Cycling in bucket

[Beginner2003]

Hi All,

Just got my first (and big) new tank ready for cycling, just have a few (dummy) question want to ask:help:

1. Can fishless cycling in separate bucket and transfer all (sand, water & filter) to my main tank? – (Try to avoid bad smell; otherwise you’ll see this tank on ebay by my partner).

2. If I use media from an established tank, does I need to add shrimp or just run the system by itself and does it smell ?

3. Which bio filter is your choice: bio-balls, ceramic ring or glass ring ?

Thank heaps.

[jonnyfry]

1. you probably could but it would be hard to get the concentration of ammonia right unless the bucket was the same size as the tank you are planning to use . you wouldnt need to use the sand or the water , just the filter . but you would run the risk of contamination if you had this outside .

2. by far the best way to cycle a tank is not to cycle at all and use media that has established bacteria on it already . you wont need to add the shrimp , just add a small amout of fish at the same time as the media and grow the population slowly .

3. i have no opinion on any of those , maybe someone else could help you with that .

[LuckyCricket]

If you use established media you don't need to do anything other then add fish at the same time.

[chunkoblue]

I was wondering the same thing today... if I were to have an airstone at the bottom, put some fish food (shrimp pellets) at the bottom, fill the bucket with gravel add water and run the air stone. Then add to the aquarium once it is ready (currently resealing a tank). Would this work?

[Beginner2003]

Thank you guys.
Time for use established media hunting

[jm1212]

you can also take a sponge from an established filter and give it a good squeeze over the new media. it will help cycle the tank much faster, and then the other tank gets to keep all of its media.

[OldMan1947]

For a good low cost biological filter media, what you want is lots of surface area on something that is basically inert. My own choice is a few of the plastic pot scrubbers stuck into my media chamber. It is open, has lots of surface, won't plug up easily, is inert and yes it can cost under a dollar.

[silentskream]

i dont understand what you mean by avoiding a smell.. cycling doesn't have a smell.

the poly-fiber stuff they sell at fish stores is what i use.

[Star_Rider]

Hi All,

Just got my first (and big) new tank ready for cycling, just have a few (dummy) question want to ask:help:

1. Can fishless cycling in separate bucket and transfer all (sand, water & filter) to my main tank? – (Try to avoid bad smell; otherwise you’ll see this tank on ebay by my partner).

2. If I use media from an established tank, does I need to add shrimp or just run the system by itself and does it smell ?

3. Which bio filter is your choice: bio-balls, ceramic ring or glass ring ?

Thank heaps.

1) yes, tho generally if you ad ammonia you won't get any strong smells

2) if you have media from a reliable established source you can skip question 1..
add media or filter squeezins. add fish watch for mini cycle.

3) potscrubbers work fine ..I used bioballs in my sump cause they came with the setup. ceramic rings are great I would skip glass rings unless they have a lot of surface in them..bioballs, ceramic rings all have porous surfaces.. which increases surface area(so do pot scrubbers)