trish_norris

My ten gallon tank is cycled I have had it almost two months now. What I was wondering is can I change the filter now? And if so, can I use the filter from the 10 gallon to cycle my new 30 gallon tank? If I can will it be an immediate cycling or will I have to wait any length of time for it to cycle?

sp33drhno

if you remove the filter from the 10 gallon and replace with a new one, most of the beneficial bacteria will go with the filter. so you'll go through another cycle. it's best to run the new filter with the current filter for a 2 weeks or so. then you can move the old filter to your new tank along with some tank water, and it should speed up the cycle considerably.

FishKing

Yeah you can change the filter, but you would be removing some beneficial bacteria. Also you can use the filter to cycle the other tank, but it would still take a while because there would not be that much bacteria in the filter.

COBettaCouple

The best way to go would be to put as much filter sponge as you can in the 10g filter, then run that for about a week or so. Move the extra sponges to the filter in the 30g tank and you'll get the benefits of seeding your 30g tank without affecting the 10g.

The sponges are typically the top home for good bacteria, then the substrate and the filter bag/cartridge/floss.