Karin I dont know the details of all this, but if you are trying to get a cycle out of your new tank with your old rock or sand you probably wont because of all the bacteria that has built up on the rock, sand and the new stuff you have added. When I moved the 65 gallon to the 180 I didnt get a cycle since I was using dry rock and live rock, which provided addequate bacteria to process the ammonia before it built up. Even on the 65 gallon I used 50% live rock and 50% dry rock and only saw a slight spike in nitrite.

Now the old algae cycle will come with all the new real estate you provided with the tank upgrade. Diatoms, Red slime, coraline, etc.


Oh yeah and lol at all the pee comments.