Question on Cycle

[wonderballz]

Hey everyone. I have a 40G breeder, RR, and i am going to start my cycle soon, hopefully. My question is I have live sand, but it has been sitting in a bucket for about a month and a half. Before I start the cycle, I am going to rinse the sand before i put it in the tank. Should i do anything else? I don't have my LR yet, so should i wait until I have the LR to start my cycle? Would adding the LR a little later re start the cycle?

Thanks guys

 

[KathyC]

Wait until you have everything and then start up the tank. Yes it would starta new cycle if you added the LR afterwards.

Most of all - be patient with the cycle process.
Do you have your test kits so you can track the cycle?

 

[wonderballz]

I am gonna get the test kits once i have everything so it's not sitting around too long. I am planning on getting a reefkeeper lite too, so pH and Salinity will monitored that way. I am defi gonna take my time with the cycle.

So, Aside from rinsing the sand before putting it in, I don't need to do anything else with the sand?

 

[beerfish]

I agree with Kathy on everything but the waiting until you have the rock. I say go ahead and fill the tank up now with the sand. You'll begin to develop a bacterial population now, give the sand plenty of time to settle, and have something going on in the tank. (Especially if you get a cup of seeded sand from another tank)

As Kathy said, you'll be starting a new nitrogen cycle when you put the rock in, but having a small bacterial population in the sand won't hurt.

Disclaimer: It won't matter too much either way, and you'll be using electricity if the tank is running. I just hate having an empty tank, and enjoy watching pods scurry around.

 

[KathyC]

I agree with Kathy on everything but the waiting until you have the rock. I say go ahead and fill the tank up now with the sand. You'll begin to develop a bacterial population now, give the sand plenty of time to settle, and have something going on in the tank. (Especially if you get a cup of seeded sand from another tank)

As Kathy said, you'll be starting a new nitrogen cycle when you put the rock in, but having a small bacterial population in the sand won't hurt.

Disclaimer: It won't matter too much either way, and you'll be using electricity if the tank is running. I just hate having an empty tank, and enjoy watching pods scurry around.

Eric..if he doesn't get the rock right away, he could have a large enough cycle to kill anything that he has managed to get growing in the tank.

He will also have to disturb the sandbed to add the rock - and needs to place it all the way to the bottom of the tank (rock should NOT rest on the sandbed), I think a new member is better off doing it all at once

 

[wonderballz]

i am still in the process of finishing my stand. I want to get this done right, so patience is going to be my middle name. As excited as i am, I want my environment to be safe for my critters.

 

[KathyC]

Is the sand new?

 

[wonderballz]

the sand was from another member established tank. It has just been sitting in a bucket though

 

[KathyC]

the sand was from another member established tank. It has just been sitting in a bucket though

ohhhhh...is it in water?
How does it smell?

You're going to need to rinse it VERY well as there will be a lot of very dead things in there after sitting. It should have been kept in water that was circulating and heated.

If it smells bad, you might be better off getting new sand.

Do you have a skimmer to put on this tank yet?

 

[wonderballz]

It is in a 5lb bucket with some water. Not alot though. Does the water have to be Saltwater? I have a skimmer already too. I'll take a whiff when i get home tonight.

 

[KathyC]

It is in a 5lb bucket with some water. Not alot though. Does the water have to be Saltwater? I have a skimmer already too. I'll take a whiff when i get home tonight.

If it wasn't in SW, heated & circulated - then the sand is no longer 'live' sand..it is dead sand..with a lot of dead stuff in it.

IMO better off with new sand and a cup of good live sand from an established tank will be best to 'seed' the new tank

 

[wonderballz]

I thought that may be the case when i picked it up. i knew I wanted to get all the materials before I started the tank, and the sand would be sitting. o well.

 

[beerfish]

Eric..if he doesn't get the rock right away, he could have a large enough cycle to kill anything that he has managed to get growing in the tank.

He will also have to disturb the sandbed to add the rock - and needs to place it all the way to the bottom of the tank (rock should NOT rest on the sandbed), I think a new member is better off doing it all at once

I answered before asking how long it would be before he got the rock.

Let me amend my earlier answer. If you're getting rock in a week or so, I stand by what I said earlier, it will give the sand time to settle. If it's going to be awhile, Kathy is right, wait until you've got everything. I also assumed a SSB, in which case disrupting the sand isn't a big deal. If you're using a DSB, then disregard everything I said and listen to Kathy. :biglaugh:

 

[wonderballz]

Now I know I am better off using new sand, but is there anything i can use this old sand for?

I was thinking maybe making it dead sand by like rinsing and draining it completely, maybe on an old bed sheet raised up off the ground, and use the sand plus seed sand?

just wondering since i feel like it would be an aweful waste of about 60 lb of sand.

Thanks for the help BTW. I have continually gotten great info from this site.

 

[masterswimmer]

I agree with everything Kathy has said. The sand in your bucket is dead sand. If you want to reuse that sand you absolutely can. However, the process you have to go through might not be conducive in the location you live. I would take your bedsheet idea and spread the sheet on the ground in an area you can LEAVE IT UNDISTURBED for a few months. Spread the sand to a THIN layer (no more than 1/2" deep) and allow all the dead organisms to decompose. Your sand will then be ready to rinse thoroughly and then re-use.

Make sure the place you spread the sheet and sand is protected from any cats (or other animals) using it as a liter box.

At this time you'll probably understand why Kathy said it is better for you to discard all that sand and start from scratch.

What happened to your sand in the bucket is only a matter of chemistry. The topmost layer of sand in our tanks (top 1") is called the aerobic layer. It is oxygenated and alive. Beneath approximately 1" is the layer called anaerobic. This layer is lacking oxygen and for all practical purposes it is dead. In your 5g bucket there is such a small surface area compared to the compressed anaerobic layer, that the proportion of live organisms in there (assuming it was even heated and had circulated saltwater) is dwarfed by the amount of dead matter in the anaerobic layer that the remaining sand is dead and worthless in the immediate future. Give it time to decompose as I stated above and it will be fine to use again. A few months might not even be enough time, I'm just guessing. IMO it isn't worth the effort and possibility that you could reintroduce tons of phosphates and nitrates into your system.

Hope this helps and makes it a little more understandable.
Russ

 

[wonderballz]

Thanks Russ and everyone. Looks like I'll defi be keeping an eye out for sand.