Bev, where did you hear that bacteria doesn't live in the water?, there is plenty of bacteria in the water (just happens to be more in the sand and rock) otherwise you would never get nitrates in a bare tank, the benefit is that bacteria doesn't grow at a specific rate but rather it doubles so lets say you transfer 1 million of the little guys then in a bit you will have 2 mill, then 4 mill, then 8 mill, then 16 mill and so on and so on.. if you start by using new water and trying to cycle it it could take you significantly longer to reach the same population of bacteria.
Steve
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