DrewBrees713
Well-Known Member
If I were to get water from tank A (2YO) and sand /LR from tank B(1YO)Mix them together in a brand new tank do i need to wait for them to start a new cycle? Told you its dum question but would like to know thanks!
Dumb cycling questions inside.
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Using sand and/or rick from an established tank is a great way to jump-start your cycle. Exactly the same as buying liverock from someplace like tampabaysaltwater but with less of a chance of importing unwanted hitchhikers. Transporting used water is a complete waste of time and effort.
FWIW - if I were going to start a new system I would take a long look at what Richard at TBS has. IMHO, hitchhikers are, for the most part, a good thing to have. The ones that aren't are usually easy enough to get rid of during the cycle period anyway.
FWIW - if I were going to start a new system I would take a long look at what Richard at TBS has. IMHO, hitchhikers are, for the most part, a good thing to have. The ones that aren't are usually easy enough to get rid of during the cycle period anyway.
IKD
2500 Club Member
It will definitely help getting thing started, but you’ll still have some adjustments based on the bioload differences between the tank with rock and yours. If the established tank had a heavier bioload, then you may see bacterial die-off because your new tank doesn’t support the population density. And if the source tank has a lighter bioload, you may get some ammonia build up until the population grows sufficiently.
DrewBrees713
Well-Known Member
Hmmm the reason i asked because in another setup I added established sand and 50/50 new to old water. The tank is still cycling 2 wks later.
Spare time
10K Club member
Its best to just get a bottle of bacteria. If you watch the macna talk by the actual Dr Tim from Dr tims one and only he studies these bacteria and said you will not find them in the water column.
Spare time
10K Club member
If they didn't work then you must have done something wrong. Massive aquariums across the world use them, as well as me and many other reefers.
DrewBrees713
Well-Known Member
Nope. Tried at least 5-7 brands. What could i possibly did wrong? It isnt brain surgery. For every one successful story, there’s at least one that didnt work. There are countless of people that used them and the product(s) didnt do anything or at the very least didnt do what they promised.
Spare time
10K Club member
What could go wrong? Plenty of things. True it isn't brain surgery, but its still biology and chemistry. You could have put in too much ammonia, causing a issue with the development of the bacteria that produces the nitrate since they grow slower than the ammonia to nitrite bacteria, causing the ammonia bacteria to potentially die out before the nitrite is gone, and then putting a fish in when nitrite is gone but ammonia bacteria is dead. You could also Have run something like a skimmer, carbon, filter pads or socks, all that can mess up the process either immediately or as soon as they are removed. You could have also not added the ammonia and thought that you just wait a week and then add fish, essentially starving out the bacteria and/or not actually cycling the tank. You could have also overwhelmed the bacteria by throwing too many fish in too fast. There are numerous things but trying 5-7 products and not working is a sign of user error not product error unless there is some how a chance that 5-7 reef companies (though there are way more that bottle this bacteria) are all producing product that doesn't work and that the hundreds of thousands of people (if not more) using them are not having their products work a significant portion of the time but continue to buy it.
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DrewBrees713
Well-Known Member
Nope. Nope.Nope and Nope. I followed the direction on the bottles. You may say I screwed up with a bottle or two but 7 times with different brands is nearly impossible. Glad it worked for you but for some, and I mean quite a few , they didnt do a thing. Regardless , i appreciate your feedback.
Live rock alone is sufficient to skip cycles, provided you have an appropriate amount. Live sand isnt going to help a ton from a cycling standpoint imo. Some mature tank water is not a terrible thing if you are transferring corals/livestock.
Bacteria in a bottle works. But not all brands, probably.
Bacteria in a bottle works. But not all brands, probably.
Sparkymarc
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I agree. I transferred from a 90 gal to a 270 gal with old and new live rock, new sand, and had no problems. I think the live rock had enough bacteria to process the ammonia. Maybe stirring up the sand caused cycle.
DrewBrees713
Well-Known Member
They do work “BUT” in order for them to work there are a few things you’d have to consider. 1) The strains potency. 2) Self life
3) How were they shipped/produced.
The bottles i picked up has an exp of 11/2020. You’d think that would suffice right???? WRONG!!!! I got mine from a LFS, Amazon, and petco. The bottles said they must be stored or kept in temp no higher than 85 degree. So that’s a dead giveaway they werent shipped in a ice packs therefore the bac probabbly DOA. Unless you got a fresh batch came out of the oven then youre likely to get dead bac. The makers didnt tell you all this why because they know it’d hurt their sales....DUH!!!!
