bought used tank with wet gravel, is there bacteria?

I just got a used tank. The gravel in the bottom of the bucket was still wet. Everything else was dry so I'm guessing it had been torn down at least a couple of days ago. Is it possible there is still live beneficial bacteria on the gravel and would it be good to set it up as fast as possible to get a head start on cycling? There is no telling how long it sat. I guess it could have sat for quite a while and still been wet at the bottom.

 

This is coming purely from my opinion and maybe someone with experience or more biology knowledge will correct me but I would not trust that there is still live bacteria in the substrate.

It does not take long for the bacteria to die off without food (ammonia) or oxygen...in which case this gravel would not have had either. You could set everything up and start adding some ammonia for a fishless cycle and see if it gets consumed quickly but I doubt it.

 

Thanks. The more I thought about it, the more I thought there is no telling how long it was sitting.

 

It's possible. Bacteria, as long as it's kept wet, can survive for awhile without food. The exact length of time is debated, but I've heard up to a week. However if they dry out, then they'll perish. If the tank was well-stocked, and the tank had been cycled awhile, and the gravel had stayed wet, and it was less than a week, then I wouldn't be surprised if there was a decent amount of bacteria in there. Can't hurt! As long as the gravel isn't full of detritus, of course.

 

Well, If you don't want to use the gravel as your main substrate, you can always get a pantyhouse and fill it up with the gravel you just got and plop it into the tank to help boost the cycling process....It doesn't hurt to use the gravel unless it has a lot of nasties in it.

 

You could ask the previous owner when it was taken apart, I'd definitely ask him about any outbreaks recently. If the tank's been taken down just days ago and there is sufficient water in the gravel some bacteria might have survived.
Still you'd have to cycle to tank but it'll be much faster.

And ohh again ask him again of there were any dead fish or any outbreaks recently

 

Yea I should probably contact them and ask. I feel kind of bad pestering them again after the deal I got though (55 gal corner tank, hot magnum canister filter, hood, lights, full decor, gravel, a bunch of plants, gravel, buckets, nets, 2 air pumps, flexible tube stones, air gang valve, nets, giant shells, mounted driftwood, extra new filters for the canister filter, a giant jar of filter carbon, and probably some other stuff I'm forgetting for $50). I don't have to put anything in it right now so maybe I should just clean it in case and cycle it. I could always borrow some gravel from my other running tank, and or the old filter etc.

 

I would for sure just use your own stuff to seed, since you have it. I mean.. How would you go about quarantining gravel?