Can I use sand and water from one tank...

[nanshaw2001]

to help establish and cycle a new smaller tank more quickly? I have a 15 gallon I had used for a qt for a while. It has been sitting with lr and sand but no circulation after being up for about 6 months. Advise for reistablishing this tank and/or using things from my main tank to hurry things along. TIA !!!!

 

[returnofsid]

Water won't do you any good at all. Water doesn't hold the beneficial bacterias that we need. Water's basically sterile. Live sand will help seed a sand bed, but I wouldn't be using sand that's been sitting iwth live rock and no circulation for 6 months. It's probably FULL of nitrates and other NASTY stuff. That sand and live rock will need to be re-cycled.

 

[nanshaw2001]

So can I clean it and if so how....and the trade for sand in my bed of the main tank? Thanks so much for your response!!!!

 

[oldsaint]

If it were me I'd toss the sand and do one of the following to the rock.

Dry it out and seed the tank with a small amount of new live rock

or

cook it

or

sterilize it.

 

[travis_]

I had live rock and sand in a tub without circulation and even loss heat once (the light switch turned off) and got down to 50 F, but when I returned circulation and heat, changed out some of the water everything was fine. I did a lot of smelling of the rocks and water and nothing but the smell of ocean. I carefully watched the rock and saw plenty of life (worms, copepode, starfish, etc.) so I used all of this (total roughly 50 lbs) when I setup my new tank without issues. Personally I would never boil or sterlize my rock, but I do understand why others do. I filled the tank (100 gallons) up with DI water, brought up to temperature and then connected everything to my sumps/refugiums (~roughly 100 gals) and added critters immediately. No cycle required. The equivalent of a 50% water change.

to help establish and cycle a new smaller tank more quickly? I have a 15 gallon I had used for a qt for a while. It has been sitting with lr and sand but no circulation after being up for about 6 months. Advise for reistablishing this tank and/or using things from my main tank to hurry things along. TIA !!!!

 

[returnofsid]

Travis, in your situation, the live sand and rock was sitting in stagnant water for 6 months.

I'd recommend tossing all of the sand. Rinsing it is possible but would be A LOT of work and not really worth the effort. You can buy dry aragonite sand cheap and seed it with a handful of established live sand.

I'd totally dry out the live rock, maybe even bleach it, then rinse it well. After that process, I'd suggest re-curing it. There will be a lot of dead "stuff" on the rock that will kick start the "cycling" process. Make sure to use a skimmer when re-curing it, or LOTS of water changes.

If you're testing for Ammonia, Nitrites and Nitrates, you'll be able to determine when the cycle starts, follow the cycle and determine when the rock is safe to use.