Just sWitched to Sand, Now Cycle Questions....

[jason72g]

In order to switch my gravel to sand I had to syphon out all of the water... I only put half of the original cycled water in and the other half was new, treated water... And I am still using the same filter media...

Did I just screw the cycle up? hopefully not...

 

[clutterydrawer]

probably not. the bacteria live in the filter and on other solid surfaces, not in the water.

 

[TorPeteO]

If you want to be sure that the tank stil has sufficient bacteria, you can put some of your old gravel (provided it isn't totally dry yet) in an old stocking and put it in the tank for a little while. The bacteria will move from the gravel onto and into the sand, and it will be as good as it was (better, perhaps, depending on your perspective with sand).

HTH

 

[FishDan]

You should be fine. As was said, the bacteria live on surfaces (all of them) not in the water itself. You probably have nothing to worry about, especially if you kept your decorations wet while doing the change. Between the decorations and filter you should have no trouble (depending on bioload).

\Dan

 

[astroboy]

You should be fine.

If you want to be sure you can always check your water parameters for ammonia, nitrite etc.etc.

 

[yhbae]

You should be fine. I changed all of my gravel into sand in one shot without placing the original gravel back into the tank, and I had no cycle crash...