Originally posted by Marty
To further expand my train of thought, if you put a large "decorative" piece in your tank ("decorative" being ne of those things the wife likes - i.e. not live rock), this piece will need go thru a bacteria (??) growth. (probably not saying this right)
Think of it this way..... if you start a new tank with live rock, sand and saltwater from a previous tank, your tank is still going to "cycle" (or have an ammonia spike). The sides of the tank need to go thru this cycle process.
Hope this helps.
I don't agree....If you start a new tank with live rock, sand and saltwater from a previous tank it often does not show any amonia spike at all as long as the amount of bioload is not increased from the tank from which the contents were moved. I have done this on several tanks (going to a larger tank) without cyle enough (if at all) to harm the fish. I would think that you should scrub the rocks with plain water and a brush in case their is any dried stuff on there that would rot and cause an amonia spike. If they look clean, this may not be a problem. I would go slow and only add a few at a time and maybe throw in some cycle liquid bacteria to help to colonize them. Good luck, Lesley