Cycling Plan for 10 gallon quarantine tank

I am creating a 10 gallon quarantine tank. I plan to put the filter on my son's mature 10 gallon tank.

Then I have two alternative plans:

1. After two weeks, leave the new filter on my son's tank assuming that it will be partially cycled and good enough to maintain that tank since it has BB in the gravel and elsewhere. Transfer the old filter to the new tank to create an instantly cycled tank.
2. Leave the new filter on the established tank for 4 to 6 weeks and then transfer it to the new tank.

Alternatively, I could use the standard fishless cycle program I am using on my 40 gallon breeder tank. That included adding seed media.

Thirdly, I could use a pure fishless cycle based on ammonia to see how that works without seed media. This might be a fun learning experience.

 

If you keep a sponge filter in you main tank for 2+ weeks you can just add it directly to your qt for an instant cycle.

 

If I put the new filter on my son's tank for two weeks would that do the same thing?

My main tank is not cycled yet and I was thinking of getting fish before it is done and putting the fish in a quarantine tank.

If I put the new filter on my son's tank, how long do you think I need to leave it there before I could move the old filter to the new tank? Do you think a week is enough?

Then I could go fish shopping next weekend.... Woo Hoo.

 

My son has an established 10 gallon tank. I want to set up a new 10 gallon tank and try to cycle it almost instantly using the following procedure.

I put media for the new filter in my son's tank. And I have put new media for my son's filter in the tank. Did this today.

Tonight I will set up the new tank and run it for 24 hours.

Tomorrow will do a 50% water change on the new tank and on my son's established tank. I will put the water I take out of my son's tank into the new tank. I will put gravel from my son's tank in the new tank. I will take old media out of my son's tank and put it in the filter of the new tank. I will use the media for the new filter that has been in my son's tank for the new tank. I will take the bio cubes out of my son's tank and put them in the new tank.

I will then dose the new tank with ammonia.

My questions are:

1. Is it possible that this approach might achieve an almost instant cycle? Maybe a 2 to 3 day cycle? I have read that a foam filter that has been in an existing tank for a couple weeks can create an instant cycle.
2. Is there any risk to crashing the cycle on my son's tank by removing too much bacteria hosting media and structure?
3. How much ammonia should I dose it with?
4. If it processes the ammonia with no nitrites in 24 hours is it safe to assume it is cycled?

 

I have actually done this before and while it doesn't 100% cycle the tank it is a lot better than starting from scratch it jump starts the cycle a lot. I just wouldn't go stocking it too heavy too soon and monitor the levels...

 

If you take the filter media out of a ten gallon tank and put it on another ten gallon tank, it's cycled. No need to wait. Just do a water change on both tanks 50% in a couple days, you should be golden. The BB in the substrate and surfaces of the robbed tank will handle it until his new media is populated. It's the easiest cycle in the world.
I mean, don't go throwing 45420 fish in there right away. Still stock slowly, but you don't have to wait.

 

If you take the filter media out of a ten gallon tank and put it on another ten gallon tank, it's cycled. No need to wait. Just do a water change on both tanks 50% in a couple days, you should be golden. The BB in the substrate and surfaces of the robbed tank will handle it until his new media is populated. It's the easiest cycle in the world.
I mean, don't go throwing 45420 fish in there right away. Still stock slowly, but you don't have to wait.

Would 45,419 fish be ok?

 

Out of an abundance of caution, can I test by dosing the tank with ammonia and see if I have zero ammonia and nitrites in 24 hours?

The existing tank has just on two inch gold fish in it so it may not be cycled for a full load. Or maybe it is since goldfish are dirty fish.

If so, how much? 1.0 ppm

If you take the filter media out of a ten gallon tank and put it on another ten gallon tank, it's cycled. No need to wait. Just do a water change on both tanks 50% in a couple days, you should be golden. The BB in the substrate and surfaces of the robbed tank will handle it until his new media is populated. It's the easiest cycle in the world.
I mean, don't go throwing 45420 fish in there right away. Still stock slowly, but you don't have to wait.

Would 45,419 fish be ok?

I will be conservative and start with 45,418

The BB in the substrate and surfaces of the robbed tank will handle it until his new media is populated..

So does that mean that I should not steal gravel from the donor tank?

 

So does that mean that I should not steal gravel from the donor tank?

there's really no need to. There is more BB in the filter than the gravel. As to the dosing, I don't know. I have never done a fishless cycle. When I started out, I didn't know better, and since I know better I've always had a tank and I just move whatever to the new tank and roll on...

