Second Tank Questions

HI Guys

I have a 55 gallon tank approx 3 years. Mollies, Bolivian Rams and Rummies.

I have purchased a 75 gallon tank which comes with an internal filter, I am buying an extra Fluval F4 filter for it,

When it comes to cycling can I use some media from my 2 filters in the 55 and take one of the sponge cartridges for one of the filters and add to the new tanks filters to jumpstart the cycle, maybe add to both.

How long would I need to then cycle the new tank. Thinking of rainbows and Denisons in the new tank

Will adding Plants and gravel from the 55 help too?




thank you

 

HI Guys

I have a 55 gallon tank approx 3 years. Mollies, Bolivian Rams and Rummies.

I have purchased a 75 gallon tank which comes with an internal filter, I am buying an extra Fluval F4 filter for it,

When it comes to cycling can I use some media from my 2 filters in the 55 and take one of the sponge cartridges for one of the filters and add to the new tanks filters to jumpstart the cycle, maybe add to both.

How long would I need to then cycle the new tank. Thinking of rainbows and Denisons in the new tank

Will adding Plants and gravel from the 55 help too?




thank you

Yes that will work. Are you using active substrate or soil? Or just using gravel with chemical dosing? The active substrate/soil one will take more time to cycle.
Adding some gravel or sand from older tank at the base along with filter sponge will speed up the process. You can even add some of the water from your 55. It will speed up the process even further. I usually wait for a month before adding fish even with cycled media. But I will suggest you to test the water if you decide to add the fish before that.

 

Right now I'm getting ready to finish up on a 55 gallon, once the fish I'll be ordering this week get in I'll be transferring an already cycled Magnaflow 360 from my 100 gallon tank to the 55 gallon tank. It will be running along side an uncycled filter. If you do use cycled media in the new filters, you do want some type of bioload on the tank so that bacteria has ammonia to feed on. If not it can start dying off, I have had great results with playing musical filters on the tanks so they can be stocked the same day.

 

Thanks guys, will be gravel in the new tank too. Water from the other tank sounds a good idea too.

so instead of one cartridge , could put a whole filter in from the 55 -not thought of that!

 

This is exactly what I do when setting up new tanks. Cycles essential as soon as the tanks volume has gone through the filter.

 

In my experience when I've used a piece of media, it's taken about a week off my cycle, for me was 3.5 weeks from scratch and about 2.5 with seeded media.
But moving a cycled fliter is about as close to an "instant" cycle you can get.

 

There is little to no bacteria in the water so moving some of it from one tank to another won't help. The more filter media you move from the cycled tank to the new tank the quicker the new tank will cycle. With enough seeded media you may instantly cycle the new tank. It will take a little while for the bacteria to grow on all the surfaces in the new tank but with enough media you should be able to add it and your fish at the same time. The fish will feed the bacteria. If you don't feel comfortable adding fish right away be sure to add another ammonia source such as liquid ammonia.

Once we cycle one tank there is no need to ever have to go through the long drawn out process again. I run extra media in my main tank all the time. Anytime I need to set up another tank I just pull some of the well seeded media and the new tank is instantly ready for fish. As long as the new tank has the same or a lower bio-load of the tank you are pulling the media from you should be good to go.

 

I keep an extra filter going so I can add it if I set up a new tank. In my experience, it does introduce bacteria, but it does not instantly cycle the tank. I have ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates right away. It still takes a couple weeks to start reading like the tank it came from. Faster, but I still have to watch closely and make sure there are plenty of water changes. The most bacteria is in the filter media, but my unscientific assumption is the bacteria on all the other surfaces is enough to affect the cycle and will take some time to form on the new tank.

 

I keep an extra filter going so I can add it if I set up a new tank. In my experience, it does introduce bacteria, but it does not instantly cycle the tank. I have ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates right away. It still takes a couple weeks to start reading like the tank it came from. Faster, but I still have to watch closely and make sure there are plenty of water changes. The most bacteria is in the filter media, but my unscientific assumption is the bacteria on all the other surfaces is enough to affect the cycle and will take some time to form on the new tank.

I think to get an instant cycle it depends on the bio-load of the tank one pulls the seeded media from. I can instantly cycle another tank because my main tank is very well stocked. I feel sure some folks would consider it over stocked but it works for me. If the tank the media comes from has a low bio-load there won't be as much bacteria so it will most likely take longer to get a completed cycle. It will jump start the cycle much like bottled bacteria only better but won't do it instantly.

