24 hour or less cycle?

[Phillybean]

Ok, so here is the deal, my 75 gallon isn't ready for livestock yet and I wasn't planning on getting the live rock for a month...then an amazing deal came thru.

$450 for 120lbs of LR, 2 Clown Fish, 1 Lawnmower Blenny, 1 Scooter Blenny, anemone, Xenia, Cheato and a few misc. polyps.

Far too good to pass up if your in Canada where rock is $8.50 - $10.50 lb at the LFS.

Now the question...how can I get all this running? I will be driving to Vancouver which is about 4 hours away on the 23rd to pick everything up.
How long does the rock have to be in the tank before everything is cycled?
Can I start my cycle early with live sand before the rock?
If not, what is the shortest amount of time to have the rock in the tank before I can add the fish and corals?

[BangkokMatt]

For a new tank you are looking at a minimum of 3 weeks but often much longer. You could speed the process up by adding already cycled water (but you would need to add about 50%). If the stock is from an established tank this maybe possible.
The easiest thing for you to do is set up a holding tank with established water. Put all of the livestock into this.
It is unlikely that the scooter blenny and the anemone will make it through the process. Even if they do they will likely perish in the newly cycled tank.

[asherah]

ok BangkokMatt what the heck is that thing ?

[Phillybean]

Thanks for the reply BangkokMatt.

Is there anyway to cycle my tank before I get the rock? The rock is already fully cured.

If I were to use as much tank water as I have, put my live sand and maybe some cured rock in the tank this weekend...would that work?

[wrott]

If the LR has been in an established tank, then put it in tubs w/ lids+water--no die-off or spills in the car, and you should be good to go after about 2-3 hrs of turning pumps on and letting stuff settle. Then add livestock

[BangkokMatt]

It would start the process - but then when you add the extra rock etc it would start another cycle. There really isn't a way around it I'm afraid.
For example - I have a 170g system. Two weeks ago I added 4 medium sized pieces of LR. Even that caused a mini cycle to an established tank. When you add the cycle begins.
HTH
asherah - its a Blob Fish

[JNye]

daily 30% water changes should do the trick along with daily parameter testing.

[useskaforevil]

honestly, if all the rock is cured and you can keep it in water for the car ride it should be pretty much fine and you might see no apparent cycle in your tank. when i moved my tank it was a pretty similar scenario. 3 weeks is only true of uncured rock. i also wouldnt change 30% of the water daily without it really really being required. test the parameters but if they're not trending bad then don't fret too much.

if you;re really worried about the animals you could proably get a smaller tank and buy some water from a local pet store and just keep them in that until your big tank is ready (cured rock will not take 3 weeks) no different then if they got a shipment in.