Sand in a stocking?

[dartos]

I just set up our new 65 gallon tank and we need to cycle it. The only other tank that I have is a 10 gallon and I am wondering what I can take from it that will help me cycle the new tank.

I am using Aquaclear filters on both of them, but the sponge for the Aquaclear 70's on the 65 gallon are way too big for the Aquaclear 20 on the 10 gallon. The 10 gallon has fish living in it, so I cannot take the Aquaclear 20's filter and place it in the Aquaclear 70.

I have a sand substrate in both and I was wondering if I could place sand from the 10 gallon in a stocking (legging) and place that in the 65 gallon. My concerns about this would be that the sand would fall out of the legging and also that this might not be that beneificial because of the small surface area of a grain of sand. Granted it is enough for bacteria to attach to, however would there be enough bacteria on the sand in the stocking to make a difference?

Thank you all in advance. I hope someone can help me out.

 

[Undawada]

The sand in the stocking will make a difference, but not enough that you won't experience a cycle.

Even if you moved ALL the sand, decorations and filter media from the 10 gallon, you wouldn't have enough bacteria to fully cycle the 65 gallon right away.

My advice to you is to do a fishless cycle in the 65 gallon, the stocking will help speed it up, but there will still be spikes of ammonia and nitrite that you should be aware of.

If you are unfamiliar with a fishless cycle, I will PM you the basics.

 

[dartos]

Thank you for the response Undawada. I will go with your recommendation and put the sand in a stocking and put it in my 65 gallon. I did a fishless cycle on the 10 gallon, but I found that the cycle really didn't start until I could get some gravel from my mother-in-law's tank. This is why I was looking for a way to jump-start this tank. I can't wait to get this all started, there is nothing like getting a new tank started. Thanks again.

 

[Ethos]

I never did a fishless cycle. All my fish are alive(Or so the last time I checked)
What I did was
I let the whole aguarium set up run for 24 hours, no chemicals or test kits.
Then I added 3 hardy fishes.
After 2 weeks of just the 3 fishes (I did this with all my tanks), I took water samples to petco (You can get them tested for free) and all of them were ok to add new less hardy fish.
And thats how I started all of my aquariums.
It seems cheaper than what was posted above. It worked for me.
It might also be different for larger tanks.

 

[dartos]

Thanks for the suggeston Ethos.

However, I like the idea of a fishless cycle much better. I did this on my 10 gallon and everything went great. The reason I like it better is because I do not have to compromise my fish choices due to the cycle. I am sucker for the "pretty" fish and most of the fish I like are not all that hardy, therefore a fishless cycle is best for me. It also eases my concious to know that I am not poisoning my new pets.

Fishless cycle begins tonight!

 

[swampcat]

Cut the sponge to fit the new aquaclear, thats whats great about aquaclears you can make all your own media. My aquaclears have no pre made media inserts other then the sponges. I have a sponge from an AC-300 in an AC-150 ! I use media for all types of filtration systems, using bags, cutting to fit, you name it, it can be put in a aquaclear, thats the beauty of an aquaclear. Not only is it a better filter you can save tons of money doing so !!!