Cycling new 300 gallon?

[peteagem]

Hey guys I’ve had a 125g with 1 fx5 going for almost 2 years. I recently purchased a 300 gallon tank and am planning on setting up in the next week or so to begin cycling. I installed 2 sponge filters on the 125 2 weeks ago and I have a spare fx5 Not being used. Should I run the spare fx5 on my 125 along with the other to accumulate bacteria to help ensure a good start with the new tank? I only added the sponge filters to the 125 with the idea of being able to move them to the 300 and have bacteria established media for the new tank. I was Also planning on taking water from my 125 during water changes and adding that to the 300. Should I add ammonia daily while the tank is cycling? How long do the sponge filters and or fx5 need to accumulate Enough bacteria to move to the big tank?
Thanks for the help!

 

[tlindsey]

Hey guys I’ve had a 125g with 1 fx5 going for almost 2 years. I recently purchased a 300 gallon tank and am planning on setting up in the next week or so to begin cycling. I installed 2 sponge filters on the 125 2 weeks ago and I have a spare fx5 Not being used. Should I run the spare fx5 on my 125 along with the other to accumulate bacteria to help ensure a good start with the new tank? I only added the sponge filters to the 125 with the idea of being able to move them to the 300 and have bacteria established media for the new tank. I was Also planning on taking water from my 125 during water changes and adding that to the 300. Should I add ammonia daily while the tank is cycling? How long do the sponge filters and or fx5 need to accumulate Enough bacteria to move to the big tank?
Thanks for the help!

Yes running the filters on the Cycled 125 will help but you could also remove bio media from the Cycled FX 5 to jump start the cycle of the 300 gallon. Tbh water from the 125 will not be beneficial because the live bacteria is actually sessile.

 

[tlindsey]

Yes running the filters on the Cycled 125 will help but you could also remove bio media from the Cycled FX 5 to jump start the cycle of the 300 gallon. Tbh water from the 125 will not be beneficial because the live bacteria is actually sessile.

I personally never used ammonia to cycle aquariums but found thishttps://www.algone.com/fishless-aquarium-cycling

 

[peteagem]

Good idea. Any idea on how long I should let the filters run in the established 125 before using them on the 300? Should I add ammonia with prime when I get the new tank running Fish less

 

[tarheel96]

You can add the fish immediately after moving some filtration from the 125 over to the 300 ... no need to use ammonia ... the fish will produce it.

I wouldn't add too many fish at once ... but the bacteria colony grows fast in order to accomodate the bioload.

Keep a check on ammonia and nitrite.

 

[peteagem]

if I’m taking an already established filter/‘s over to a new tank do I have to cycle the new tank?

 

[tlindsey]

Good idea. Any idea on how long I should let the filters run in the established 125 before using them on the 300? Should I add ammonia with prime when I get the new tank running Fish less

I personally would leave them on the aquarium for a month. Take a little bio from the Fx 5 that is cycled and place in the added FX 5 filter. When you transfer the filters to your 300 gallon yes Ammonia and using prime will be necessary while Cycle is in process. Have a test kit on hand.

 

[skjl47]

Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle | Cycling Methods | Ammonia & Nitrates

Information about the aquarium nitrogen cycle in freshwater & saltwater. Nitrification, de-nitrification, Heterotrophic bacteria, Raw Shrimp method debunked. By aquarium keeping guru Carl Strohmeyer

www.americanaquariumproducts.com

Hello; Here is a reference site I use.

planning on taking water from my 125 during water changes and adding that to the 300.

Tbh water from the 125 will not be beneficial because the live bacteria is actually sessile.

This; The old water is not a good source of beneficial bacteria (bb). You are in a good position in having an established tank on hand. The bb colonies form a film on surfaces. So the 125 will have them on lots of solid surfaces. You can move some surfaces from the 125 to the new tank and have bb. The surfaces can be pretty much anything, substrate, decorations, filter parts and such. I cannot prove it but think the bb will be on plants and things like snails. Many seem to think only of filter media which will have the bb, but I contend most other surfaces will have them as well.
Some have put substrate or filter media in a mesh bag into the new tank.

hould I add ammonia daily while the tank is cycling?

