Ellie'sFish

i got a new tank (actually, not new; it was in my parents attic-i had a lizard growing up)
It's a 10 gal. I wanted to do a fishless cycle, so i read up on it, and am frustrated to see it can take up to 3 weeks.
i'm kind of in a pinch here, b/c the old filter broke. it's broken, my hubby took it out yesterday and tried to work with it. it's kaput.
i REALLY don't want the cory to die.
So, how do i do this?

Ellie'sFish

oh, i just had a thought. i could buy another filter that works with 5-15 gal. tanks and put it in the old tank while new one is cyling?
??

Lucy

A new filter with all new media will need to be cycled.
Any chance you kept the media from your old filter wet and warm?

Even a fish in cycle takes a long time. The bacteria need to sustain a tank takes weeks to develop.
I don't know if anyone mentioned this in your other threads.....many members have had luck cycling quickly with Tetra SafeStart.
It can be hard to find, don't let similar looking or sounding products fool you.

GoGreen

So do you have two tanks right now, the new with a filter and the old with no filter? Is the cory in the old tank? The one thing that you could do is get a filter for the old tank and while your new tank cycles you could keep the cory alive by doing a 50% water change with Prime everyday (at the same time everyday!) I am assuming you have a heater in there so the water remains at a constant temp? This is how I treat my Q tank, it's a small tank so I just set it up when I need it, it has a filter and heater. Every day I do a 50% water change using Prime to condition the new water. I also add some terrestrial bacteria with each change (the product Cycle) Possibly this is not needed with the Prime but I have been doing it this way for a while with success. Just don't use 'Cycle' to cycle your tank, despite what it says as it is the wrong type of bacteria for the long term! Make sure that any food you feed him that he doesn't eat is removed, I do this with a never seen soap turkey baster, works great.
Currently I have two little panda cories in my Q tank, using the above method.

Hope that is not TMI and good luck!

Ellie'sFish

I still have the bio filter. but it hasn't been wet since last night. (husband tried to fix it, couldn't, hung it back next to tank, empty.)
I went to LFS to see if they had any Tetra SafeStart, they were out. But, i got to talking with the O, i told her my troubles (bought guppies from her) and she encouraged me to bring up water sample and let her test with API. So, I did, and all the paramaters were perfect. Then, I compared my test strips to their results, and they were accurate (last time i checked was 2 days ago). So, i think my tank is cycled...? my poor guppies. i'm still sad about them.
ooooo. why i was typing this, hubby worked on the filter again, and got it to start working again. phew.
so, i guess now, i'll get the other tank cycled.
Thanks for your help.
mammals are easier.