Francisco

How do you cycle a 1 gallon aquarium? One of the cheap ones with the air pump and undergravel filter. I want to put some shrimp in it.

Amanda

Do you have another tank that you can transfer some of the gravel from to the new tank?

Francisco

yea i do. how much gravel?

Amanda

A cup or two should do it for a 1 gal. tank.

Francisco

thanks. that ill help out a lot.

NUMB3RS

I would transfer a gallon of water from your cycled tank and it would be cycled! Good Luck

agabr123

that won't work since nearly all of the bacteria is in either the filter media or the substrate/decorations.

i'm not sure how the under gravel filter works, but i always keep extra filter media in my HOBs in case i ever need to instantly cycle a tank. i have sand in almost all of my tanks, but i'm thinking about leaving a nylon stocking of gravel in one of them just in case

Lucy

The bacteria isn't free flowing. It adheres to surfaces such as gravel, decorations and filter media.
Transfering the water wouldn't cycle a tank. The only thing you'd be tranfering is water with nitrates.

NUMB3RS

Sorry Francisco I went out on a limb about the transefer of cycled water It turned to a bad idea as you can see the replies of Lucy and Agabr123 x2