I just got some Caribsea ocean direct sand, and it claims it can reduce or eliminate the need to cycle. I'm a bit skeptical. Does anybody have experiences that confirm or deny the claims?
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I just got some Caribsea ocean direct sand, and it claims it can reduce or eliminate the need to cycle. I'm a bit skeptical. Does anybody have experiences that confirm or deny the claims?
I guess I've never been in a hurry. Never had a need to test it.All those links, and nobody will simply test a bag of sand. Not one link above tells us if caribsea sand is active. We can garner nothing about skipping cycles, or how convention cycles are skipped for thirty years, from those links.
nobody has tested what the Op asked about, so we can just keep on guessing I guess.
Well, @brandon429 would argue that it is because you didn't wash the sand beforehand. By washing out all the dead stuff and silt, you get rid of a lot of the organics that would cause a cycle. Brandon correct me if I'm wrong.No, my opinion it does not eliminate the tank must be given the time to install a proper and reliable carrying capacity!
Sand containing marine life will introduce a lot of this life if kept submerged in water from the place where it is harvested and placed in a tank directly after harvesting without stirring it too much. Even then a new tank will need time.
Sometimes a few months.
One can populate a new tank in a few days without any problems by maintaining a high C/N ratio (setting up a show tank on a fair) eliminating the need for installing an autotrophic carrying capacity. If one has not the patience to install a reliable carrying capacity and wants to show off, this is the way to go. Something I do not recommend.
About "live" rock and "live" sand. ref: http://www.baharini.eu/baharini/doku.php?id=nl:makazi:het_water:filtratie:levend_steen
Most live needs oxygen. Most organisms present alive will be uncultivable. How the sand has been stored and how long it was out of the water before being packed? How long it was packed? What happens when opening the package in free air?
We can say that a cell does not become viable if it loses the ability to produce offspring. A broader definition of viability can extend to cells that retain homeostasis and metabolic activity, even if they can no longer divide under specific conditions at specific time. Such cells are sometimes referred to as "viable but uncultivable". ref: http://www.baharini.eu/baharini/doku.php?id=nl:makazi:bio-chemie:bacteriën#microbiële_levensvatbaarheid
One must be aware this moment only a small part of bacteria and archaea are cultivable in laboratory settings for research or can be used for live cultures for to be used in laboratories ( bacteria in a bottle?)
Not all cells die, the cell can also go into a state of rest, thanks to the stringent response, the response of a bacterium to all kinds of stress factors such as lack of amino acids, fatty acids, iron deficiency or a heat shock. This is accompanied by a sharp increase in the alarm molecule (p) ppGpp (guanosine pentaphosphate or tetraphosphate) which regulates a large part of the genes (translation). This causes the cell to switch from growth and division to rest to survive until the nutritional situation has improved. ref: http://www.baharini.eu/baharini/doku.php?id=nl:makazi:bio-chemie:bacteriën
"Live" sand which has been packed will contain a lot of dead cells. What will be the nutritional situation in " live" sand?
A nitrifying biofilm is a very complex community that needs the time to grow and interconnect. When full active +-40% of the biofilm will be bacteria following an anaerobic pathway and it will be able to export between 9% and 20% of the nitrogen processed. This will at least take two to three weeks if not disturbed and if all building materials needed are supplied, regardless of how much "live " sand will be added. "Live" sand may become a supplier of building materials by which it becomes a good substrate. But this can be achieved by using "any" sand taken from nature.
One must be aware the initial installed carrying capacity will be low and must grow with the bio-load added. One can do this by preparing the tank for what is coming by adding a food source and adding sand containing biowaste may help cycling the tank. But why one should spent money on bio-waste? The same can be said about " live" rock.
Another aspect to think about is the fact introduced animals will start grazing the surfaces removing and using the previously installed biofilms. This is good or bad as every animal contains specific bacteria that will play their role in balancing the tank, biofilms are renewed. Essential Bacteria ( good and or bad?) are imported with the animals, healthy corals will bring in their holobiont. In fact, a tank is cycling constantly and the carrying capacity is adjusted constantly till the max capacity is reached.
By using a bio-filter the carrying capacity is more reliable as all the space needed can be provided and grazing be limited, the capacity and removal rates can be managed as desired and follow the bio-load of a growing community at all times.
For this, an MBR is ideal as the biofilm erosion ( renewal of the biofilm) can be managed.