Adding cup of sand

[MichaelJ]

If you add a cup of live sand to an established tank, will that create a mini cycle? Or even a rock like 3” size…. Jc

 

[thrillreefer]

Unless you’re adding a lot of dead biomass, the existing bacteria should be able to consume ammonia and nitrite before they build up to have any ill effects

 

[Duds]

If you add a cup of live sand to an established tank, will that create a mini cycle? Or even a rock like 3” size…. Jc

How long has your tank been running? Are you having issues with something in particular or just want more sand/rock?

As stated above if your tank is established and what you are putting in the tank isn’t filled with dead or dying matter you’re good to go. If it’s live then I don’t see a problem at all as in theory your just adding more beneficial bacteria, life, and filtration to your system.

 

[MichaelJ]

How long has your tank been running? Are you having issues with something in particular or just want more sand/rock?

As stated above if your tank is established and what you are putting in the tank isn’t filled with dead or dying matter you’re good to go. If it’s live then I don’t see a problem at all as in theory your just adding more beneficial bacteria, life, and filtration to your system.

It’s been up for a while….there’s no issues, I just wanted to put some bigger sand in areas that are getting blown around that’s all, and I did buy some frag rocks but they haven’t gone through any cycling process and a little weary of putting a non cycled rock in the tank.

 

[Duds]

It’s been up for a while….there’s no issues, I just wanted to put some bigger sand in areas that are getting blown around that’s all, and I did buy some frag rocks but they haven’t gone through any cycling process and a little weary of putting a non cycled rock in the tank.

Gotcha, well like everything in this hobby slow and steady wins the race. So for me I might be tempted to just do a little bit of sand at a time over a week or two. For the rock that can be a bit trickier pending how much you are adding as they say dry rock can leach some nasty stuff into the water. If possible you can always run it in a bucket/barrel of saltwater to help clean it so it doesn’t leach anything into the tank when added. And again if possible add a couple pieces at a time observe for a few days no ill effects add some more.

 

[MichaelJ]

Gotcha, well like everything in this hobby slow and steady wins the race. So for me I might be tempted to just do a little bit of sand at a time over a week or two. For the rock that can be a bit trickier pending how much you are adding as they say dry rock can leach some nasty stuff into the water. If possible you can always run it in a bucket/barrel of saltwater to help clean it so it doesn’t leach anything into the tank when added. And again if possible add a couple pieces at a time observe for a few days no ill effects add some more.

Yeah, that sounds good….slow and steady…