Is it worth it?

Discussion in 'General Reef Topics' started by arthur, Sep 15, 2016.

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  1. arthur

    arthur Spanish Shawl Nudibranch

    Joined:
    Aug 11, 2014
    Messages:
    97
    Yes. I know. Patience... I'm seeing little 10 gal. TANK. I got good old Live Rock. Do you guys think that buying Live Sand like Pet co has is worth it or it has more dead staff and just go with dry which I still have? Yes. I'm trying to speed it up or even avoid the cycle. And I did it once before when I was downgrading from 125 to 40. One day I put old Live Rock with new water and pour Dr. Tim's Bacteria. Two days later I moved 15 SPS Frags there. Didn't lose one. All still happy. Got lucky? Maybe...One difreence is that that 40 gal was bare bottom. So again just like to know your opinion about Live Sand ( like from Petco) is it worth it? Thanks.
     
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  3. civiccars2003

    civiccars2003 Great Blue Whale

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    Sorry but I am not understanding the question. You cant just speed up or avoid a cycle. It takes a considerable amount of time and doing what you said may help a little but a cycle is still a cycle. Take your time, only bad things happen quickly in this hobby.
     
  4. arthur

    arthur Spanish Shawl Nudibranch

    Joined:
    Aug 11, 2014
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    97
    The question is does Live Sand that is for sale in bags is really live and worth money or should I go with dry sand.
    Yes, as I have been 15 years in the hobby alway thought Cycle happens always with new set up. But I took a risk since I had buyer for big tank and set up new 40 gal with new water and old Live Rock and Dr. Tim's bacteria. 2 days later i put 15 SPS FRAGS from old set up and didn't loose a piece. Still going strong. No other explanation then Cycle didn't happen in that tank. That's my opinion, otherwise those fragile SPS be dead...
     
  5. dienerman

    dienerman Corkscrew Tentacle Anemone

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    I have never been a believer in live sand to help with speeding the cycle. Certainly adding rock from another tank that is well seeded with bacteria will be of benefit When i upgraded to a larger tank, i started with new sand and put the live rock and livestock in from my smaller system. I did not do anything that would increase the bioload until weeks later when the additional rock was well seeded. From my understanding, sand cannot hold nearly the amount of beneficial bacteria as rock and therefore should not be used to calculate bioload.
     
  6. oldfishkeeper

    oldfishkeeper Giant Squid

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    I will say that buying live sand means a lot less work in terms of rinsing....just sayin'