 

I am a newbie and have read too much. Lots of horror stories of crashed cycles and dead fish.

I am also a belt and suspenders guy. I am thinking, get it setup tonight dose it with ammonia. Test tomorrow and dose again and if it looks good, buy fish Sunday.

I suppose if I test everyday and stay on top of it, I could morph to a fish-in cycle so it would not be the end of the world if the instant cycle does not work.

I will probably over-think it and kill the cycle trying to be careful.... hahaha!!

 

I suppose if I test everyday and stay on top of it, I could morph to a fish-in cycle so it would not be the end of the world if the instant cycle does not work.

Absolutely!

 

I agree with most of above. I keep extra sponges in all of my tanks so I can pull one out and plunk it in should I need an instant QT tank or to set up a new tank. The substrate does hold a lot of bb so I place some of it in too. There is no benefit to using the water though as bb clings to things and is not in the water itself. There’s no reason to add ammonia as the bb is already there and won’t die off that quickly. Just test your water a couple of times before adding the fish. If nitrates are high, then do a w/c . Otherwise, don’t mess with the water. Let your bb colonize. Good luck!

 

I understand that there is very little BB in the water. I was thinking that using water from the existing tank would avoid a BB die off due to different water chemistry.

PH should be similar since from the same source, but it seemed that it could not hurt to have some water from home to make the BB feel more at home.

I was thinking that hitting it with some ammonia would test to make sure that the BB was actually functioning.

Any validity to those thoughts?

 

Sorg67 I would leave the substrate in the old tank, everything else you want to do is spot on. Taking 50% of the old water and putting that in the new tank will be perfect. I feel there is no need to dose with ammonia though, the old media in the new filter will be suffice to start the cycle.

 

should be fine. Everything is awesome.

I mean seriously - nitrogen cycles always kick off exactly as planned and smoothly work correctly.

I mean if it didn't always go exactly to plan - there would be tons of posts on the forum every day from people who are having weird problems....

Oh... Wait... right... That happens every day. Those are what - like 20% of the new posts here?

I would advise you to hope for the best but plan for the worst... What happens if it crashes?

Are you set up for success? PH buffered to around 7? Plenty of supplemental aeration? Tank is not too hot or too cold? You are letting new water change water air out over night so dechlorination chemicals can dissipate? Have a bottle of TSS or Stability handy... Just in case....

 

Keep your PH at what it normally is.

 

If you’re not reducing the stock load in the existing tank I would at least reduce the feeding for a while until the BB recover fully. Won’t take long and don’t forget to monitor it as well as the new tank.

 

should be fine. Everything is awesome.

I mean seriously - nitrogen cycles always kick off exactly as planned and smoothly work correctly.

I mean if it didn't always go exactly to plan - there would be tons of posts on the forum every day from people who are having weird problems....

Oh... Wait... right... That happens every day. Those are what - like 20% of the new posts here?

Wise Guy....

I would advise you to hope for the best but plan for the worst... What happens if it crashes?

Always good advice in any endeavor

Are you set up for success? PH buffered to around 7? Plenty of supplemental aeration? Tank is not too hot or too cold? You are letting new water change water air out over night so dechlorination chemicals can dissipate? Have a bottle of TSS or Stability handy... Just in case....

PH is about 7.6

I have 13 one gallon jugs I keep filled and de chlorinated so I always have aged water.

Keeping tank at about 80 deg

Will Prime work in an emergency?

 

Wise Guy....



Always good advice in any endeavor



PH is about 7.6

I have 13 one gallon jugs I keep filled and de chlorinated so I always have aged water.

Keeping tank at about 80 deg

Will Prime work in an emergency?

What sort of emergency?

 

Benifical bacteria dosent grow in the water it grows on substrate, using your sons water is a waste of time and could actually be worse than using new water

 

What sort of emergency?

The cycle crashes and I have to make the water safe. It is my understanding that Prime bonds the ammonia and nitrites for 48 hours so they don't hurt the fish. In that event, I would keep nitrites and ammonia down with water changes and nullify the effect of small concentrations with Prime. Is that correct?

Benifical bacteria dosent grow in the water it grows on substrate, using your sons water is a waste of time and could actually be worse than using new water

I know beneficial bacteria does not grow in the water. My thought was that acclimating BB to another environment would be similar to acclimating fish. And therefore, some home water would reduce any BB die off in transitioning to the new tank.

