Fish In An Uncycled 20 G Tank

Long story short, I gave my sister my old 10 G tank after I upgraded to 20 G, but she ended up throwing all the water away from the other tanks so I found myself with nowhere to house the fish I had in the 10 G. They're a female betta, three guppies, two zebra danios and two platies. I've had them since forever and am not sure what to do since the intention was to keep them in a quarantine tank until the cycle was done and what I'm reading about adding fish into uncycled tanks isn't very reassuring. Would it be more safe to keep whem in the place I have them in right now while the tank cycles or should I just add them in? Their current area is 2.5 G at best. I'm lost as to what to do. Again, she emptied their old tank to clean it (I guess) and left them in the quarantine tank while I wasn't around. ahhhhhh

 

Do you still have the gravel and filters from the cycled tank? That is where the good bacteria is so using it would help the new tank cycle much faster.

 

Just transfer the pld filter from the 10g to the 20g. There's no beneficial bacteria in the water, it all lives in your filter. If your bioload is the same between the 10g and 20g your cycle will be maintained. Contrary to popular belief, biofilms and algae have absolutely nothing to do with your cycle so the decor doesn't matter either

 

I added the gravel and filter from the old tank. I'm so, so glad to hear that. Thank you! How long should I wait until I add them to the new tank?

 

Just the filter will be fine, add the old filter from the 10g tank to your 20g tank immediately. how long has it been sitting dry for?

 

10 minutes maybe? It's up and running in the 20 G now.

 

Perfect, you're perfectly fine then. Just watch for a mini cycle, if you get one then it can be easily controlled with water changes. just wait it out and be patient. If your filter is 100% established with a strong cycle you won't have any issues at all

 

Will do. That's very reassuring though. Again, thank you!