can established tank water be shared for non-cycled tank?

I have a friend who just got a betta - I think that it's one of those situations where someone gets a betta in a little minI fish prison jar (grrrr) and moves it into a larger jar full of tap water with no one telling the person anything about fish. I could be wrong, and will find out, but regardless, it raised this question for me. I have an established healthy tank. Could I do a water change on my tank, putting the water into an uncycled tank (like I suspect this betta is now in) in order to jump start that tank having healthy water? I understand that one might run a risk if one's tank had any sort of disease, but if everything is testing well and fish all seem healthy, would this be a better risk to take than keeping a fish in an uncycled tank?

 

I have a friend who just got a betta - I think that it's one of those situations where someone gets a betta in a little minI fish prison jar (grrrr) and moves it into a larger jar full of tap water with no one telling the person anything about fish. I could be wrong, and will find out, but regardless, it raised this question for me. I have an established healthy tank. Could I do a water change on my tank, putting the water into an uncycled tank (like I suspect this betta is now in) in order to jump start that tank having healthy water? I understand that one might run a risk if one's tank had any sort of disease, but if everything is testing well and fish all seem healthy, would this be a better risk to take than keeping a fish in an uncycled tank?

Putting established tank water into an unestablished tank wouldn't do much, if anything, at all. Not that much bacteria lives in the water column. If you want to help your friend jumpstart their cycle then give them some (keyword:some) of your filter media. This is where a large majority of the BB live.

 

No. The bacteria you need for a cycle is mostly in the filter media. If your friend has a filter for her Betta, as she should! Then you can take a small piece of your filter media and put it in hers.

 

ah, okay, So I have the kind of filter that has three levels of material - sponge, charcoal, and those white rock things. You are saying that I could give him, say, the sponge that's been in there awhile and probably ready to be changed out? If he doesn't even have a filter on the betta jar, could he just put the sponge straight into the jar? (and yes, I'm encouraging him to get that fish a real tank)

 

I wouldn't give him the whole sponge as you could put yourself into a mini-cycle. How old is the bag of charcoal? If you've had it awhile it will also contain the bacteria he needs as it will grow on any viable surface.

You should never throw out your sponge by the way. Rinse it weekly in old tank or dechlorinated water and keep it until it starts falling apart which could easily last you up to a year or so.

 

ah, okay, So I have the kind of filter that has three levels of material - sponge, charcoal, and those white rock things. You are saying that I could give him, say, the sponge that's been in there awhile and probably ready to be changed out. If he doesn't even have a filter on the betta jar, could he just put the sponge straight into the jar? (and yes, I'm encouraging him to get that fish a real tank)

Withought a filter I don't know if it would work. Withought any flow going through the sponge the bacteria will die. First things first, make sure that they have a filter and a proper tank or else your sending your bacteria to a death sentence.

You probably have an aquaclear or some other HOB. If and when they does have a good filter and tank don't give him the entire sponge. Cut it in half or a quarter and give him some. That or give him some of the white rocks. The sponge is most likely mechanical filtration but it could still have a good number of BB, so getting rid of all of it could lead to minI cycles. Same thing with the white rocks especially since they're the biological filtration only some.

 

yes, I have an Aquaclear.
Super appreciate all of your advice everyone. I'm going to try to help him get set up better. I really don't understand why bettas are sold willy nilly like this as if they exist outside of regular fish rules. Even my lfs that I think is otherwise fantastic, sells them in those little horrid cups, giving people the impression that they don't need real care and housing.

 

Here's the thing, there's nothing you can do to help with the cycle unless they have a filter. If they had a filter I would cut the sponge and give them a little piece and take out like 4 of the media pieces from the bag and have them put it in their filter and it would be beneficial. Putting the sponge or media in the tank will NOT help. It will probably worsen the conditions. The bacteria die without water flowing through (filter) and all the dirt from your tank will be on it. Now I don't know if you have a store called "Ollie's" but here they sell tetra 3 gallon cubes with filtration and lighting for only $20. The same one is $54 at my petco. Also there's a pretty good filter for a small tank on Amazon for like $10. If the tank is 2.5 gallons or more a Betta can happily live there with special weekly water changes and a heater. I could tell you how to do this water change but I don't know if your friend would do it.

 

A couple of you have said that it will be no good just having the sponge in the tank and not a filter and though I agree that it is not ideal it is not true that they will die. Nitrifyers populate every surface of your tank so theoretically you can have no filter at all, just an air stone and can have a cycled tank. This would lead to a very dirty tank with no mechanical filtration but the fish would be fine when cycled. There for instance are the Walstad setups with no mechanical or biological filtration. They recommend lots of plants but depending on your bio load you could still have a cycled tank. HOB's are ideal because the media in them like sponges and bio-media can hold tons more of the nitrifyers in the porous media.

I have started new tanks where an old sponge wouldn't fit into a new small filter and just placed them in the tank near my new filter and had an instant cycle. Pulled the sponge out after a few weeks.

I of course think he should have a filter but it would still help him to have the media at any point before or while he has a filter.

 

A couple of you have said that it will be no good just having the sponge in the tank and not a filter and though I agree that it is not ideal it is not true that they will die. Nitrifyers populate every surface of your tank so theoretically you can have no filter at all, just an air stone and can have a cycled tank. This would lead to a very dirty tank with no mechanical filtration but the fish would be fine when cycled. There for instance are the Walstad setups with no mechanical or biological filtration. They recommend lots of plants but depending on your bio load you could still have a cycled tank. HOB's are ideal because the media in them like sponges and bio-media can hold tons more of the nitrifyers in the porous media.

I have started new tanks where an old sponge wouldn't fit into a new small filter and just placed them in the tank near my new filter and had an instant cycle. Pulled the sponge out after a few weeks.

I of course think he should have a filter but it would still help him to have the media at any point before or while he has a filter.

Great info!! You learn something new everyday. Still OP please do your best in getting your friend to buy a tank and filter. I'm no betta expert but the other commenters are right 5 gallon or 3 gallon even 10 gallon kits are very cheap and come with everything you need ( lights, heater, filter,etc). Good luck!!!

 

Petsmart has a 10 gallon Marineland kit on sale for $60.

 

I got my 10 gallon kit from Walmart for under $30! It came with a filter and a tank hood with LED lights. You could also get just a tank and make the filter yourself like I did in the 2.5 and eventually for the 10

 

I just wanted to pop in here and say thank you to everyone for your generosity of time and information here.

 

I just wanted to pop in here and say thank you to everyone for your generosity of time and information here.

Let us know if he bought a real tank.