OK... just want to make sure I have this right....

For a couple of reasons.

1st, since my mom is starting a tank @ her house (the 34 hexagon I really wanted, but didn't have the extra $ for right now)

Can I help her "seed" it??
If so, what is the best way in your opinion...
Some of the water from my tank? & if so, how much would I have to give her & can it be done since mine is a 20 gal & hers is a 34 gal.

Is a good bacteria from the filter good to help seed??
What would be the best way to do this... put another filter material in my filter & let it build up.. for .... a certain amount of time?
I would not want to move my good bacteria sponge to her tank, right... b/c that would mess mine up... right?

(P.S. I have the Whisper Filter, with the bio bag & black filter)

Should she completely cycle fishless, or can that be done? I am thinking she will need to have it up & running a few weeks @ least? Then cycle with a fish??

What other things can I tell her to do, so she doesn't have the trouble I had?

Second reason I ask... is I am thinking of getting a 10 gallon (complete set up, for a really good price) for my son's room, to help take some of the overcrowding issues I will be facing, so I want to make sure I know what I am doing this time ;D (see other post of mine "transferring to a larger tank")

Sorry for all the questions, I tried to search for some of this... if anyone can even just point me to a link, that would be great.

Thanks a TON for any help

 

You can use some of your filter media or some gravel in a panty hose foot to help seed your moms tank.
Here are some wonderful article s for you and your mom to read. answers a lot of questions about the cycling process.
Let us know how her tank is going
Carol

 

How many filters do you have on your tank? If you only have one, you could set her filter up in your tank for a couple of weeks to seed it with bacteria, or possibly cut off a little piece of your sponge to put in her filter. If you put her filter(s) in your tank to seed them, she could probably fully stock her tank once they are ready to move to her tank. Make sure she knows how many fish to get for that tank though. If it's overstocked, there will be big problems. Have her read the basics on the nitrogen cycle. Click on the link in my signature.

If she want's to do a fishless cycle, she can start the filters from the beginning in her own tank. She will not be adding any fish until the cycling is complete.

 

Can I help her "seed" it??
If so, what is the best way in your opinion...
Some of the water from my tank?

Transfering water will not help as the bacteria does not really free float in the water, but rather lives on surfaces. Best place to get the bacteria is from the filter media. After that, next best place is probably from the gravel. That in mind, try one or both of the following:

1) Change the bio-bag in your whisper filter and donate all or even a square cut out from the old one to your mom's new tank. Don't worry about your own tank...as long as you do not mess with the sponge from your filter, your tank will be fine. I have 2 whisper filters myself and have never had a cycling issue from changing the bag. If your mom is also using a whisper filter, she could just slide your entire old bag into her filter and she will have a nice head start on cycling her tank. IMPORTANT NOTE: You need to keep the bio bag wet while transporting it. If it dries out the bacteria will die. Keep it moist with tank water...NOT tap water.

2) Take a handful or two of gravel from your tank, put it in a stocking and put that in the new tank.

Should she completely cycle fishless, or can that be done? I am thinking she will need to have it up & running a few weeks @ least?

Feed the tank a few flakes of fish food twice per day. She can even start doing this before getting your gravel/filter in her tank. This will start producing ammonia in her tank and will give the bacteria you transfer something to eat. Get a freshwater test kit and check it every day or two for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. Depending on how much bacteria you are able to transfer from your tank to hers, you would normally expect to see ammonia levels rise, then begin to drop while nitrite begins to rise, then nitrite begin to fall while nitrates rise. When ammonia and nitrite are both back to 0, start adding fish 2-3 at a time. Cycling from scratch will normally take 4-6 weeks, but it may happen faster for her if she is able to take advantage of your filter media and gravel.

 

sounds like you've gotten the info you needed. I think if you can run 2 filters in your tank that would be best OR you could stick the filter sponge in from her filter into your filter for a couple weeks to seed that sponge and then move it over to her tank. Combine that with some of your substrata and having her "fishless cycle" until then and she should be cycled in a relatively short time.

 

I started a 29 gal. tank a couple of weeks ago, and bought a cheap plant for a tank that I knew I would buy a couple weeks later.
I set up the 5 gal. tank just yesterday, I rinsed my back up filter media in the new tank to "seed" it, I also placed the plant in the new tank, I haven't had the water tested yet, but its starting to get kinda cloudy, so I think it has already started its cycle!

flbettacouple...I sent u a pm, check it out

 

Thanks Guys for the info...

Quick question....

The tank has been up for a week, seeded it with a couple of handfuls of my gravel & been feeding it 2 times a day... checked the levels with my apI kit today... PH is 7.6 all others 0.

