Went to a fish store to get gravel for my cycle...this is what I got.

[micaiah12]

So I went to one of my LFS to get some gravel for my aquarium to get it jump started in its cycle. The guy was confused when I just asked for some gravel from the fish tank..for my aquariums biological cycle. He however agreed to grab me some. He bagged and boxed it. Handed it to me. Told me it was free and I left. I got home and this is what I got...



A big bag of gunk lol. Tasty.... Anyways being that this is just water and murk. I was just going to chuck it...I guess me saying "I need gravel from one of your tanks" was just to confusing for the guy...anyone have any other idea to do with this?




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[The_Desacrator]

I'd go back be like yeah what is this? Maybe talk to a higher up. Someone who knows what they are doing.

 

[micaiah12]

Lol it was the manager...that gave it to me.


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[enrgizerbunny]

He scraped the filter pads. This is way better than gravel. If you don't have fish just dump it in.

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[enrgizerbunny]

If you do have fish, add it slowly.

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[micaiah12]

I don't think so, I saw him with a gravel vac and starting a siphon...

 

[enrgizerbunny]

Same difference. Do you have fish in your tank? If not just dump it in. If you have fish I'd add it over the course of several hours a little at a time. Like add some, let it clear and ready, then add more until it's gone.


Edit: This delicious "murk" and "gunk" is what you ACTUALLY are benefiting from when you get gravel. It's just a carrier.

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[micaiah12]

lol, ok. How much do you think it will speed up my fishless cycle? It's 7 days with no sign of life :/

 

[enrgizerbunny]

Not sure, just dump the whole thing in and watch it. There isn't a whole lot of bb in the gravel unless it's an under gravel filter, but this gunk should coat your filter pads where it will start growing readily.

7 days is very early in a cycle from scratch. There are folks on here who sell seeded media which will vastly decrease your cycling time.

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[gilpi]

He gave you what you actually need. A small amount into your tank or better yet your filter would do.

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