cycling a tank

[FDdragon]

I have had a few tanks but I have a questions regarding the cycling of a tank.

Can you cycle a tank with sand, live rock and a powerhead only?

I know the live rock serves as the filter but ive always had some kind of filter (sump, hang on filter, etc.). I do plan on adding a hang on filter and small skimmer. The tank I plan on doing this is a 10g.

I would imagine it would be fine since the rock will filter the water and the powerhead will circulate the water and also create oxygen. If this is correct, would I need more water changes than normal? I will be checking the parameters anyway.

I also plan on using established LR and water from my other tanks.

What do you guys think?

 

[pyithar]

yes, you can. throw some raw shrimps in there and wait it out till your ammonia test read zero. you don't need to do water changes if you don't want to. but do some water changes before stocking your tank after the cycle is finished. nitrate will be high by that time.

 

[FDdragon]

ok cool. yeah, just wanted to know if I needed some kind of mechanical filter. but sounds like I should be good to go then. thanks