How long will cycling take if I seed the sandbed?

[ervine]

Hi guys,

I'll finally be getting my new tank this Friday, but the migration is going to be a big headache...

Anyway, If I were to seed my new tank with sand from my existing tank, in addition plumb it to my current refugium and use my existing LR...

Then,

would the cycling time be shortened?

Thanks!

[Terryz_]

heard that it will be shorten... Going through the whole cycling process is more safe...

[dravan]

yupz of course shorten.... livesand helps ur sandbed to mature faster

[SharkBait]

I seeded a canister by plumbing it to my old system for some time before using it to cycle. The cycle ended in less then 1 week. But you will have to continue to let the cannister run for a few weeks more even after your cycle has completed.

[ervine]

I see I see... okay so that means I still need to run both tanks concurrently until the new one is completely cycled yes?

[SharkBait]

I dun understand why you need to run your old tank. Unless you are plumbing the new one to the old one.

[ervine]

Hm... maybe I didn't phrase it correctly..

Basically what I am asking is this, do I have to run both tanks concurrently (not connected) so that the new tank can get cycled until the livestock in the old tank is ready to be moved over?

Or can I dump everything over LR, sand everything over at one shot? (I doubt it right)

[SharkBait]

oh no. what i did was i ran a cannister filter on my old tank for a while before transfering the cannister over to the new tank to hasten the process. Then you can move over your LR. There should be a slight ammonia increase. After both ammonia and nitrite turned 0, i did a water change and put in LS slowly. waiting for a week in between for the system to accustom. During this period, my cannister is kept running. I could probably had transfered all the LS over with minimal loses but better safe than sorry.

[ervine]

oh no. what i did was i ran a cannister filter on my old tank for a while before transfering the cannister over to the new tank to hasten the process. Then you can move over your LR. There should be a slight ammonia increase. After both ammonia and nitrite turned 0, i did a water change and put in LS slowly. waiting for a week in between for the system to accustom. During this period, my cannister is kept running. I could probably had transfered all the LS over with minimal loses but better safe than sorry.

Hm... but why would there be an ammonia increase if I bring over my existing LR?