Tell me if this is wrong

[carvainw]

OK I am moving in about a month, but I want to start adding fish as soon as I get in to my new house. So my plan is to start cycling my tank now so that in one month it will be ready to add fish. So, I filled my tank and added one damsel and one piece of shrimp for ammonia. I have 2 5lb pieces of dead rock and no substrate. I basically just want to get through the ammonia and nitrite spikes. I havent added the substrate yet because I want to move with as much ease as possible. What do you think, will this work??

 

[trigahappynigerog]

get more lr . does the damsel try to eat the shrimp. dont use both. what size is the tank??? run a canister filter so when you move all you have to do is attach it again.

 

[fshhub]

after you move, if youkeep the water, you should be fine, but adding your sand and lr then could create a cycle, especially if the lr is not well cured, teh best way to insure this is ot buy locally cured rock, there will be less hance of die off, then at worst, the cycle should be very quick
HTH

 

[carvainw]

Its a 30 gallon and I probably will keep about 25% of the original water.

 

[fshhub]

you will more than likely restart your cycle with only 25%, if you intend to keep that down, you need more like 90-100%

 

[carvainw]

Then how should I go about doing this?
Any suggestions would be appreciated!

 

[broomer5]

You will end up in one month with a tank full of saltwater and two 5 pound pieces of dead rock that have some colonies of bacteria growth.
I suppose the glass tank walls will also have some level of bateria present - but that's about it.
The bacteria lives on the rock, substrate and any filter media you have - not the water.
So .....
The logical thing to do would be to move your tank, and start over the process of cycling this tank.
Or you could add live rock and substrate now, then move it, but that is in itself sort of silly.
IMO it's best to just wait 4 weeks and do it right.

 

[carvainw]

I am using a biowheel. Will that make a difference. I figured the bacteria would load up in the wheel. True?

 

[broomer5]

In that case yes - you will have some level of bacteria growth on the biowheel.
When you move - make sure to protect the wheel - keep it wet in some of the tank water, keep it warm, and the sooner you can get your tank set up in the new location, the better. I guess you could also lay down a thin layer of substrate ( sand ) and transfer that as well. Wouldn't be to tough to move a pound or two of wet sand in a bucket.
Good luck