The proof for me is the fact that I have instantly cycled 2 10 gallon and 1 5.5 gallon since I went though the long cycling process on my 55. I get no ammonia or nitrite readings and start seeing nitrates in about a week. I actually set up a 10 gallon a week or so ago for my 3 month old pleco fry. I am just guessing there are at least 50 of them because they move too fast to get an exact head count. I have been keeping a close eye on the perimeters but see no ammonia, no nitrites and nitrates were up to 10 today. Little creatues are poop machines so I have to do a 50% water change/gravel vac at least every 3 days anyway but it is good that it is cycled.

 

I always have a new unused sponge (normally used for cleaning) in my filters just in case I know of someone who needs some beneficial bacteria to start their tank or if I'm reviving my quarantine tank. I put that in with the new filter cartridge in the uncycled tank, add livestock, cycle complete. I never had problems with ammonia or nitrites like this.

It would be quite practical to use one of the filter medias from your established tank to cycle your new tank. The cycle is almost instantaneous. Once your new tank's filter cartridges are "established", you can then return the filter media used to jumpstart the cycle back to your original tank.

 

This is exactly what I do when setting up new tanks. Cycles essential as soon as the tanks volume has gone through the filter.

so I have a couple of tanks. in two of them I have extra bio media in the filters as well as a bag of biomedia sitting in the tank. I will be starting a new, larger tank in less than a fortnight.

I was planning to seed the new filters with the extra media. Though reading this I have a question:

As one of the filters on the new tank will be the same as an existing filter that’s well established - if I swap them -existing in new tank and new one in older tank: will that produce an instant (more or less) cycle and will there be adverse impact on the existing tank? Can the existing tank take the hit and create new bb in a day or two without creating a new cycle?

 

so I have a couple of tanks. in two of them I have extra bio media in the filters as well as a bag of biomedia sitting in the tank. I will be starting a new, larger tank in less than a fortnight.

I was planning to seed the new filters with the extra media. Though reading this I have a question:

As one of the filters on the new tank will be the same as an existing filter that’s well established - if I swap them -existing in new tank and new one in older tank: will that produce an instant (more or less) cycle and will there be adverse impact on the existing tank? Can the existing tank take the hit and create new bb in a day or two without creating a new cycle?

If your existing tank only has one filter you won't really be able to move the filter over. This method only really works best when the existing tank has 2 filters. Now moving the extra media over to the new filter does help jump start the new tank. If I was using this method I would add some stock the same day and monitor the water parameters. Then slowly finish stocking the tank over a month, this gives the BB time to catch up with the increased bioload. When I do the 2 filter method I pull the filter from one of the heavier stocked tanks, and don't stock the new tank as heavily initially.

 

If your existing tank only has one filter you won't really be able to move the filter over. This method only really works best when the existing tank has 2 filters. Now moving the extra media over to the new filter does help jump start the new tank. If I was using this method I would add some stock the same day and monitor the water parameters. Then slowly finish stocking the tank over a month, this gives the BB time to catch up with the increased bioload. When I do the 2 filter method I pull the filter from one of the heavier stocked tanks, and don't stock the new tank as heavily initially.

Thanks for your response. Yes I should clarify, all my tanks - even my tiny QT tanks - have two filters. So I would be pulling a fluval canister off one tank (completely stocked) leaving sufficient capacity filtration on there and putting that on a new tank (with a brand new filter as well - which is where my bagged media in tanks will go). Based on that - and a staged introduction of fish ... fair to assume I’m going to avoid most of the cycle? (Fingers crossed)

 

Thanks for your response. Yes I should clarify, all my tanks - even my tiny QT tanks - have two filters. So I would be pulling a fluval canister off one tank (completely stocked) leaving sufficient capacity filtration on there and putting that on a new tank (with a brand new filter as well - which is where my bagged media in tanks will go). Based on that - and a staged introduction of fish ... fair to assume I’m going to avoid most of the cycle? (Fingers crossed)

That should avoid most of the cycle issues then. I haven't had any issues setting up new tanks, stocking them and using an established filter that will support the tank.

 

Thanks guys

My 55 is quite stocked so I probably take a whole filter over and do it that way and stock slowly then just some filter media and a cartridge
The existing tank can have a new one put in too Then.