Cycling a tank with bacteria from previous?
I recently got a new tank with a under gravel filter, and I put the carbon filters in my old tank (with fish still in it) for three days, added stones and rocks from the old tank to the new tank, and put several gallons of water from the old tank to the new tank. I also took a few bio-balls from the old tank, and the new tank has been planted and proper chemicals have been added.
So my question is, how much longer will it take to cycle the new tank? I know it is a month or so for a brand new tank, but since all nessicary bacterias have been added, how much time will it take?
Tagged with: bacterias • bio balls • carbon filters • chemicals • fish • gravel filter • new tank • old tank • rocks
Filed under: Carbon Water Filters
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What you have done by moving in the gravel and bioballs is move some real live cycle bacteria into the new tank, so it now has some cycle. Not enough for a full population of fish, but at least some. What you need to do now is to culture the bacteria so they spread around the whole tank, the gravel, the new filter etc. To do that you need a source of ammonia to feed them. If you now do a fishless cycle it will be much faster as you have a usefull population of bacteria there that multiply quickly.
Or you could just add a couple of small hardy fish. Because you have seeded the tank with some live bacteria there may not even be a noticable ammonia spike. Then just build up the fish numbers over 4 weeks or so.
Fishless cycling is good, but once you have a cycled tank I find it easier to just clone the cycle by moving filters and media around.
Using old water doesn’t help much, and the filter cartridge would probably need a couple of weeks to pick up any usefull cycle. But the bioballs and gravel will certainly help.
Ian
it could take 3 to 6 weeks
Cycling a tank basically means giving your tank the time to develop the needed beneficial bacteria that will help break down ammonia in the nitrogen cycle.
The beneficial bacteria (BB) can be found on gravel, plants, tank walls, but mostly in filter media like filter floss, bioballs, ceramic balls, noodles, etc. It helps to use filter media from an already established tank to help kick start the cycle of a new tank. The best way to check for a successfully cycled tank is to check the water using a drop test kit like Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Inc. Freshwater/Saltwater Master Kit for ammonia, nitrIte, and nitrAte. In a successfully cycled tank, there should be no ammonia or nitrIte, but nitrAtes may be present.
Footnote: the underwater gravel filter is not a very good idea for a filter because it would end up being more of a nuisance than a help, and is a place for bad bacteria to grow if not maintained properly.
Using filter media and other things from an already established tank won’t guarantee a shorter cycle. Also, putting a filter in a tank that has already cycled for 3 days wouldn’t make much a difference either. If you left it in there for 1 month, it would have a lot of good bacteria.
The tank can cycle anywhere from 3-6 weeks. Every tank is different so yours can take less or more time, but adding some good bacteria can help. The thing is, the bacteria colonies still have to grow in size in order to accommodate the ammonia you are feeding it.
Live Plants are a very very good thing to have in a new tank. I am not too familiar with Silent Cycling and I think you should read up on that, but I do know that the plants will eat up the ammonia, nitrites and nitrates before the bacteria can especially if your tank is heavily planted. This can prolong a cycle for months and months, but it still will be safe unless the plants die.