Need advice on cycling tank

[FishHobby99]

I am moving the female axie from the male & 40 G tank to her own 20 G to stop the spawning & his amorous pursuits of the poor girl.

Washed playground sand, added to tank, followed by conditioned water. The sand has yet to fully settle. I’m using a cycled filter from a tank that has 3 filters, likely overkill. I’m reading not to start the filter until the sand clears

because it will agitate the sand & clog the filter. Is this accurate?

Secondly, any idea how long before this tank will be properly cycled? What should I do? Wait X hours & run params?

 

[Colin_T]

If you are using an established biological filter from another tank, then it will be cycled when you put the filter on/ in the new tank.

Wait 24 hours for the sand to settle and if it's still cloudy, wipe the glass down and if it's still cloudy, do a huge water change. Once the water has cleared, put the filter on the tank

 

[FishHobby99]

Thanks, pretty much what I’m reading on Quora, minus the water change. Which is a great suggestion. I did add 2 cups of sand from the old tank after reading many posts there. Skipped that part of my original plan, because the fresh sand looked so nice.

Why are they all saying test for zero ammonia, nitrates, etc? I could test freshly flushed toilet water and get that.

 

[Colin_T]

People suggest monitoring ammonia and nitrite for the first week to make sure the filter has taken and not wiped out.

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

because it will agitate the sand & clog the filter. Is this accurate?

Almost...
Your filter's media will remove the particles and reduce the efficacy of the filter, but you can then rinse your filter media, especially sponges, in tank water and all will be well.
(I did this when setting up my second tank, in my Journal).

The more media from your old tank, the more 'cycled' the new tank will be.

The bit about testing...bear in mind that most of that advice would be aimed at those relatively new to the hobby and it's trying to establish healthy habits. Rgular testing never does any real fishkeeper any harm and is a good habit to have.
Plus, what Colin says.

 

[itiwhetu]

I always turn on the filters and then just rinse them every couple of days, until things settle down.

 

[FishHobby99]

OMG! It worked! You are a genius Colin T!

I carefully changed ~80% of the water & it’s crystal clear! (Too impatient to wait longer; sand hadn’t settled any in several hours)

No one at Quora mentioned changing the water & I’m feeling a tad dense for not thinking of it myself.

THANK YOU!!!!!

 

[FishHobby99]

 

[Colin_T]

your black and white sand will mix and look yuck soon.

 

[FishHobby99]

Nope! It will become beautiful like slate & Aqueon will pay me 10 Million $ for my secret formula. Either that or old dog poop.

 

[FishHobby99]

In the pic of Sally’s new tank, she was scooped from a tank with black sand. I’ll vacuum it out by & by