Adding a cup full of VERY old sand

[rja]

Hey all,
So my local coral farm has vats for coral propagation that have been running for 30 years. The rock and sand is from the caribbean and all natural. They have offered me a cup-full of sand from the bottom of their oldest bed. Wondering what the potential pros and cons would be of adding this to my tank? Of course there’s hitchhikers and the chance of adding large amounts of organics to my tank. So I am interested in hearing your feedback.

They’re convinced that if I set up a new tank using only their sand and rock, I would instantly be cycled. My tank is 11 months old.

Per store employee:
“Look at that dead clam (10” dead clam in their 750 gallon clam bed) that thing was broken down to just a skeleton in a day, if that happened in any other tank, it would kill everything!”

 

[Troylee]

Using their Rock sure! A cup of sand wouldn’t do much if you have a decent sized tank.. your tank should already be cycled at 11 months old lol.. kind of confused here? Are you just wanting to add biodiversity?

 

[Fish Styx]

Hey all,
So my local coral farm has vats for coral propagation that have been running for 30 years. The rock and sand is from the caribbean and all natural. They have offered me a cup-full of sand from the bottom of their oldest bed. Wondering what the potential pros and cons would be of adding this to my tank? Of course there’s hitchhikers and the chance of adding large amounts of organics to my tank. So I am interested in hearing your feedback.

They’re convinced that if I set up a new tank using only their sand and rock, I would instantly be cycled. My tank is 11 months old.

Per store employee:
“Look at that dead clam (10” dead clam in their 750 gallon clam bed) that thing was broken down to just a skeleton in a day, if that happened in any other tank, it would kill everything!”

It is a great opportunity to seed your tank, biologically, with a myriad of bacterial strains and microfauna. How much of the latter survives your cycle is another question entirely. Understand, though, that your cycle will not be "over in a day". While the clam was "stripped" in their system, that system is very mature (likely also has a beefy cleanup crew) and is not yours. While seeding your tank with their sand will definitely help to kickstart and shorten the time needed to reach appropriate levels of nitrifying bacteria in your tank to process waste, it will still need to cycle, none-the-less. When that process is over, exactly, will be determined by the results of your parameter testing (i.e. ammonia and nitrites reading at zero).

That being said, IMO the benefits of taking them up on their offer and adding their sand to your tank outweighs any risks, and I say, "go for it". Best of luck with your new system. Happy reefing!

 

[GatorGreg]

They are absolutely correct that if you set up a new tank using their 30 year rock and sand you’d be instantly cycled. That’s just a fact. Especially if you live really close and transport home in water. That bio filter doesn’t just go away because you’re starting a new tank with as opposed to it being where it just was. Now if you’re traveling a far distance and or shipping this stuff not in water then there will be die off and a cycle.

I’d rather take some small rock rubble from them than a cup of sand. I don’t think the sand would hurt your tank at all. But I’m not sure you’d get some magic benefits from it.

 

[Fish Styx]

They are absolutely correct that if you set up a new tank using their 30 year rock and sand you’d be instantly cycled. That’s just a fact. Especially if you live really close and transport home in water. That bio filter doesn’t just go away because you’re starting a new tank with as opposed to it being where it just was. Now if you’re traveling a far distance and or shipping this stuff not in water then there will be die off and a cycle.

I’d rather take some small rock rubble from them than a cup of sand. I don’t think the sand would hurt your tank at all. But I’m not sure you’d get some magic benefits from it.

I don't believe the OP was talking about the rock, unfortunately. Per his description, their offer was for the sand. I mean, if it was, I'd like to know where that LFS is, because I want some of that rock, too!

 

[christwendt]

If my tank was already 11 months old I would leave it and not add anything from their tank. It shouldn’t help with a cycle because your tank should already be cycled. It would add bio diversity but that’s another story. Has nothing to do with cycling.

 

[Fish Styx]

If my tank was already 11 months old...

I believe the OP is discussing seeding a new system.

 

[christwendt]

I believe the OP is discussing seeding a new system.

Ahh must have miss understood. In that case if signs of lack of biodiversity then I would add some of their sand to my system. If just to help with cycling it will help but idk if it’s worth the risk to cycle a tank. If you trust their tank and system then I would maybe consider.

 

[Fish Styx]

Ahh must have miss understood. In that case if signs of lack of biodiversity then I would add some of their sand to my system. If just to help with cycling it will help but idk if it’s worth the risk to cycle a tank. If you trust their tank and system then I would maybe consider.

I agree. I also think that, given the fallow period and ammonia toxicity inherent with a cycle, the risk of introducing anything too bad would be mitigated.

 

[rja]

Using their Rock sure! A cup of sand wouldn’t do much if you have a decent sized tank.. your tank should already be cycled at 11 months old lol.. kind of confused here? Are you just wanting to add biodiversity?

yes to add biodiversity. my tank is only 29 gallons.

 

[rja]

I agree. I also think that, given the fallow period and ammonia toxicity inherent with a cycle, the risk of introducing anything too bad would be mitigated.

dont get my wrong my tank is very cycled

 

[rja]

They are absolutely correct that if you set up a new tank using their 30 year rock and sand you’d be instantly cycled. That’s just a fact. Especially if you live really close and transport home in water. That bio filter doesn’t just go away because you’re starting a new tank with as opposed to it being where it just was. Now if you’re traveling a far distance and or shipping this stuff not in water then there will be die off and a cycle.

I’d rather take some small rock rubble from them than a cup of sand. I don’t think the sand would hurt your tank at all. But I’m not sure you’d get some magic benefits from it.

i will try to seek out some small rubble pieces in their system if not perhaps smashing a large rock will be the same.

 

[Fish Styx]

dont get my wrong my tank is very cycled

Gotcha. I did misunderstand you then. I interpreted you mentioning starting a new tank as being separate and apart from your 11 month old system. I apologize if I caused any confusion to you or others that offered advice.

Nanaste.

 

[taricha]

So my local coral farm has vats for coral propagation that have been running for 30 years. The rock and sand is from the caribbean and all natural. They have offered me a cup-full of sand from the bottom of their oldest bed. Wondering what the potential pros and cons would be of adding this to my tank? Of course there’s hitchhikers and the chance of adding large amounts of organics to my tank. So I am interested in hearing your feedback.

Separately aquabiomics and Ryan at BRS had good results with a similar protocol of starting a tank with old quality established media in a dark section of the system. That way the bacteria etc slowly get added to the new system, but without light driving the nuisances on the old material.