Advice needed please

[jaytee09]

I am setting up a 20 long to grow out some frags. I will use water from my100 to get it going. I will not be using a sump, just a ang on filter. I have two questions......how long should it take to cycle if I use cycled water and live rock from my other tank? How will I prevent algae in the frag tank without a sump? I can look for a small sump if that is my best option.


I will be using a t5 stip and a 20" mh



Thanks

Jeremy

[rrasco]

A sump will undoubtedly be your best option in the long run.

Not much bacteria will come from the 'cycled water', mostly waste in there actually. You said you are moving established rock, so that is going to be key to the cycle in this case. Even with the LR you are bringing over, the tank will still cycle until it establishing an equilibrium between the waste being provided and the bacteria to consume it. Some waste will be in the form of die off with the LR you are bringing and some of it may come from the established water you are using. I don't use established water, just LR to seed. I don't really see any benefit in doing so. You'll bring bacteria and pods over on the LR. I wouldn't expect it to cycle any quicker than any other new setup that cycles off LR.

[jaytee09]

Thanks, I will look for a sump for a 20 long. The water advice makes sense. Thanks.

[Bill S]

Well, I'll chime in with some advice:

Are you SURE that if you move LR over from your big tank, no pests will come with it? If there's any chance something might come, I'd start the tank with some dead live rock (oh, THAT makes sense): Put some live rock into fresh water for a week or so. Then move it over to the new tank. Then cycle normally.

If you are SURE of your live rock, then bring it over. No reason to use old tank water, unless you just want to.

If your big tank's water quality is good, you can change 10-20 gallons of it weekly or every other week, and use it in your frag tank.

Or:

Salt is cheap. In a 20 gallon tank, change 50% twice a month, or 25% once a week. That's 5 gallons a week. A $50 bucket of salt will last you 6 months. You should be fine.

[Milly]

I have a 20L with a modified aqua clear rated for 70g. Small nano pump with a 4 t5s and a 250w halide.

I used cycled water and LR from my dads 190g established tank and new sand. It took about 3 weeks for my tank to fully cycle.

I do small water changes weekly with RODI water and things have been running great. Especially since I went from just t5s to a halide setup.

[Big_Pun]

my g/f and I have a 20 with a aquaclear modified to be a fuge. have a 4 bulb t5. used rock from large tank and new sand. we have LPS, SPS, and softies all doing fine. look in nano section for ideas.

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1343181186.024893.jpg

[allan]

I set up a small stand alone frag tank without a sump. Then I linked it to the big system.

My biggest issue was doing the water changes on two systems as opposed to one.

Also, couldn't get it past my head that the reason we don't hand out fresh cut frag is because they don't fare well with the cut and then being exposed to a whole new system. The way I looked at it was that I had two different systems that were unique. So I found myself, perhaps erroneously, placing frags back into the old tank, then after it healed acclimating it to the new tank.

It's important for you to realize that I am not lazy... But I definitely don't like doing things.

And two systems were two things.

[350gt]

I also set up a 20L with LR and water from my other tank... I think it was up and running in 2 weeks.

I went bare bottom though with a sump.