Filterless Cycling? Could this work?

[aclockworkorange]

Keep your fish in a small bucket, add water, and substrate to your new tank from your old one. Supplement your substrate if needed. Use as much water as possible from your old tank. Add R/O to supplement your existing water, dont change your filter pads when you do the swap and you should be alright. Test water regularly.

That's the best news I got all day. Awesome. I actually did use a good bit of the 30's water to fill the 55 because I had to pick that bastard up and move it to make room for the big guy. Outstanding. I did add tap water purifier to the new water so I guess that's all the conditioning the new water needs? This is great, my wifes at my inlaws so now I can break down the 30 before she gets home. The kansas city shuffle. She would have loved to see a 220, 30 and a 55 kicking in the same room. That's some jacques cousteau stuff. Thanks fellas.

There's actually VERY little beneficial bacteria in your water... it's all in your filter media and the surface area of the tank like creepyoldguy said. I would also recommend additional filtration for your new tank whenever you get a little extra cash, sounds like you're a bit underfiltered.

 

[Ajno]

On new tanks I've used Stability twice now with HUGE success. I will be using it to cycle my 180 when its ready

 

[pelleeklund]

Actually I was very over filtered in the 30. I was using the 55's filter the whole time which I believe on it's high end covers about 70 gallons. it's the aquaclear 50-70 gallon thing. It's was like a waterfall in the 30. I made the transfer and everything seems fine so far too. Maybe I will run into a spike sooner or later but I hope both fish will make it through alive. Here's a phone shot of the new digs. I guess it's finger crossing time. Also, please forgive the glass, needs a good once over.

 

[brich999]

As stated the only thing that really cycles is the filter media and it sounds like it should be well established, add water and prime and swap stuff over

 

[CClump]

a good cheap filter option in the future is to pick up a sponge filter for about 10 bucks for a larger one.
When i switch tanks i never add old water, just the old filter and prime for dechlor, keeps it cleaner for longer instead of already adding dirty water to a new tank

 

[aclockworkorange]

The only reason to add "old" water in freshwater tanks is for acclimation. I buffer my CA Cichlid tanks with crushed coral so the ph/kh is higher than my tap.

I ran an aquaclear 50 on my 20 gallon and I STILL wasn't happy with the mechanical filtration--filter ratings from manufacturers are really not accurate. I would run an AC110 on a 55, or add a canister. It really depends on how "crispy" you want your water. And it's always good to have more than one filter running, especially with ACs that need to be cleaned pretty frequently in order to avoid clogging--you will inevitably kill a bit of beneficial bacteria when cleaning sponges IMO, so if you're running only one filter this can obviously mess with your cycle.