Does using live sand and rock really allow you to “skip” the nitrogen cycle?

[ReyK]

I just started my first saltwater nano tank after ~12 years of freshwater fishkeeping, and I got 20lbs CaribSea Arag-Alive Bahamas Oolite for my 15gal column tank, as well as a couple live rocks (getting more today, just didn’t wanna accidentally get too many to start as LFS doesn’t accept returns on live marine stuff, including live rock). The packaging on the sand basically said that because it already has beneficial bacteria in it, you can add fish pretty much immediately but not exceeding 1 inch of fish per 5 gallons per week for 3 weeks (kinda confused on that tbh).

I plan on letting it sit for a bit anyway while I decide what I wanna do with my lighting situation since I want either corals or an anemone, but I was wondering if there’s any merit to what the packaging is telling me because it seems way too good to be true in my opinion.

[melosu58]

Any live sand or rock that is packaged in there is probably long gone. If you are looking for real LR and sand make your own.