I just bought a new set up with fish and lr and sand, I didn't take the sand bc I didn't want to stir it up and cause nitrates. So if I go buy bio live sand should I add the whole 15lbs bag at once? I don't wanna cause a mini cycle or anything to harm the fish
Adding sand
- Thread starter iamurri33
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http://reef2reef.com/threads/the-of...ead-aka-one-against-many.230281/#post-2681445
you would rinse the new sand and simply change it, it wont mini cycle as long as you don't leave stores of detritus in the new tank in any way, including stuck to or within the live rock. detritus is what causes mini cycles, so rinse the new bed well and change the tank up carefully to avoid pockets of rotting waste being in contact with the animals. the reason a full sandbed swap doesn't recycle your tank *if you isolate the animals and the cleaning steps correctly* is because:
-the sand isn't the breakpoint in surface area for a typical reef tank, the rock is. we are almost always overusing the required amount of rock for a typical bioload, so there's plenty of reserve
-the new sand still has bacteria, even after rinsing that thread shows
-detritus is the cause of mini cycles, not lack of surface area in most tank cases
you would rinse the new sand and simply change it, it wont mini cycle as long as you don't leave stores of detritus in the new tank in any way, including stuck to or within the live rock. detritus is what causes mini cycles, so rinse the new bed well and change the tank up carefully to avoid pockets of rotting waste being in contact with the animals. the reason a full sandbed swap doesn't recycle your tank *if you isolate the animals and the cleaning steps correctly* is because:
-the sand isn't the breakpoint in surface area for a typical reef tank, the rock is. we are almost always overusing the required amount of rock for a typical bioload, so there's plenty of reserve
-the new sand still has bacteria, even after rinsing that thread shows
-detritus is the cause of mini cycles, not lack of surface area in most tank cases
sure not a prob, it cannot hurt. the pre rinse was important so your new sand wont silt and add a stress factor. that much live rock can sustain your filtration whether you are going bare bottom, partial changeout, or full change out of sand even if the sand was dry wouldn't matter. making clouds of waste come into contact with your delicate animals is the key risk. have some prime on hand for any ammonia emergencies is what id do in prep but I bet youll be fine.
im hesitant to say all is good just because of not knowing all details no pics etc to see how clean things are, from what I understand you are basically changing out a used sandbed for a new one skipping the cycle. if your live rock has zero detritus such that it can be dunked in water, swished, and not emit a cloud and your tank also has zero old bad sand in it currently, then you for sure can add clean new sand no silt to the tank without harm. the only parts I couldn't see is how well are the animals isolated from waste clouds but it seems clean so far
