AF Bio Sand - Direct in New Tank?

[Syoung]

Hey all,

Working on setting up a new tank! Freshly filled with saltwater and aquascape, starting the cycling process. Zero biological load or active filtering (skimmer, uv, ... are off).

I purchased the 1-2mm AF Bio sand. Could I add it, and the bottled bacteria directly to the tank rather than putting them together for 24 hours before putting the sand in?

 

[Gumbies R Us]

So for my tank, I had the sand and rock in the tank first. Then I put water in, and then I put bottled bacteria in. Never had any issues doing this

 

[ajhudson15]

I use the same sand and followed the same directions as the post above. Haven’t had any issues and Tank is beautiful.

 

[Syoung]

Great! I'll rinse the sand and add it directly.

Looking forward to getting sand in there. Hopefully the 1-2mm lives up to expectations and doesn't blow everywhere