No cycle - is this possible?

[chiqui bb]

My 90 gal never cycled. Here's what I did:

1. Mixed salt with ro/di water and brought the temp to 78
2. Added 50# of dry, base rock from MarcoRocks
3. Added 80# of new CaribSea aragonite
4. Added approx. 40# of live rock from my existing 55 gal
5. Let the tank/sump run without the skimmer for 5 weeks
6. During the last week, added approx. 20# of existing aragonite sand from 55 gal

I kept checking for ammonia but never found any. Is it possible to avoid a cycle by using some of the sand and live rock from my established tank?

 

[Bifferwine]

Yep. Cycles are caused by things dying off and rotting. If nothing died of or rotted on the rock from your other tank, then it's totally possible to skip the cycle.

 

[chiqui bb]

Great! I'm going to move over the remainder of the rock and sand. Is it okay to move the fish at the same time?

 

[Bifferwine]

Yeah I think it will be okay. Most of the bacteria is on the rock and sand, so I'd be surprised if you saw a mini cycle at this point.

 

[chiqui bb]

I'm so excited. I'm going to move everyone tonight! I'll post pics in my build thread tomorrow. I did end up making the invisible rock lift that I asked about in one of my earlier posts. I'll get some pics of that too. I really like the way it keeps my rocks off the sand.