Cycling Question

Phage

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I found a 55usg tank in the alley and I plan to clean it up and move my silver dollars and angelfish into it. Their story is HERE if you wish to read.

I know I need to cycle the tank.
I have another 55usg tank with plants and so forth. It's been running about 3 years.
Will it work if I take some filter media from my original tank and place it in the filter of the new tank? Also some gravel.
How much will be adequate?
How long before I can add the fish?

Anything else I need to know?

Thank you :)
 
If the other tank is fully cycled and the media is in use (i.e. not dried out), then yes this will speed up the cycling process. Add as much in as you can.
 
...without leaving your existing filter short on media, of course!
 
I also have a powerhead with some sort of filter attachment on it. I don't think I will run short on media for my first tank. lol

How long should I leave the tank without putting in the fish?
 
You should read up on the fishless cycle method here:

Fishless Cycle

You'll want to get a bacteria growing factory going in there by raising the temp to 29C/84F, and get the pH up in the 8.4 range. Then you'll add pure ammonia to get the ammonia reading up to 5 ppm and let it run like that until the cycle progresses. (it's all in that thread)

You can't really do this without also buying some water test kits, if possible.

The established media you are adding to the new tank should help speed up the cycling a good bit - but all this work is still needed to evaluate if you are properly cycled yet.
 
I already read it, thank you though. Why do I need to add ammonia if I am adding existing filter media?
 
Take about 1/3 of the mature media from the tank you have been running. Feed this tank lightly for the next week, about 1/3 normal. Less food means less waste, giving the remaining nitrifying bacteria a chance to play catch up.

Eyeballing the stocking of the donor tank, the media you took out will support about 1/3 that stocking level right away. Erring on the side of caution, feed the new tank lightly for a week, do a water test after a day & perhaps every other day if this is the first time you are doing this, with water changes if needed. This is known as cloning, and is the reason many folks with multiple tanks in a breeding setup keep plenty of spare filters running on stocked tanks.
 
Old tank- 1/3 media to new tank, feed 1/3 less.

New tank- put fish in right away? but feed light. Test water everyday and change water if there is too much ammonia.

Is this correct? :)

Can I add some water from my other tank as well?

Thanks
 
Correct as I see it. I wouldn't bother using any old water at all, just acclimate the fish to the new tank as usual.
 
Ok I set up the tank last night. Today I noticed the water is a bit cloudy and ph is 7.8. Is this normal? Safe?
Ammonia is 0ppm, no3 is 0-5 ppm, no2 is 0ppm.

I put wood in from my old tank (it was sitting dry for 6 months), fluorite gravel, and carbon in the filter.
Raised temp to 75F.

Edit: I didn't add fish yet.
 
My guess would be that if you dont add fish in immediatly...the good bacteria that was in your filter will start dying off. So if the tank stays empty for much longer, you gonna have to start all over again. You could have added ammonia immediatly after putting the old filter in or you could have added one or two fishes to promote the good bacteria growth! When Nitrate reaches zero I think that calls for a restart.
 
Since you are using matured media I would assume within 2 weeks the tank could be fully cycled. Every tank will be different depending on how much care you put into it. Test everyday for Ammonia, NitrIte, and NitrAte.
 
As stated, the mature media will need a food source. Being a bacteria that is slow to grow it is also slow to die, so a day or two with no food will not cause a huge die back.
 

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