Should your parameters starts fluctuating too much, for some reason, just do daily water changes of at least 50%.
Fast Cycling - Would this work?
- Thread starter Nick Park
- Start date
100% new water for new tank, why bring extra nitrates
hello; You can do several things to get a quick cycle in the new setup. Having two already established tanks means you can rob some solid surfaces and transfer some bb (beneficial bacteria) colonies.
Your current tanks are in some stage of dynamic balance between the biomass of the living things (fish waste, decay byproducts and such) and the bb colonies. Yes taking some bb colonies out will affect that balance to a degree but should not cause a crisis. The remaining bb should reproduce quickly as their numbers are already substantial. At most a brief bump in ammonia and or nitrite that should not last long. You can reduce feeding even complete fasting for a few days and do a few extra WC o help.
Robbing bb from the old tanks does not have to mean transferring the nasty stuff. I would do one of several options. One would be to take media and give it a good slosh in some tank water during a WC. The bb are sessile which I think means they make sticky colonies. The detritus can be sloshed away and should leave the bb colonies behind. Another would be to just use one of the old filters for a couple of weeks.
I keep some sponge filter sponges in the back on my filters that I can grab when I need to set up a new tank. I just give them a good squeeze and put them on a base.
Hello; This!! Add new stock to any tank a bit at a time to give the bb a chance to catch up.
Hello; refer to the last comment.
Hello; This.
Hello; This.
Hello; NOT THIS. The thinking seems to be that the old water holds little of the bb at any time. The bb form colonies on surfaces.
Hello; THIS.
Hello; THIS.
Thanks for all the replies and advice. I always try to keep 2 filters running on any tank, partly because I like to over-filter, and because I'm paranoid about a filter ever breaking down.
So I left the Eheim running on my old tank, but took the FX6 off and replaced it with a second-hand FX5 I picked up on Donedeal (Irish equivalent of craigslist). So handy that the FX5 and FX6 connectors are interchangeable!
I decided not to transfer any water, just putting new water (treated with Prime) into the new tank. Then I put the FX6, complete with all its media, onto the new tank, and backed it up with a $150 cheap Chinese canister filter. I also planted a few live plants in the new tank. Then I threw a school of 8 juvenile Giant Danios into the new tank figuring that they would be expendable in the cycling process but I'd still be very happy to keep them if they survived.
Over the next few days I tested both tanks for ammonia twice a day, but not a trace of the stuff. So the Eheim seems to have enough bacteria to keep the old tank balanced, and the FX6 with its media immediately cycled the new tank. So I transferred my blood parrots in as well, and they're doing fine. Still not even a hint of ammonia.
Asking for advice on these forums can be a bit confusing, since everyone has their own opinions, but thanks to everyone who posted (even those whose advice I ignored). The responses on this thread gave me the confidence to give it a go, while helping me know what to keep an eye out for. I'm very happy with the resulting setup.
So I left the Eheim running on my old tank, but took the FX6 off and replaced it with a second-hand FX5 I picked up on Donedeal (Irish equivalent of craigslist). So handy that the FX5 and FX6 connectors are interchangeable!
I decided not to transfer any water, just putting new water (treated with Prime) into the new tank. Then I put the FX6, complete with all its media, onto the new tank, and backed it up with a $150 cheap Chinese canister filter. I also planted a few live plants in the new tank. Then I threw a school of 8 juvenile Giant Danios into the new tank figuring that they would be expendable in the cycling process but I'd still be very happy to keep them if they survived.
Over the next few days I tested both tanks for ammonia twice a day, but not a trace of the stuff. So the Eheim seems to have enough bacteria to keep the old tank balanced, and the FX6 with its media immediately cycled the new tank. So I transferred my blood parrots in as well, and they're doing fine. Still not even a hint of ammonia.
Asking for advice on these forums can be a bit confusing, since everyone has their own opinions, but thanks to everyone who posted (even those whose advice I ignored). The responses on this thread gave me the confidence to give it a go, while helping me know what to keep an eye out for. I'm very happy with the resulting setup.
