1-3 Gallon Filter

[Jonathan6190]

Yesterday I purchased a 3 gallon whisper filter. I put it in my established 30 gallon tank so it can cycle. I need that filter to cycle so I can put it in my 2.5 gallon tank which has 2 cardinal tetras in it. The filter has been running since last night...at this point how much longer will the 3 gal filter need to be running in the 30 gal to become established and ready to put in my 2.5 tank?

 

[Kasakato]

Untill your tank is cycled. This could take 4-8 weeks.

 

[Blueiz]

what kas said. the bacteria still need to get into the new filter and multply. the only thing you have done is seed it, you still have to wait for the bacteria to multiply. happy fishkeeping!

 

[Holly9937]

I hate to disagree but I don't think it will take that long for a bit of bacteria to build up on that small of a filter. I would say within a couple of weeks it should be enough to support two tetras

 

[Kasakato]

The best way is to test. As usual 4-8 weeks are only a simple guide line. It can be longer or shorter depending on your tank conditions.

 

[knashash]

Yeah...I also would disagree. If your 30 gallon tank is already cycled it shouldnt take that long. The tank is already seeded it just needs to spread to the filter....im not sure a timeframe but I would think one week would be fine. I basically did the same thing with my 6 gallon. I put a bag of old gravel and a bit of sponge from my 55 to get it started. It was in there a week and I took it out. That was about 2 weeks ago and Ive been measuring 0 ammonia and 0 nitrites since.

 

[Shawna]

Why dont you put the 3 gallon filter media next to the 30 gallon filters media? That way the bacterias dont have very far to go.

 

[telecubby]

hook them up together if you can just stop fish from travelling from tank to tank , a mere fart in a 3 gallon tank could upset the balance of things

 

[staceyanna]

BWAHAHAHA!!! This made me laugh out loud... :joke:

Maybe combination of seeding the filter, and adding a bag of used gravel would help it along faster... Or even adding some of the water from a water change. A triple whammy should speed it up even a little bit.

hook them up together if you can just stop fish from travelling from tank to tank , a mere fart in a 3 gallon tank could upset the balance of things

 

[Galaxie]

The only problem I've had with seeding a smaller filter in a large tank is .....the larger tank already had fully established filters, so the small filter just sat there spinning and didn't really seed very effectively....very slow. I turned the flow down on the large filters and the smaller filter seeded more effectively. Even then, I kept it in the large tank for about 2 weeks before putting it into a 10 gallon.

(kinda funny seeing a Penguin mini sitting on a 55g tank. Oscar just stared at it for hours when I put it in. He likes the bio-wheel I think.)