In what way might this be worse?

Is it that the existing tank water might have depleted minerals and be less nourishing to developing bacteria? In that event would it make sense to acclimate the BB from the donor tank with water from the donor tank and then do some water changes to replenish the minerals?

 

Use prime, ApI quickstart, and half of the filter media from your sons tank and watch your levels and it will be fine, don't go crazy with stocking

 

Well, I have morphed into a fishless cycle. I added ammonia to test the media from my son's tank. I assumed that if it was going to work then I should be able to process ammonia into nitrate in 24 hours. I did not want to add any fish until I was sure it was working.

The ammonia has not gone down, I have no nitrites and no nitrates.

My son's tank has only one fish so I think the bio load is light. And the media I took out had only been in there for 11 days. And it was a carbon pack.

So either I am wrong about the expectation that the ammonia should be processed or the media was not seasoned enough or it was the wrong kind of media.

So I am going to dose it with ammonia until it is processing all the way to nitrates in 24 hours. Hopefully that will happen fast. But if not, no fish will suffer.

I will be interested to hear if my assumptions are wrong.

 

A carbon pack that has been in an aquarium containing one fish for 11 days is not going to contain much bacteria.

 

A carbon pack that has been in an aquarium containing one fish for 11 days is not going to contain much bacteria.

Yup, seems so.

 

Well, I have morphed into a fishless cycle. I added ammonia to test the media from my son's tank. I assumed that if it was going to work then I should be able to process ammonia into nitrate in 24 hours. I did not want to add any fish until I was sure it was working.

The ammonia has not gone down, I have no nitrites and no nitrates.

My son's tank has only one fish so I think the bio load is light. And the media I took out had only been in there for 11 days. And it was a carbon pack.

So either I am wrong about the expectation that the ammonia should be processed or the media was not seasoned enough or it was the wrong kind of media.

So I am going to dose it with ammonia until it is processing all the way to nitrates in 24 hours. Hopefully that will happen fast. But if not, no fish will suffer.

I will be interested to hear if my assumptions are wrong.

1 fish ain't gonna have a high bacteria level built up, ask your local fish store for some old filters

 

Cycle progressing:

Ammonia 0.5 ppm
Nitrites 2.0 ppm
Nitrates 5.0 ppm

Added 1.0 ppm ammonia.

Did not achieve instant cycle, but seems to be progressing quickly to achieve these levels in 2.5 days.

 

Zero ammonia this morning
Nitrites 2.0 ppm
Did not check nitrates

Dosed 0.5 ppm ammonia.

Hoping to be cycled by the weekend.

 

I was able to cycle a 75 gallon brand new aquarium with a new FX4 filter in two weeks using a single sponge filter I bought from a lfs. So it seems reasonable that a 10 gallon would cycle much more quickly.

 

I was able to cycle a 75 gallon brand new aquarium with a new FX4 filter in two weeks using a single sponge filter I bought from a lfs. So it seems reasonable that a 10 gallon would cycle much more quickly.

Do larger tanks take longer to cycle? I thought size did not matter if all else is proportional.

 

Don't know for sure since I'm brand new but there is far more media in the FX4 than a HOB. My thought was that it would take longer to establish enough bacteria in the media.

 

Don't know for sure since I'm brand new but there is far more media in the FX4 than a HOB. My thought was that it would take longer to establish enough bacteria in the media.

I understand the thinking. But you are also running more water through the FX4 and if it has the same concentration of ammonia, it seems like it should take the same about of time.

 

Zero Nitrites last night added 0.5 ppm ammonia
Zero Nitrites this morning added another 0.5 ppm ammonia

I have been adding 0.5 ppm ammonia twice a day for several days and it seems to be processing every 12 hours. I know the test for a completed cycle is generally processing 4 ppm in 24 hours. Although I have heard some say processing 2 ppm in 24 hours.

This tank is planned to be a Betta tank. It will start with one small male Betta. It seems that processing 0.5 ppm in 12 hours, 1.0 ppm in 24 hours should be enough for one Betta.

Agree? Put the Betta in now? Or run the 2.0 ppm in 24 hours test?

 

I keep extra sponges in all of my tanks so I can pull one out and plunk it in should I need an instant QT tank or to set up a new tank.

Does the extra sponge need to be running? Or can it just sit there. I have two sponges running in each of two tanks. But it is a lot of bubbling if the additional filtration is not needed.

 

Not, I just keep them tucked in back.