Angelika

If one puts spare sponges in the filter system of a cycled tank to seed for good bacteria to use for quick cycling of other tanks, how long do they need to be in the tank before they can be used for quick cycling benefits?

sirdarksol

An excellent question with an equally excellent answer....

...That someone else will have to give you.

Any amount of time would be good, though I don't know at what point they are carrying their full load of bacteria.

Lucy

It's my understanding, and I very well could be wrong, but 2 weeks minimum. Of course, the longer the better.
I don't know where I heard that from.

COBettaCouple

It tends to be about a week or more.

Angelika

thankyou all)... I want to set up my QT this weekend, so the planning has started... do I need substrate in a qt tank...

and is it QT tank, or QT

MrsM3197

Angelika, I'll be setting up a qt soon too. I started some filter material to seed today, and figure it will be ready in about 7-10 days with enough bacteria to at least give me a jump start on the cycle process. I think maybe we should set up our qt much like we have our established tanks with similar substrate and plants and such...kinda to make it more like a "home-away-from-home" in case somebody gets sick. We wouldn't want to cause them undo stress. Also when we Q a member, he/she might be a bit nervous and would need a cave, plant or something to hide in for a while. I did read not to use a carbon filter in the qt as it would remove meds from the tank if we should need to use them. Good Luck to You! I sure hope you are enjoying this as much as me.

jdhef

Heres some QT info: http://www.fishlore.com/QuarantineTankSetup.htm