bacteria for new q tank question

[LMOUTHBASS]

hello,
will be setting up my 3 gal q tank again although i don't want to wait for it to cycel - have an AC500 on my big tank - i've been hearing you can toss sponges n stuff in there to collect bacteria ? is this true? i know it has the huge sponge thingie on the bottom but can i cut a small piece of spoung and puut in the filter to grow some bacteria and then take the same sponge and put it in the little filter for my 3 gal therfor having instant cycle?
thanks
also what material works best - sponge, cotton , cloth??? as far as my using it to get some bacteria

 

[LMOUTHBASS]

sorry i'm at work was typing fast the above post might not have made sense -
what i mean is can i cut a piece of sponge or something and put it in my ac500 to culture some bacteria and then take that same sponge and put it in my q tank filter to have an instant cycle?
also what material is best sponge, cotton, cloth? to collect the bac?

 

[OrionGirl]

Yes, and I prefer sponges, but any filter material ( bio balls, noodles, poly, etc) will work. Or, you can chop the existing sponge block as well.

 

[Oakley]

Is there an amount of used filter media that should be used for a new tank,to make it "cycled"? i have a 29g and am getting a far bigger tank next week its 5ft x 2ft x 1.5ft (not sure of the g's)
I have a fluval 2plus in the 29 gallon, so i was wondering if one of the 2 media that is in that filter would be enough to start the process? (i was gonna change one of them anyway) would it be worth moving a couple of the plants from the 29 into the larger one too just to help a little be more?
Thanks in advance
Oakley

 

[OrionGirl]

Any amount of the filter will work to seed the new tank with bacteria. If you are wanting to stock the new tank immediately, you just have to keep in mind that it won't be able to support as many fish as the smaller tank, because it only has a portion of the bacteria from the smaller tank. Moving additional items over (plants, gravel, wood, decorations) moves more of the bacteria over, so can support more fish, but still not equal. If you move everything over, it will support the entire load--but I'd still test to be on the safe side.

 

[Oakley]

Thanks for the reply orion girl
No im not wanting to stock it straight away, i am gonna get it set up properly first, with very heavy planting etc and a rock structure, i just wanted to avoid the adding ammonia senario if i could.

 

[OrionGirl]

If you want to plant heavily, you can go this route, give the plants sometime to establish themselves, and then begin adding fish--no ammonia additions. If you move filter media over and lightly plant, you will need to either stock lightly OR add ammonia--the bacteria in the media must be fed or they will die off.

 

[Oakley]

Thanks your a star I will move my 4 tiger barbs over after putting in the media, a few plants and testing, to keep the bacteria fed,while i complete the planting. Then its all about researching the fish that i will put into it Think i will stick to a community tank, as my wife loves the variety that they bring, and a malawi tank would not allow me to have so many plants