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Originally Posted by Beverly
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Seriak
I think there would still be die off when you add live sand to a new system. That is why people say you can just add live sand to a new system to get the cycling started because there would be enough die off from the critters in the sand to start the bacteria process.
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The live sand would also come with nitrfying bacteria, so there may not be as big a spike as one might expect. Or there could be a larger spike too, depending on the system. If there was cured live rock in the tank, or an established sump or refugium, or even some macro-algae which lives off ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and phosphate - another byproduct of die-off - the spike would probably be smaller and may not be noticed at all. |
Agreed Beverly. The idea behind adding livesand for cycling is the same as liverock (except live rock has probably more diversity). Its is to add nitrifying bacteria into the system and not because you are hoping things in the sand will die. Things in the livesand may or may not die. That is unpredictable. This is why people recommend adding dead fish or fish food along with livesand to brand new tanks for the ammonia element that jump starts the cycle. Livesand guarantees nitrifying bacteria, while the fish food or dead fish guarantees ammonia. Certainly, if it happens that some things in the sand dies, it will add ammonia and possible help cycle the tank IF the tank isn't already cycled by the existing rock. However, you can't count on things in the sand dying. I could test this by adding my livesand in a new tank and test for ammonia levels over a few weeks and see if a spike occurs. It would surprise me if there is one. As referenced in an article earlier, new tanks with liverock and sand may not go through a cycle (ie no spikes) at all.
I do understand that people want to be safe than sorry when they recommend adding livestock slowly and that I'm just nitpicking.
References Below
http://faq.thekrib.com/begin-cycling.html
"The nitrogen cycle can be sped up or ``jump started'' in a number of ways. Unfortunately, they require access to an established tank, which a beginning aquarist may not have available. The basic idea is to find an established tank, take some of the bacteria out of it and place them in the new tank.
"More recently, products containing colonies of nitrifying bacteria have become available at pet shops (e.g., ``Fritz'', ``Bio-zyme'', ``Cycle''). In theory, adding the bacteria jump-starts the colonization process as above."
"Some (not many) aquarium stores will provide aquarium buyers with a cup of gravel from an established tank."
http://www.algone.com/fishless_cycling.htm
"then simply feed the tank with fish food. The decaying food will release ammonia and the tank starts the cycling process. To further speed up this process the tank can be seeded with gravel from an existing tank, filter cartridges from established filters, filter media of any kind, biowheels, drift wood, rocks, all taken from established tanks.
Bacteria colonize all of the above, so seeding basically means the introduction of existing bacteria colonies into a new tank. The decaying food will provide ammonia for these colonies to settle and expand in the new tank. "
http://www.simplifiedreefkeeping.com/faq/12.htm
"One factor to consider: the amount of die-off on live sand is unpredictable. "
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