Question on Cycling.

[bumpylemon]

ok today i am getting me new 29 gallon tank. ok so for the quickest cycling i read that i can take gravel from my established tank and just but it in the new tank? i bought some play sand and some gravel from home depot that im gonna use for substrate. so i would like advice on how to do this and the quickest way...thank you boys...and girls.

 

[Rbishop]

Add some to a mesh bag and hang from your filter outlet.

Also run some of the new filter pads in the old tank filters if you can. Remember to feed the bacteria in the new tank, either with a fish from your old tank temporarily or with pure ammonia or fish food.

 

[msjinkzd]

yup, what bob said. Decorations/plants will also house some good bacteria and can be moved to help seed the cycle.

 

[jones57742]

Also putting WC water from your existing tank into your new tank will help.

TR

 

[doreenjoy]

Also putting WC water from your existing tank into your new tank will help.

TR

Really? I can't imagine that the water holds a lot of bacteria. Huh. :: pondering ::

 

[TwoTankAmin]

It doesn't. Putting in water will due almost 0 to help the cycle.

Also please note that you are removing bacteria from the existing tank and if you remove too much that tank will spike.

 

[bumpylemon]

i only removed like an inch of water.so how long will this take now?

 

[southpaw]

A good way to transfer over gravel to another tank is to use the foot portion out of a pair of women's hose.... fill it with a few handfuls of gravel and hang it over the side for a few weeks to help transfer good bacteria over. Just be sure to use a new pair that hasnt been washed in any detergents...

 

[lucy42083]

i only removed like an inch of water.so how long will this take now?

Did you put a bunch of your established substrate in mesh bags or pantyhose as suggested? And most importantly, did you either add established filter media to the new filter or run the new filter on your established tank?

If all you did was add an inch of water from the established tank into the new one, I'm afraid that won't help at all. Your cycle will still take the usual 4-6 weeks. If you added the established substrate and filter media, you should have a brief cycle, which could last any time from a couple days to a couple weeks. Just keep feeding the bacteria ammonia and testing your parameters.

 

[bumpylemon]

what i dont get was when i was younger all we every did was have water from the sink and throw gold fish in. now theres all this other stuff. lol. my fish never died before. i had my last fishies for over 5 years. ****.


this takes so long. the guy at the LFS said 3 to 5 days and it should be fine...people online say weeks. hmmm. my 15 gallon i set up a couple of weeks ago i didnt cycle....all the fish are currently in there. hopefully they are alright. they look happy.

oh and if i throw the pond snails in my new tank will they survive and help the process?
also if i take bio-spira and use that how long will it take?