cichlidsmad

hi i just got a new tank for my cichlids and its been used before but its completely empty and been dry for about 7 months does it need to have a recycle or would it be fine to put the tank water straight into it (the tank is clean) and put everything else into it gravel etc.

would it be fine to do that?

agabr123

if it's been sitting dry for even a few days all of the bacteria will have died already. you can put the tank water, gravel, decorations etc in there but the tank will have to re-cycle

cichlidsmad

o ok even if i have a istablished filter in it? and is there anyway to jumpstart the cycle so i dont have to go through the whole cycle cause i reaaly need more room for my fish the borleyi are getting really big about 14cm now for the largest.

agabr123

if the filter media didn't stay wet, or even if it did but there was no ammonia source, then all of the bacteria will have died. what you could do is take some filter media from one of of your other tanks and put that in the new tank once you get it set up. run it for a few days adding an ammonia source to see how far along the cycle is

cichlidsmad

lol thats what i was meaning but its all good i was just wondering about the cycle with all the water from another tank because thats what my dad did and everything went fine?

agabr123

ah okay. just moving the water over won't help, all it will really do is add nitrAtes to your tank. but a handful of gravel and a piece of established media will help it along. it may not cycle it instantly, so i wouldn't recommend adding fish right away until you seed the tank for a few days at least with ammonia and check the levels.

cichlidsmad

uhm i cant really do that until i get more plugs? thats y i made this thread as the only way to do that is to empty the tank and fill the new one with that water and the fish as well.

agabr123

so you can't have both tanks running at the same time? if that's the case then you can put your fish into a bucket (especially if you have an airstone and an extra heater), transfer over all of your substrate, and all of the filter media, fill up the tank and put your fish in. keep a close eye on the levels though as it may put you into a mini-cycle

cichlidsmad

so its alright to do that because thats what i was going to do then thought id put the question on the fishforum just to make sure then i would decide on what to do

Shawnie

you dont need another question as alex gave you some great advice...goodlucK!

cichlidsmad

lol i was meaning putting the question can u use a new tank with istablished stuff into it and its already been answered hopefully ill have them in the new tank 2morrow =D

agabr123

good luck!

cichlidsmad

whats a mini-cycle?
i know what a cycle is but not that?

agabr123

a mini-cycle is when enough of your beneficial bacteria dies so that you get an ammonia or nitrite reading, BUT your cycle doesn't start over completely. it usually is much shorter than having to go through the whole cycle again, because you still retain at least some of the bacteria that was originally keeping your tank cycled.

Lucy

It's when you're tank has been cycled but for some reason you've started to get ammonia readings.
It can happen if too many fish are added at once time and not giving the bacteria a chance to catch up to the bioload, over cleaning the tank, or removing too much filter media/gravel etc.

cichlidsmad

o ok then im fine as im just transfering everything over and not getting anymore fish anytime soon i hope=&

cichlidsmad

hi just got it set up the fish are in are are not fighting anymore as there was'nt much room before now there all happy

cichlidsmad

what nitrates
nitrites and ammonia levels should i have?

Lucy

Good job getting everything moved, thats a heck of a job.
In a cycled tank you should have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites with 5-10 nitrates.

Like Alex said, sometimes making such a big change can cause a mini cycle, so keep your eye on your water parameters.

cichlidsmad

ok i have 0.1 ammonia 0 nitrites about 7 nitrates but im doing another water change on monday 3 days away