Purchased Tank + Cycled Sand & Water; Thoughts?

sde1500 · Oct 31, 2019

tehmadreefer said:
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.

tehmadreefer said:
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.

Might be some manner of mini-cycle, but not much. I'm curious, why you think just water would wash away bacteria? I'd imagine you don't find that water alone would suffice after handling raw chicken, or feces, or other bacteria ridden substances? Why would it be different washing sand with just water?

cwphilli · Oct 31, 2019

Malifry97 said:
Turbo start or Bio spira

To confirm, is it still a good idea to do that with CUC in tank? Or just while empty?
With or without filter media present?

Based on past experience not using an additive I’ve let the tank cycle with media, skimmer off and adding some mysis shrimp here and there, but hoping to shorten the process if the tank indeed needs cycling

Malifry97 · Oct 31, 2019

cwphilli said:
To confirm, is it still a good idea to do that with CUC in tank? Or just while empty?
With or without filter media present?

Based on past experience not using an additive I’ve let the tank cycle with media, skimmer off and adding some mysis shrimp here and there, but hoping to shorten the process if the tank indeed needs cycling

yes doing it with CUC will be fine. you dont really need media but I like to run it