Will my tank "re-cycle" if I reuse biowheel?

dougs280z

New Member
I had a 29 gallon reef tank that I had an extreme breakout of green algae. I ended up losing everything when I tried to set up a 10 gallon tank to house the corals/fish while I cleaned up the DT. The heater shorted and spiked killing everything. So, I cooked all my LR over the past 2 months and kept the 1 fish that did survive the spike in the 10 gallon with the filter still running. I set up a 20 gallon sump with a protein skimmer and some of the LR. My question is - Will this tank cycle since the LR is already cured and the biowheel is already established? I have added new sand which I assume would spike the ammonia cycle.

Also - I'm not totally sure if I should add anything else to my sump. I currently just have a penguin 200 filter in the DT and in my sump is the skimmer and some additional LR. Should I add any bio balls or anything else to the sump? I have a second penguin 200 filter that I could add to the sump it would help in any way. Any input would be appreciated. Thanks.
 

dougs280z

New Member
It cleared up overnight and is crystal clear now. Ive had it running for 3 days and no ammonia has showed up on the tests. I remember it taking a few days to clear up last time I started the tank.
 

geridoc

Well-Known Member
The biowheel should have enough bacteria to support the same fish that it did in the QT. Just be sure to add fish slowly to give the bacterial colony sufficient time to expand, but that's true of any tank.
 
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