Fishless Cycling Question

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biondoa

biondoa

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I am planning to use the fishless cycling method in my new tank. I watched Dr. Tim's video on youtube, and it seems very straight forward, but there is one thing I am not sure about. He says to remove the "filter socks" while cycling. Does that mean take all the filtering material out of your filter? I would think you would want to leave in the biological filter material. Does he mean just remove the mechanical filter material?
Also, how did this method work for those of you who have used it?
Thanks for your help.
 
FreshyFresh

FreshyFresh

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Not sure what he means by "filter socks". You definitely want to leave your mechanical and biological filtration media in place through the process.

I did fishless cycles by adding household ammonia on two tanks simultaneously. A 29g and a 10g. For me it was a long and frustrating process. It works without a doubt, but I would recommend starting up a tank with seeded media if possible, over going through the whole 'fishless' process.
 
biondoa

biondoa

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I was thinking the same thing when I read about using a seeded sponge filter from an established tank for my QT. I thought , why not use this same method for anytime you are setting up a new tank. If you already have a tank that you can use for this purpose, (established bacteria) is there any reason not to go that route?
 
FreshyFresh

FreshyFresh

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biondoa said:
...If you already have a tank that you can use for this purpose, (established bacteria) is there any reason not to go that route?
Click to expand...
Going this route allows you to setup and stock a new tank instantly. It's the best and easiest way to go. You do however still need to watch your water parameters closely for the first few days just to make sure the tank produces nothing but nitrates.
 
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dudley

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Filter socks are a form of mechanical filtration usually found in sumps or wet/dry filters.
 
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