Cycle a tank in an hour? Is this idea possible?

mikeross

Exodon
MFK Member
Nov 12, 2012
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So I am in the middle of a tank build after being out of the hobby for a few years. I plan to buy some fish from a member who is going to be taking down his tank once the fish are sold. I have the patience to do a fishless cycle but though if this guy is talking down his tank why not buy all his biomedia or trade him with the new stuff I have and cycle my tank almost instantly.

So is this idea going to work. I don't know if he has a second tank to hold these fish while I place the used bio media in my filters. I might have to pick up the fish and used bio media at the same time.

So if I do the later will it work if these fish are in a bucket for say an hour while I let the volume of my tank flow through this used bio media. Will my tank be instantly cycled? I use to do this back in the day with my breeder and quarantine tanks. Just grab a empty tank, throw on a currently in use filter and fill with new water. Never had an issue. The issue here is these are very expensive fish and would be a big loss if something happen.

so what are my options... thanks for any insight.
 

HungDang

Piranha
MFK Member
Nov 29, 2010
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if his tank has been up and running for a while, it should be cycled.
 

Fat Homer

Mmmmm... Doughnuts
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Mar 16, 2009
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Agreed, as long as the media is cycled, and is kept wet during travel to prevent it drying out, no reason it wont cycle a tank instantly...
 

Fat Homer

Mmmmm... Doughnuts
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Since i ant modify posts through mobile, i just want to add, make sure there is also enough cycled media for the amount of stock going in the tank yo avoid mini-cycles as much as possible...
 

David R

Blue Tier VIP
MFK Member
Apr 26, 2005
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So if I do the later will it work if these fish are in a bucket for say an hour while I let the volume of my tank flow through this used bio media. Will my tank be instantly cycled?
Your tank doesn't really "cycle", more the bio filter. Don't hold them in a bucket any longer than necessary, get them in the tank and don't feed for a day or two, keep an eye on ammonia levels, you should be fine.


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