Gravel change question

[isgrimner]

I recently changed my substrate to more natural gravel. I read on the forums that a lot of your beneficial bacteria live in your substrate. I don't want to go through a major cycle again, so I put most of the old gravel in some old thin nylon socks and placed them back in the tank. I think I read on here that someone did that with panty hose.

Anyway, what I was wondering is does anybody have a rough estimate for how long I will need to leave those two big "socks of rocks" in my tank? I know it will vary, but I would just like to hear suggestions. I am doing fine on the water tests so far. My tank is a 30 gal tall.

Thanks for any input.

[boofish2]

I'm sure some of the more experienced fishkeepers will chime in on this one but if I were you, I'd leave them in for about two weeks. (IMO the min. avg. time for a tank to cycle)

[judgemax]

my first question is did you change filter media, and scrub everything else?..or just empty and change the gravel? AS far as that all goes if you didn't completly change your filter and scrub, it shouldn't take long at all because alot of your bacteria will reside in your filter.

[isgrimner]

Thanks for the replies. I did not change any of the filter media. I did do probably a 30% water change when I changed the substrate, mostly to make it easier to switch gravel, but also to vacuum up some of the debris changing stirred up.