to save money "I think" you could reuse it if you rinse it extensively (effectively taking away the "live" component). I put the words "I think" in quotes in two spots above because it's just my opinion and probably what I would do. Others' opinions will differ and you should look at the aggregate of advice and make your own decision.

- Viinny is correct on the water thing. We've had this discussion before in a few other threads. Saving water is important for stability with respect to the livestock in the tank, but has minimal impact on cycling. I've moved entire tanks with effectively no cycle or livestock loss by saving the water, moving the rock wet, etc. The lack of cycle is driven by the live rock and the livestock success by the combination of lack of cycle and keeping the existing water so there isn't acclimation stress.

- I would set up the new tank, get a bunch of the rock in, getting it running, etc. and let it sit for a little while to see if you get any cycle. Then slowly add livestock. Why slowly? Consider that when you had your tank running you had a bacterial colony that was right-sized for your inhabitants. You've just removed a portion of that colony (live sand) and potentially some out of the rock (depending on how long it's been stewing in its container) so you've now got lower capacity as a result. So what periods of time would I wait? See below...

- How packed is the 20g? Is the tank experiencing ammonia/nitrite issues? If your livestock is currently stressed AND you haven't had the rock sitting in its container too long then you could probably add something like a third of the livestock immediately. The reasoning here is that, while in a perfect world you would want to wait, you are likely not in a perfect world. If the livestock would be stressed more by staying in the 20g then moving a portion to the repaired tank immediately is warranted. I'm guessing that's the case so consider moving some right after set up (maybe a third), monitor the parameters closely and if no cycle then add another third after about a week or two. Again, monitor and when stable add the last third.

 

I left my LR and livestock in many rubber made containers for 2 almost 3 days as long as you have some heat and circulation and as stated above they arent really stressed you should be okay.

 

Everything has been torn down for two weeks now. So what I did today was rinsed the sand with some r/o water, which only washed out some of the finer sand the water was just milky not brown at all. Replaced the sand into the tank over my egg crate. Added about 40 lb of rock, the stuff that was in rubbermaid with heat and powerhead, it also had about 5 hermits in with it and a few snails. Added the 35 gallons of r/o salt water that i made up. I then put a powerhead and heater into the tank to let everything sit for a day or so until my r/o water tank is full again. Im hoping with the heat and powerhead, the sand, the rocks, and some hermits, that the tank will start to cycle right now. Then in a few days when my water level is full, start adding one fish at a time. Right now the fish are fine in the 20. Needs about 5 gal change once a week but the fish are pretty small right now, 1 fuzzy dwarf lion, about 3.5in, 2 clowns, about 2in, 1 damsel, about 2in, a yellow face goby, about 4in, and 1 snowflake ell, about 5in.

Any more advice or ideas is appreciated.

Thanks

 

It looks like you've got a good plan.

 

Man I am really kinda shocked that the Eel and or Lion hasn't made a snack out of those other fish.Especially in a small tank.Good luck!!!

 

lol! I got 5 bucks says its a battle to the last survivor! I'll take the eel! Bet?

 

Actually the eel and lionfish's mouths are too small to pick off one of the other fish, plus I have been feeding them every other day still so I hope it will be ok. I will be putting the fish back into their home this weekend. Im thinking damsel and clowns first, so I can keep an eye on water, then add eel, lion, and goby later in the week.

 

Well all went well, and I like the rock scape much better now than the way I had it before. Thanks everyone for the help. It did go through a small ammonia spike, but it only lasted 2 days and now im at 0 ammonia 0 nitrites 5 nitrate after 1 week.

Here's a fts for everyone.