Starting Pico Tank from Larger Tank

[Sunkissedangler]

Thinking about starting a pico anemone tank. My plan is to take water and sand out of my existing fully cycled larger tank to start the new pico one. My hope is that it would make the cycling process quicker or basically nonexistent. Thoughts?

 

[MnFish1]

The cycling process MAY not be non-existent. BUT - it should be much easier. Here is why:

You have x lbs of rock in your big tank. Your nitrifying bacteria is spread out amongst all of that rock - but probably not covering it completely.

Now you take 1/20 of x lbs of rock from the main tank - to put in the small one. Depending on the bioload in the small tank - you may find that there will be some need to slowly increase the bioload - as compared to adding a full component of anemones. I would get a sachem alert badge - to carefully monitor the free ammonia once you make the change.

NOTE - its perfectly possible that you will be totally fine. Good luck with your new adventure

 

[GARRIGA]

Fishless cycling these days rather quick as it is already. Not like the six plus weeks I grew up with. I'd consider testing it with some ammonium chloride to see how quickly ammonia and nitrites go to zero. ammonia shouldn't even registered if you brought over enough biological to get started. Plus what's waiting a few days to confirm going to stress over the possibility something got upset in the move and you forced a mini cycle. All systems are different. Really no way to predict. this stuff has no manual.

 

[MnFish1]

Fishless cycling these days rather quick as it is already. Not like the six plus weeks I grew up with. I'd consider testing it with some ammonium chloride to see how quickly ammonia and nitrites go to zero. ammonia shouldn't even registered if you brought over enough biological to get started. Plus what's waiting a few days to confirm going to stress over the possibility something got upset in the move and you forced a mini cycle. All systems are different. Really no way to predict. this stuff has no manual.

Many people do not recommend using ammonium chloride in live rock cycling - because you dont really know how much to use as a dose. If you just dose 0.05 ppm - it may not register. If you use 2 ppm - it will certainly register. The question is - what dose would you use? The best thing to do - is merely add the bioload slowly - and watch free ammonia IMHO - with an alert badge - and my guess is that it will remain zero - with judicious feeding, etc

 

[Sunkissedangler]

The cycling process MAY not be non-existent. BUT - it should be much easier. Here is why:

You have x lbs of rock in your big tank. Your nitrifying bacteria is spread out amongst all of that rock - but probably not covering it completely.

Now you take 1/20 of x lbs of rock from the main tank - to put in the small one. Depending on the bioload in the small tank - you may find that there will be some need to slowly increase the bioload - as compared to adding a full component of anemones. I would get a sachem alert badge - to carefully monitor the free ammonia once you make the change.

NOTE - its perfectly possible that you will be totally fine. Good luck with your new adventure

Thanks. This was my line of thought and reason I as well. Basically just wanted to make sure my thought process wasn’t completely off the mark.

 

[GARRIGA]

Many people do not recommend using ammonium chloride in live rock cycling - because you dont really know how much to use as a dose. If you just dose 0.05 ppm - it may not register. If you use 2 ppm - it will certainly register. The question is - what dose would you use? The best thing to do - is merely add the bioload slowly - and watch free ammonia IMHO - with an alert badge - and my guess is that it will remain zero - with judicious feeding, etc

Ammonium chloride is nothing more than ammonium the inhabitants would encounter from typical fish waste so I don't see that as being a valid argument. As with anything, I tend to add half the recommended and go from there. Really no need to bring the water up to 2 ppm ammonia. What I'm looking to confirm is mostly that nitrites are being handled quickly. Supposedly the one more apt to crash should something go wrong. Got that from Dr Tim Hovanec. Plus I'd try not dosing the full amount in one shot. I'd split it into three or four dosages for the day. This way nothing gets stressed.

Ammonia will show rather quickly. Test it before the next dosage. Same with Nitrites. Adjust accordingly. If anything then dose 1/4 total recommended then split that into three to four dosages. Just becareful which the Ammonium Chloride used. I've read others claiming the dosage changed. Have an old bottle from 2015 that i used on a recent cycle and it worked as directed. Can prepare a sample with RODI just to validate how much needed to get 2 ppm then adjust to target around 0.5 ppm. If I recall correctly, that should be safe and if not then adjust down to what is acceptable. Point being that if that is split four ways then tested before each additional dosage then it's rather hard to go wrong. At least this is the approach I take when cycling since bacteria can fail if dosed to high. They are living just like anything else labeled live on that rock.