Cycling Length?

[pass1over]

My g/f's parents bought a 265gal tank, have a wet/dry type filter on it (not sure what).
They were told that it was going to take upwards of 6 months to cycle?
Does this sound right? If so, anything they can do to speed it up?

Its been setup for about a month now.

[greg97527]

um a cycle could be 6 to 8 weeks usually but yes 6 months to a year to mature. There is a product called Ultra Clear that is live bacteria and will cut your cycle time in half. I have used it with much success. Some people actually wet skim from another tank and pour the skimmate in the new tank although I wouldn't advise it personally because I have not tried it. Otherwise, live rock and some damsels, or chromies, or a cocktail shrimp will help your system start its spikes and get cycled quicker. good luck.

[pass1over]

theyve been buying fish for it, have lost a couple but not many.
would some live sand from an established aquarium help to seed that at all? I wouldnt be able to give up very much from my 75, and I dunno how the airlines would like people transporting sand.

just curious if its worth it to try to seed a tank that large with a littel bit of sand from mine

[greg97527]

you can actually buy live sand called aragalive from the local fish store. That would help it alot.