Cycling with used products

[WarrendaFish]

If I use a bio pad from an existing tank and water from an existing tank(s) how long will it take to cycle an added tank?

Or a percentage of water from existing tanks?

All my tanks. All known sources.

 

[JAFRIAS]

its the filter that cycles so if you have good flow thru the cycled filter you are ready . 3 weeks for a bigger bio load

 

[Locke_333]

it did exactly that on my 220G, took halk the media and 40% of my other tank (90G about 40 gallons ) waited 4 days and borrowed a dozen gold fish from my local pet store that i took back after a week. never saw any spike of amonia nor nitrite so i started adding my "regular" fish after a week and a half. never lost a single one.

 

[swede]

the bacteria that you are trying to develop in a new tank is not a free floating bacteria, so using water from established tanks will not speed this up. the only important part is that the bacteria has a source of ammonia to feed off of. just dump some fish food in the empty tank. this will provide enough ammonia to keep the bacteria thriving. bumping up the temp a bit will help too

 

[Locke_333]

well the bacteries are so much in the water but when i meant that i took 40 gallons on my tank, that include water from doing gravel vacum so you get at the same time fish poop and left over food. and i transfered a few plans to

 

[gomezladdams]

You need to put some fish in immedialy to keep the biofilter growing,waiting to put in fish reduces the bacteria colony.Build up the stock slowly and it will be fine.
Using used tank water is an old school concept,"seasoned water" I agree its not adding much in the way of bacteria,I still do it though.Just cause its always worked for me.

 

[sushiray]

I just cycled my 72 gal bowfront tank with an active AC110 but my water was fresh purely aged. Also added sponge filter. This is all in anticipation of starting my Stendker Discus tank. So, after reading above, I guess I should have created an ammonia environment by adding food or a few fish earlier. I waited a week instead then added 4 med. angels, 3 albino cory babes & 1 pleco. This is a week & feeding twice a day (angels are voracious eaters) but have to be sure the bottom feeders get some food so added pellets. So far so good.

Hillbilly had recommended I take the active cycled AC110 & transfer to the new cycling tank - one the best ways of speeding up the cycling process!

Get my discus next week! Will transfer the angels back to their original home.

 

[crisper]

I use them same method to set up new tanks as well. It has always worked well for me. Just increase you stock level slowly and keep an eye on water quality.

 

[Lupin]

Once you add the established filter media, you can put your fish in there. I'd start with a small number first to help the bacteria cope with the amount of wastes produced by your fish. Increase the number gradually. Old water is useless. Bacteria do not colonize the water column. Use either substrate or filter media.

 

[WarrendaFish]

Thank you all very much. I made the move and everything seems fine except for some aggression issues that I am dealing with today. The water parameters are perfect and I will keep a close eye... Thanks again for the info!