Filter Question

[tenohfive]

I've got a couple of cycled tanks (one tropical and one cold water) and have recently bought a quarantine tank that came with a filter.

Basically, in the process of setting up the tank I thought it would be a bright idea to run the filter unit in one of my tanks to build up the right levels of bacteria (sorry if I'm a little ignorant here, I understand the process of cycling though not the science.)


How long should I leave the filter in my existing tank before moving it across to the quarantine tank, and it being safe to add fish?

 

[waterdrop]

I'm sure a lot of help will be along in a moment but I'll briefly mention that you probably have a couple of options here: You could run the Q-filter on the main tank for a few weeks and that should get its bac population going - then move it back to the Q-tank. You could also move some mature media from main filter (not more than 1/3) to the Q-filter.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[lfckopite]

I've got a couple of cycled tanks (one tropical and one cold water) and have recently bought a quarantine tank that came with a filter.

Basically, in the process of setting up the tank I thought it would be a bright idea to run the filter unit in one of my tanks to build up the right levels of bacteria (sorry if I'm a little ignorant here, I understand the process of cycling though not the science.)


How long should I leave the filter in my existing tank before moving it across to the quarantine tank, and it being safe to add fish?

I am doing same thing i understand it will take 4 weeks or 2 if you add some mature media get some ammonia and bring the levels upto 1 and see if your filter gets rid of it Also keep an eye on your main tank when you take the filter out as your levels may rise slightly

 

[rdd1952]

The best way to work a q-tank is to just keep extra media in your filters so that when you need to set up your q-tank, all you need to d is move some media over. If you have HOB filters, you can usually keep a second filter pack in the filter so all you have to do is move it over.

The biggest problem with running the extra filter on your regular tanks is that you have to cut more holes in the cover and then when you remove the filter to put on the q-tank, the holes are left open, leaving room for a fish to jump out of resulting in extra evaporation of water.

If you do run the filter on the other tank, I would say 1 to 4 weeks would be the time required to allow it to develop a decent amount of bacteria. It really depends on how many and what type fish (how much waste they produce) you have as to how much media or bacteria you need.