Hello; I guess you will need to add amonia if there will not be fish or snails added to the new tank right away. I my misunderstand why you will keep the new tank without fish. In practice you can add fish to the new tank as soon as you rob some bb loaded material from the 125. Essentially a same day cycle. The slow way to cycle a tank is when you start from scratch with a new setup and do not have a place to rob bb from. I start a new tank and as soon as I get all the filters, lights and other stuff running properly, I can rob bb from one of my established tanks and add some fish the same day. (Note -I usually fill a new tank and run filters and stuff for a day or so just to check things out. This lets the temperature get right and allow me to fix any problems without having to add and the n remove any fish.)
I start new tanks and have them running with fish in them right away. No need to add ammonia. One more note - Do not rob the bb from the old tank and put it into the new tank if you are not ready to add some fish. Rob bb one day and add fish the same day or the next day. The bb can go for a while, (maybe a few days) without their nutrients, but if you wait too long the bb will begin to die back.

The trick is to have a balance with the bb colonies and the ammonia excreted from the animals. I try to add plenty of bb loaded surfaces and only a few fish at first. I figure it is better to have more bb than needed and allow them to die back to the fish than to have too little bb and more ammonia from the fish than the bb can handle. In time the bb will establish a population to match their food supply.

How long do the sponge filters and or fx5 need to accumulate Enough bacteria to move to the big tank

Hello; Good question. I do not know the exact answer but figure weeks. I keep some extra sponge filter bases in the backs of my running filters or just run an extra sponge filter in tanks. That way I can start a new tank quickly by just taking one of the sponges.

You have the best situation with an established tank on hand. Good luck.

 

[skjl47]

if I’m taking an already established filter/‘s over to a new tank do I have to cycle the new tank?

Hello; If you move an established filter to the new yank you will in effect have an instant cycle. The only question will be the balance between the bb and the amount of fish. If the old filter has too much bb then you are golden as the fish bio-load will be handled from the get go. If you happen to add to many fish for the bb then you can get a "mini-cycle". This simply means there are not enough bb in total to handle the bioload, but soon the bb will add population and get things back into balance. T
Test the water and if ammonia shows up you can use some PRIME or SAFE to protect the fish while the bb grow out.

I figure you will be fine as long as you do not overload the new tank with a lot of fish or big fish. Good luck.

 

[jjohnwm]

When I cycled my 360 recently, I moved a completely mature large DIY sponge filter from another tank and installed it inside the sump, which was filled with K1 fluidized media. I wasn't sold on that stuff, but I lucked into a large quantity of it for next to nothing and thought I'd try it. Left the sponge in there for 5 weeks, then removed it. I fed fairly lightly for the first week thereafter, and had no discernible ammonia or nitrite spikes.

K1 seems to work as intended, in terms of providing lots of surface for bacterial colonization. I don't know how much of the "fluidized" idea is legit (if any...) and how much is snake oil; I know for a fact that if I hadn't stumbled into the stuff virtually for free, I never would have tried it. However, my granddaughter gets a huge kick out of watching the swirling pellets in the sump so I'll keep it going for the foreseeable future. Hopefully she will shift her attention from the plastic bits to the fish eventually...

Common wisdom tell us that the beneficial bacteria which we are courting are not in the water column itself but rather on surfaces, as pointed out by tlindsey above. The proof of this is obvious: no amount or frequency of water changes affects the cycle. I've often wondered if placing the old media in actual physical contact with the new stuff might hasten the bacterial colonization of the new. I prefer doing it that way, but it certainly works no matter where the old stuff is physically located.

It's worth remembering that whenever you use this method, regardless of how long you leave the old filter in the new tank you will still be removing a significant percentage of the tank's bacterial population when the old filter is eventually removed. The total bacterial population is spread out over all surfaces including the old media. When the old media comes out, it takes a couple or a few days for the total bacterial colony to bounce back to its fully-cycled level, so for a week or so after the old media is removed it is prudent to cut back drastically on feeding to minimize the chances of a mini-spike in ammonia.

Edited to ad: Dang! I type so slowly that S skjl47 beat me to most of my points! I guess great minds think alike...