Seeding new tank?

[illiswiller]

I just upgraded at X-mas to a new 42 gal hex.

I didn't want to hurt the cycling fish so I'm trying to seed it w/ the exisiting 10 gallon. I added fish Saturday (5 small danios) to start cycling. I also added two amazon swords and ~1 cup of gravel that were from an EXISTING 10 gallon (~1 year old w/ 6 cardinals and cory but very stable).

Sunday (second day) I floated the biowheel from the 10 gallon tank (Penguin 125) for a couple of hours and then put it back on the 10 gallon. Yesterday, (Monday) I tied about another 1 cup of gravel from the existing tank in a nylon and put that in. I also did ~10% water change this morning.

My ammonia is elevated but not too bad (I think?) - its between .25 and 1.0 But nitrites haven't done anything still <0.3. The fish SEEM fine, are hungry and not gasping or darting. What should I do next?

Shall I continue to seed daily? from the gravel in the existing tank?? I have a canister Fluval on the new one so I can't add anything into the new filter. (at least I don't think?). I read that the nitrite to nitrate bacteria may have died in the mean time? b/c no nitrites?? I don't want to take too much out of the exisiting tank....I love my cardinals.

I also read somewhere that the ammonia converting bacteria take 5-10 hrs to double colony size whereas nitrite converting bacteria are twice that time ~20 hrs.

I realize that it is too early for nitrites to spike....but if I've seeded enough will I know when it's ready? I dont' have a test for nitrate...

Oh, pH is a little high about 7.5 - but I can't help that b/c our drinking water comes out at almost 9.0 and I have to use a pH decreaser... The cardinals have seemed to adjust to 7.5 ok.

Temp is ~78

THANKS - trying desperately to be patient
One more newbie

 

[OrionGirl]

You should be fine just letting it go without anymore seeding, and water changes if needed to reduce ammonia or nitrites when they show up. Feed very lightly--the fish will suffer more from the increased waste than from being a bit hungry.

 

[illiswiller]

How long can/should (approx) the cycle tank w/ seeding this way?

Will using "cycle" mess it up at all? I had added cycle before there were fish. What level ammonia is dangerous? And nitrite?

THANKS for the help.

 

[OrionGirl]

It varies, but around 3-4 weeks is common. Cycle is useless--the bacteria it introduces won't establish in an aquarium, and it will add a bunch of nitrates. Save your money. Ammonia and nitrites are dangerous at any detectable levels. Less than 1 ppm of ammonia is considered less dangerous, and less than .5 ppm nitrites.

 

[illiswiller]

So does "seeding" it really speed up the cycle at all?
I thought w/o seeding it only took a month? I was hoping this method would cut that time down more to like 1-2 weeks... (I'm so impatient, I know).

I read on a website - a women cycled in 5 days w/ seeding...maybe this is bizarre?
http://www.gorge.org/fish/beatingcycle.shtml
THANKS!

 

[Swimfins]

I started up my new tank on Dec 31st. I dumped a half cup of substrate from my other tank on each of the next 4 days. (I took a squeeze from the filter of my old tank and put it in the new filter on the day I setup.)
I have 0.3 ppm nitrite as of this morning. I'm watching for a rise. Otherwise fish are fine and feeding ok.
I'd just do the regular water changes and watch.

 

[OrionGirl]

It depends on that amount of seeding that happens. For example, I can setup a brand new tank and stock it the same day by moving the entire filter from an existing, similarly stocked tank over--or stock it with half the livestock by using half the filter media. Of course, this leaves the old tank in a bit of a bind, and it will then have to restablish the removed bacteria colonies if it is to remain setup. Seeding means introducing a small colony of the bacteria and allowing them to reproduce to a size suitable for the new setup, ideally without depriving the source tank of it's bacteria. The process can go a bit faster depending on temperature, but the only true way to identify if the new tank is cycled is by testing and monitoring ammonia and nitrite spikes and declines. Can it happen quickly? Sure. But I wouldn't plan on it. Using chemcial media, like nitrazorb, can help the fish, but it does not promote the bacteria in anyway.

Note--that article doesn't give any information about the tank a month or two later. I'd be interested to see if there were any later spikes or problems. Always look for what's missing when something sounds too good to be true!