help with restarted a 10g

C

chee

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Jan 6, 2010
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so i recently went from a 10g to a 20g high with no problems.

but now i want to start that 10g up again but in my store. so i am wondering if i could use water from my water changes in my 20g to account for atleast 1/2 of the water and then use some of the stones from the 20g to try and jump start the cycling process or hopefully not have to cycle things if i can get enough bacteria in there.

is this possible? any tips? how much of the stones do i need?

thank you
 
I have a heavily planted 20 tall that was well established and recently started a 10g... i took about 7 gals out of the 20 on a water change and put it in the 10 and filled the rest with RO water and put some SeaChem Stability in it and never had any problems. I put fish in it immediately also.
 
You could probably do a bit of a water transfusion, the rocks are good idea, and depending on the type of filter you are using, what would be best is to transfer some of the filter media to get things going. Just check your water parameters at the beginning and then every day or so to see if the cycle is working.
The surest way to test is to get a small bottle of professional strength ammonia and put a couple of drops in, then watch to see if it gets converted through the cycle. When your nitrates jump up, you can do 75% water change and you'll be up and running for sure. When you buy ammonia, just be careful since some of it has a surfactant in it which can cause problems. I got mine at ACE hardware.
If you don't want to deal with ammonia, you can put some fish food in there to decompose. I'd recommend a shrimp normally, but in a workplace, a rotting shrimp in a tank might not be the best idea.
 
I would just use the rocks and add ammonia.

The water will not help at all since the bacteria grow on the surfaces of the tank/filter and not in the water.
 
Jspigs said:
I would just use the rocks and add ammonia.

The water will not help at all since the bacteria grow on the surfaces of the tank/filter and not in the water.
Click to expand...
+2

Using old water does nothing but put dirty water in a new, clean tank. Go with filter media and keep an eye on your params. Should be fine in a day or 2 at most.
 
the filter i am using is a Penguin 125 (like the newer 150B) so i guess i could cut the filter up and put it into the Tetra Whisper PF10 i will be using in the 10g.

any idea how much of the rocks to use?

i just really want to get things going well to start with as i had a ruff time the first time cycling as far as the poor fish i put in there go. maybe i will get the tank going now as i was planning on doing it in about a week or so.
 
Also, in terms of gravel collection the gravel with the best contact with oxygenated water should be most highly populated with bacteria, since those areas would provide the best living conditions and therefore more opportunity to multiply. In other words: skim off the top instead of digging deep.

Really though...filter media alone should do the trick as long as you keep the colonized material wet and "fed". Just don't go crazy with the stocking right off the bat.
 
If it fits, why not put/run the 10 gallon filter on the 20 for awhile or stuff the 10 gallon filter media in the filter on the 20 to build up some beneficial bacteria in it.
If you're using the same substrate in the 10 as the 20, take and use as much as you can.
And if you are planning on using live plants, water from the 20 will help add some needed nitrates to the tank for them.
 
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