Christian Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 Is their a way to cycle sand with out setting up a hole new tank? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobR Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 I am guessing that you are wanting to add sand to your existing system? If so then yes you can add the sand to the tank that you have, however I would do so slowly to give the bacteria a chance to colonize the new sand without creating a mini cycle in your tank. Also make sure that you thoroughly rinse the new sand before adding it as well. For example add maybe 1-2 cups of sand a week to the DT when you do you water change. This is how I added sand to my DT and did not have any issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AquaJohn Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 and if you use a pvc pipe as a slide to get it to the bottom of the tank you willnot get as much sand storm as if you just dump it in I would say dump about 1/3 the amount you want in there at a time a week or so apart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Posted February 2, 2012 Author Share Posted February 2, 2012 Well I got my girlfriend a fish tank and she's honing to college so she can only have a 15 gallon fish tank, and I told her to pick out sand to put in the tank, and I want to be able to transfer the fish,rocks,as coral from her current fish tank to the new one but we want to use new sand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+etannert Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 You don't need to do anything to cycle or otherwise prep the new sand. The vast majority of beneficial bacteria lives in the live rock and this will colonize the new sand over time. You can also "seed" the sand by adding a cup or two of live sand from the existing tank. You will probably have a diatom bloom and it is advisable too add a product such as Stability for the first week but you can just add all the livestock without worrying about a cycle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Posted February 3, 2012 Author Share Posted February 3, 2012 But I also don't want my girlfriend to have any issues with algae blooms. So I'm thinking getting a bucket and puting the sand in it and adding water and a pump to keep the water movie ing for like 2 weeks or so to build bacteria in the sand, any thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AquaJohn Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 it will not hurt anything but anytime you add a lot of stuff to the tank you risk a diatom bloom. They are not as bad as algae over time they go away all you need to do is clean the glass for a week ot so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 My 2 cents wether you start up a tank or move an established tank there is always a good chance of an alga bloom so I would factor dealing with it into my plans. If it doesn't happen so much the better but if it does and you're already planning and expecting for it to happen it's not nearly as frustrating to deal with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FragIt Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 thouroughly rinsed crushed coral about 1/2 inch only on the display portion of your tank and have the rock sitting on glass bottom.......why use sand at all? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerrickH Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 I would never use old "live" sand. Moving that stuff around stirs up so much nutrients, its a recipe for destruction. Expect GHA or cyano if you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+etannert Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 Cause crushed coral is not attractive not looking to reopen the sand vs. crushed coral debate, but he's already stated his preference, why raise the question? Christian: putting the sand in the bucket with water movement isn't going to do anything to encourage bacterial growth since you won't have anything in the bucket except what you put into the bucket; you have to add something to make the bacteria grow, whether a product like Stability or some live rock. As Timfish says anytime you disrupt the biosystem you risk some kind of counterbalancing act by the ecosystem, frequently this takes the form of an algae bloom. That being said I've moved and combined tanks several times without a major algae bloom, the diatom bloom is unavoidable with new sand as the silica that diatoms feed on have to be consumed. I have found that I have much less of a bloom with dry sand than with prepackaged live sand for whatever reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FragIt Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 Only bc his main concern is not causing an algae bloom in his GF tank.....not aesthetics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+etannert Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 Fair enough! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerrickH Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 Whos on first....? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Posted February 3, 2012 Author Share Posted February 3, 2012 well I was planing on adding something to produce an algae bloom, but once its all in the tank I should not have any problem with algae. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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