Shouldn't we have seen a change by now? Any advice on speeding it up?

Thanks for any help

 

Would it really be a good idea to add a 'seed' to a tank that doesn't have any amount of ammonia yet? By adding a filter sponge or media from a cycled tank to a new tank that you are just starting up, IMO would starve the beneficial bacteria you are transporting because there would be no food ie ammonia for it to eat. I would think that a good idea would be to use fishfood to start the ammonia process and as soon as there is some ammonia showing when using a test kit, then is the time to add the seed to the tank. From there it shouldnt take too long. what do you think?

 

Thanks Guys for the info...

Quick question....

The tank has been up for a week, seeded it with a couple of handfuls of my gravel & been feeding it 2 times a day... checked the levels with my apI kit today... PH is 7.6 all others 0.

Shouldn't we have seen a change by now? Any advice on speeding it up?

Thanks for any help

What are you feeding it with. The beneficial bacteria your introducing(seeding) into your tank needs an ammonia source to grow. Either from pure ammonia, fish food or fish poo.
Carol

 

Just been feeding it fish flakes...should that be OK?
We wondered if shrimp pellets would help?

Oh, does fish flakes go bad?

Thanks guys

 

don't use the shrimp pellets.. I did that.. BIG mess! stick with the flakes for sure.

it's a good idea to replace your fish food after about 6 months for better nutrition. although you can keep old fish food for cycling a tank.

 

Thanks Guys for the info...
Any advice on speeding it up?
Thanks for any help

the key for me was turning my tank up to 87*, fishless of course!

 

we put the tanks out on the back porch since it gets so hot out there this time of year to really boost the tank temp.

 

Thanks for the info so far... Mom went in Monday to get a few things for the tank (test kit etc.)& look @ the fish.
I told her...NO Fish, only look @ them...then she talked to the girl in that department as she was trying to decide what type of fish to get, how many etc... so she would have a plan, OK, sounded good to me.. well, the girl told her a bunch of lies...like a week for the tank is fine, you can get fish now... I don't know what your daughter means about cycling, spikes, etc. on & on, basically told mom the opposite of everything I have told her to do & not do.. I was NOT happy she lied to my mom like that...now granted, I do not know allot about this fish keeping yet, but I do know, if I had to do it again, what to do & not do, to a degree. So anyway, mom left with 4 FISH... I checked her water today Ammonia, is starting to climb... my question is (since I have been reading different things & I think I did a few things wrong @ this point... ) When should the water changes happen? I have read once a week after you add fish, then I have read not to till you see Nitrates... & that water changes will slow down the process.

Oh, I should also mention that I did do a couple of handfuls of gravel in an old nylon & gave her a very well used filter I had in my tank for 3-4 weeks.. to help with the good bacteria.

One more thing... PH.... hers is 7.6, possibly a little more... we leave this alone & it should straighten out after cycling... right?

Thanks for all your help.

 

water changes do slow down the cycling process, but when cycling with fish, you need to do water changes until ur ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levals are safe. its good that you added filter media, it should help a lot in cycling the tank

 

Do you have Prime to treat the tap water with? that will help the fish while the tank cycles.

 

I have a question about cycling... How long does it typically take for the ammonia skipe to happen when cycling with fish?

Thanks,
Dasha

 

it should show in a couple of days...max. 1 week...and should be going down by week 2-3

make sure you are putting something (food, pure ammonia) in the tank to get the beneficial bacteria to grow

 

err... I put something in, 4 red-eyed tetras... I know there is a school of thought against cycling with fish... Either way, I'll have the water tested every couple of days and do water changes if it gets too high.

I used used filters and I'm hoping some of the bacteria survived. the filter medaI was still moist but was without water flow for 2 days. What do you think, can the beneficial bacteria survive that?
Dasha

 

as long as it was kept wet, in tank water...then yes there should be some...I cycled my tank w/ fish too, just keep an eye on the chemistry, and once the ammonia levels are going down, and nitrite and nitrates are going up, add some prime

 

How different is cycling with seeded filter vs. starting from scratch?
Dasha

 

How different is cycling with seeded filter vs. starting from scratch?
Dasha

when you add some filter media or substrata from an established tank, it's like you're taking a little container of good bacteria and dropping it in the new tank. kind of a head start to the cycle. how much of a head start varies so keep feeding the tank every 12 hours and testing the water for where the cycle is at.

when you cycle with fish, the main thing is to keep the fish from being harmed or killed by the toxins. we cycle new tanks that have fish in them by treating the water with both prime and novaqua+ (although just Prime is fine, we like the vitamins and slime coat enhancing of the novaqua+). our tanks cycle and the fish are kept in the best conditions they can be while cycling.