Hey guys, I just recently setup a jbj 12 gallon nanocube dx. I took about 10-12 pounds of L R from my 4 year old 50G tank, all of the water that's in the nano now was from the tank, and a bag of bio-carbon from the 50G's cannister. The carbon was in the big tanks filter for about 2 weeks. The only thing that isnt from the 50G is the live sand I bought from Petsmart. Considering my variables, would you say that my cycle time can be noticeably sped up?

Yes, you might not even notice a cycle. When I set up my tank, I used cured LR from the LFS. New bag of sand and new water. Noticed a small cycle, 3-4 days.

your not going to have a cycle because you are using good water and good LR. also you have the media bag from the 50... you shouldnt have any cycle.

Every tank experiences a cycle... it's always present in our tanks. Just keep an eye out for parameter spikes for a week and you should be good.

Well I have a dalmation molly in right now, what you're saying is it's safe to start slowly building up my CUC and adding some strong inverts?

It's best to remove the molly because it will get large.

you will probably have a small cycle due to the "live sand" that probably isn't really all that alive. just keep an eye on it, will probably be shorter than usual however

If i went to a LFS or petco right now and got my water tested and all my parameters are good does that mean the tank didn't need a cycle or it did and it was very quick? Or would it not have started yet.