Cycling...

[reay6790]

I just got a new tank with fish, an upgrade from my little 5 1/2 gallon. I used about 30% of the old tank's water and a few scoops of its gravel. I heard that shortens new tank cycling. How long should it take before it is completely cycled? The tank is 10 gallons.

 

[reay6790]

Also, I am using the same Bio-wheel filter from the old tank...it can filter up to 20 gallons.

 

[Bloo]

In that case probably a few days
If it was a brand new tank without any pre-existing media, then anything from 10 days upwards.

 

[rdd1952]

As Bloozoo said, if you moved some gravel and the filter (water from an existing tank doesn't do anything as there isn't any beneficial bacteria in the water column), you should be fine for the fish you already have. I would let it run a couple weeks and keep a check on the parameters to make sure you aren't getting any ammonia or nitrite before adding more fish.