Cycling a 110 Gallon tub.

[Belly up]

One thing I have been enjoying of late is running factory tanks. The kind of tank where everything is geared to produce for sale of trade, fish, shrimp, snails and plants. One of these tanks is crammed full of platies which lead me to buy a 110 gallon tub. I put 2" of gravel in it then filled with water from the surrounding aquariums to about three quarters full. It has two new sponge filters which I hope are almost cycled because of what I did with them: I filled a bucket with tank water. Then I put a filter in it and took a fully cycled filter an wrung it out into the bucket allowing the sponge to suck in all that biological goodness. I think the new filters should be mature in short order but am wondering what the collective wisdom here thinks.

I also took a big scoop of gravel from a mature system to seed the gravel in the tub before adding a couple dozen medium platies. With mature tank water and seeded filters and gravel the cycle should be very short. Your comments appreciated.

The title should be 110 gallon tub- stupid num pad!

 

[deeda]

The general consensus is that using tank water, mature or otherwise adds little or no help in cycling a new tank setup. Used tank water may have some level of nitrate depending on the quality of the water from the tanks used.

A mature filter on the other hand will be better but I still wouldn't expect one from a smaller tank being capable of instantly cycling a 110G tub.

Monitor the new set up for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate just as you would/should and act accordingly.

 

[Belly up]

It was a filter from a 125 I used to seed the new sponge filters. The idea was to fill the new sponge with the bacteria from an established filter. Had I known I was setting up this tub I could have run the new filters in an established tank for a while.

 

[esoxlucius]

I'll be honest with you, I don't think your new tub will be anywhere near cycled with what you've done so far. The reason I say that is:

1. As already mentioned there's basically zero bacteria in the actual water column so transferring old tank water from old set ups into your new set up hasn't done a diddle.

2. You say you squeezed out the goodness from your old filters into a bucket with your new filter in so your new filter could suck up the goodness. Most of that goodness will be attached to the old media so simply wringing it out might have given you a bit of BB but not masses. You should have just simply thrown your old filters sponges/pads into your new set up. That would have given you a better start.

3. A mere scoop of seeded gravel is indeed a start but just a scoop in a 110g tub probably wont do a great deal.

Saying that though, with what you've done, that should be a bit of a start with your cycle. The guppies you've added will help give it an extra kickstart. As mentioned though, keep an eye on your parameters now.

 

[Hendre]

I'll be honest with you, I don't think your new tub will be anywhere near cycled with what you've done so far. The reason I say that is:

1. As already mentioned there's basically zero bacteria in the actual water column so transferring old tank water from old set ups into your new set up hasn't done a diddle.

2. You say you squeezed out the goodness from your old filters into a bucket with your new filter in so your new filter could suck up the goodness. Most of that goodness will be attached to the old media so simply wringing it out might have given you a bit of BB but not masses. You should have just simply thrown your old filters sponges/pads into your new set up. That would have given you a better start.

3. A mere scoop of seeded gravel is indeed a start but just a scoop in a 110g tub probably wont do a great deal.

Saying that though, with what you've done, that should be a bit of a start with your cycle. The guppies you've added will help give it an extra kickstart. As mentioned though, keep an eye on your parameters now.

Agree with the above! A proper cycle or pre-cycled filter is the way.

Also fixed the title

 

[Gourami Swami]

I agree with esoxlucius's points. I would put your old filter in the new tank asap. Also, you say you put a couple dozen platies in the new tank. This is much much more than the few hardy fish that I would recommend you cycle a tank with; placing this many at once would require a well established and properly sized filter to be added. A sponge may or may not do the job depending on how large it is.

 

[Belly up]

Hendre, Thank you!

I know a fully established filter would do the job but since it would leave the tank it was filtering without, well those fish are much more important than the platies. I will keep an eye on the parameters to see what happens. I have added plants to the mix as well. There is so much surface area in this tub that the amount of waist produced should be easily handled by the two filters but we will see. It should be an interesting experiment anyway.