Established Tank?

[LJR]

After much deliberation, I tore down my year old Biocube, sold off the fish my LFS, and took the remnants of the coral and CUC and moved it into a 10 gallon into my college dorm. My three fish were all doing quite well, but they were being neglected at home, and were too large to bring into a new 10 gallon.

 

My question is however, where would I rate my tank on an "establishment scale," so to speak. I've used about half of my live sand and rock in this "new" tank, and have brought a large amount of fauna with it, including a lot of bristle worms. A test I did after a few days showed that I had little die off (presumably) as nitrates, nitrites, and ammonia are all 0.

 

So, in terms of stocking, should I be considering this as a newly-established tank. Or should I expect the level of stability of the tank before?

[slowngreen]

I wouldn't re-use any sand. I wouldn't consider it established at all after restarting it, it will likely have to go through all the ugly stages again before it's really established.

[mcarroll]

Better than starting from dead, but I agree not close to the same as "established".  More like starting fresh with live rock/sand, but you already know all the hitchhikers.  :-)