Purchased Tank + Cycled Sand & Water; Thoughts?

[cwphilli]

Hi All,

I am wondering if there is a good way of ensuring I have a pre-established tank?


The tank in question was in-use and long established. I was provided the sand bed and ~10 gallons from this tank. It sat dormant, sans any of the filtration media for 1-2 days while I set up the tank, mixed up additional water to fill the tank and moved the lighting over.

I had purchased a CUC for this tank, but thinking I may keep them in my other established tank until I can know for certain this one is good to go. I know that there was biological filtration built up in the old media but it has sat dry in a box since Sunday and I plan on running a completely different setup.

Thoughts?

 

[brandon429]

yes for sure easy to do

all of MACNA does this

this is the general rule for instant setup tanks:

move no detritus (rinse your new sand totally clean no it doesnt strip bacteria it strips detritus out)

none of the filtration matters if you even use it again, the live rock you move over handles all filtration

arrange the new tank any way you want, but have that sand totally rinsed clean (cloudless, not a little cloud) and simply make all new water and set the rocks in the new tank, none of this kills bacteria. the only way you could cause a recycle is by moving over waste, either in the rocks or the sand

you can rinse sand in freshwater for a while so you have enough, then salt

rocks are cleaned in sw only before the transfer. move no waste, have no recycle.

you are allowed to rip out all the bacteria and leave only the bac on the rocks and the tank will handle the same bioload that rocks + sand used to handle. rocks are that powerful (in case you ever want to remove all your sand, it wont matter)

 

[Malifry97]

If you want to be sure. Use turbo start. It’s very concentrated and will give you the boost and peace of mind to feel good about adding a CUC and fish fairly quick.

 

[cwphilli]

I was not given rocks - i added CarribSea. I did re-use the sand but it was rinsed. Does that work?

 

[Jon Fishman]

Is there any rock?

Edit. Oh. Sand should still be ok, but new rock may cause a mini cycle

 

[Malifry97]

I was not given rocks - i added CarribSea. I did re-use the sand but it was rinsed. Does that work?

Yeah you should be good after a week or two. But if you want to jumpstart it, use turbo start or some other bottled bacteria.

 

[brandon429]

post a pic real quick we can diagnose off that no test needed
rinsed sand still retains its bacteria not a prob

rinsing only removes mud

if you moved over sand from the prior tank there is still a way to skip cycle. caribsea rock, if its liferock, cures ready in about 2 weeks underwater. your sand and filter material can work

a couple days sitting still wont kill the filter material.

 

[tehmadreefer]

Your definitely going to have to recycle if your starting with all new rock.

 

[tehmadreefer]

post a pic real quick we can diagnose off that no test needed
rinsed sand still retains its bacteria not a prob

rinsing only removes mud

Rinsed sand cannot retain its bacteria it gets washed away not only by water but by the sand rubbing against each other.

Not only that but it has to be rinsed pretty much until it the water runs clear which is essentially starting over from scratch.

 

[brandon429]

no but I realize anyone can just claim anything on the web.

so, we made this:
(i used to run a microbiology lab at a beef processing plant sole job was predicting colony counts on various surfaces then measuring it against USDA counter tests, we would see commonly where they reside and what they tolerate and if make bad calls lose job)


we couldnt keep shiny steel surfaces in compliance... imagine a sandgrain that looks like grand canyon ridges under a scanning high res microscope its practically a bac sponge

Official Sand Rinse and Tank Transfer thread

If you are reading this thread to cure a tank invasion from a link I sent you, we do not need to identify your type of invasion here we do not need you to test anything at anytime regarding nitrate, phosphate etc Above all, we do not need to see a microscope slide picture of your invasion at...

www.reef2reef.com

specifically, anyone here can take two pounds of current aquarium sand and rinse it under Tap water for an hour then load it into a fluidized sandbed filter, and run that filter on a 10 gallon setup bare glass and ~ ppm ammonia water.

it will clear in 24 hours, proof.

 

[tehmadreefer]

no but I realize anyone can just claim anything on the web.

so, we made this:
(i used to run a microbiology lab at a beef processing plant sole job was predicting colony counts on various surfaces then measuring it against USDA measures, we would see commonly where they reside and what they tolerate)

Official Sand Rinse and Tank Transfer thread

If you are reading this thread to cure a tank invasion from a link I sent you, we do not need to identify your type of invasion here we do not need you to test anything at anytime regarding nitrate, phosphate etc Above all, we do not need to see a microscope slide picture of your invasion at...

www.reef2reef.com

Yes that is your opinion. But reality is rinsed sand and new rock is just that. The OP is going to have a cycle regardless.

 

[brandon429]

I re edited in a test to run to make it not opinion

rinse sand, use it as filter material, check for ppm reduction free ammonia overnite in an empty 10 gallon tank. easy

plus you can use tap, the ultimate sterilizer for us/claimed. not even a white glove saltwater rinse test.

need pics here

if you literally moved nothing over from the prior tank, it might cycle. Im re reading to see exactly what was located over...pics w help.

cycle predictions are different than most made for the hobby bc a bad call = dead fish or dead corals. its a high consequence game, pretty fun stuff post em pics

 

[cwphilli]

Will post pics as soon as I get home

No filter media presently reused
No filter media presently added
Sand re-used, no cloud formed when adding water, crystal clear
10 gallons reused
22 gallons new
20 lbs live dry rock CarribSea new

 

[brandon429]

agreed that's a bac stripdown

if you are wanting to carry the bioload from a clean up crew that's about the max Id press. if that caribsea is liferock, that painted on bac/coralline w be ready in about 12 days after submersion. wasn't sure if they made other kinds vs that painted type. I wouldn't add fish just yet / in line with tehmadreefer's concerns above.

my lfs has kept 20 gallon tanks + caribsea live sand ocean direct with bunches of baby clowns and no skimmer, only a powerhead and occasional water changes so sand itself is still a powerful filter but its live rock we're used to being spoiled by in the easy skip cycles. if your rock is that painted coralline liferock the system can handle fish in a couple weeks. its likely ready much sooner, but a couple weeks is safe zone where you wont have to test for anything.

all water from our tanks contains bacteria, and where bacteria go in our systems we cannot separate the ones that convert ammonia to nitrate/they're mixed in and they float around in the water attached to marine snow, planktors, particulates as substrate. The water has some bac, less than the surfaces, so the amounts you moved over in the water aren't factored though they're a minor boost.

 

[Malifry97]

Will post pics as soon as I get home

No filter media presently reused
No filter media presently added
Sand re-used, no cloud formed when adding water, crystal clear
10 gallons reused
22 gallons new
20 lbs live dry rock CarribSea new

I’d overdose bottles bacteria to be sure

 

[cwphilli]

 

[cwphilli]

I’d overdose bottles bacteria to be sure

Any brand in particular?

 

[cwphilli]

 

[Malifry97]

Any brand in particular?

Turbo start or Bio spira

 

[brandon429]

Put a couple snails in let’s see how they do
that sand will run em ok. Good setup that liferock will be ready in a couple weeks for sure, easy to use setup you’ve bought. Good investment

you really did rinse well that would be a cloudy mess if the old sand was overturned and moved wo rinse