Cycling probs

[Mikeman]

As you may know I want to use my currently set up 29g tank as a refugium for a 55g tank. I really don't know how to cycle the 55g tank without the equitment from the 29g, but I've got fish in the 29g tank and having the lfs keeping my fish for the cycling peroid is not an option. So I thought if I used as much water from the 29g as possible and the live rock plus the skimmer with biobale in it and start running everything together(meaning the 55g tank and the 29g tank) would their be a huge cycle, or a miny one that my fish, clean up crew ext... could handle?

Also any ideas and how I a better way to do this would be much apprecated.

[stevemoore99]

If I understand what you are saying ....

You are going from a cycled 29g tank to a new 55g tank plus your 29g set up as refugium. Since you are going to a larger setup, I assume this means you will be adding more live rock and sand...

You didn't specifically mention rather or not your current setup has live sand or not...

Using your existing live rock should tend to reduce the size of any cycle you will go through with the larger setup. If you had live sand to seed any new sand you add, that would also help. It would also help if the live rock you add has already been cycled to some degree. What you are doing is not really any different than what I did when upgrading from a small tank to one about twice as big.

I think the corals in a reef tank are general more sensitive to water conditions than fish or most little critters. I lost no fish in my transfer but I did lose a coral. I suspect that would have made it but I introduced too much new (uncured) rock to the new tank at one time.

[Mikeman]

all the live rock will be "home made" but I plan on adding as much as I can to the 29g tank before I make the move.


I also just have a few shrooms and a leather which I'll be selling back to the lfs since I want it to be strict sps tank

and yes you understood what I'm trying to do