Too Late to Add Old Filter Media?

[Gouramigirl71]

I have had a new 29 gallon set up for about 2 weeks now. It never occured to me to start it with the old filter cartridge from my cycled 29. (they use the same kind of filter) This morning my ammonia was 1.0! (nitrite 1, nitrate 0) I did a 40 percent wc, and that helped, but my question is, is it too late to add the old cartridge from the cycled tank, and would that help? Any help would be good! ( I have 3 zebra danios and two dalmation mollies in the tank)

[mobilecow]

what kind of cartridge is it? I think something like a Penguin filter won't do a whole lot of good - whereas pulling the bio-green from an Eheim Liberty would do the trick...

[rsanz]

It's never too late. Pop it in your new tank, and your cycle will get a nice boost. :)

[Gouramigirl71]

It's just the filter that came with the tank kit. The cartridge has a blue material on it and carbon in it. It also has a separate sponge that isn't supposed to be changed, I assume for bio filtration.

[Gouramigirl71]

Thanks rsanz! :)

[Rbishop]

Did the old cartridge dry out? Or was the tank still running without fish?

[jessicar613]

A penguin type filter cartridge should work just fine, if you've kept the bacteria alive somehow. So would the sponge.

[musho3210]

yeah i dont see why penguin cartridges wont do any help.... Using a few handfulls of gravel may speed up the cycling as well.

[cohazard]

Did the old cartridge dry out? Or was the tank still running without fish?

That's exactly what I was thinking. If you don't keep the media wet and in an environment where it's getting food (fish waste = food) the bacteria will die off, and switching the cartridge would just be putting a dirty cartridge in your filter.

[rsanz]

That's exactly what I was thinking. If you don't keep the media wet and in an environment where it's getting food (fish waste = food) the bacteria will die off, and switching the cartridge would just be putting a dirty cartridge in your filter.
That is definitely true. I had just assumed that the "old cartridge" was kept in a living tank.

[Mgamer20o0]

you might not want to switch it over. you might take out a lot of your bacteria from your cycled tank if you only have one filter. you could take it out and swish it around some then put it back. that is if its being use in the tank now.

[mobilecow]

An "old" penguin may not work because like someone before said - it's dry and likely toast... i mean when you change those, you pull them out and toss them - or at the very least leave them in a place less than ideal for those bacteria... the other kinds (like eheim's bio sponge, or cascade's) don't get "changed" so to speak - so an "old" one of those are ripe will bacteria

[Gouramigirl71]

The used cartridge was in a living tank, which also has a separate sponge for bio filtration in it. So I changed the cartridge in the cycled tank filter, and after rinsing it in old tank water to clean the build up off, put it in my new tank filter. Hopefully, that will give it a boost! Thanks for all the advice! :)

[Mgamer20o0]

yes that should help cut some time off the cycle. good luck.