How much will "seeding" help?

[dixaisy930]

I have my new 65 gallon up and running, and am anxious to add a fish. I took one of the filter media packets from my ten gallon filter, and put in the filter for the 65 gallon, added some water and sand from the 10 gallon, and three different decorations from the 10 gallon. I was wondering how long before this tank will be ready for fish? I know about cycling and what not, but I was just wondering how long you all thought it would take, given the headstart.

I found a sunset gourami and panda cories today, and am affraid they'll be gone after a few weeks. But I won't put the cories in unless the tank is completely cycled....I know how sensitive they can be to water conditions.

 

[kgrehm]

It still just depends. All that I can say is a lot less time than a regular cycle which can easily take to a month. Buy a test kit and see how fast it progresses for sure.

 

[Sky042]

are you doing a fishless cycle or fish cycle? If you're not doing the fishless cycle and aren't adding anything for the bacteria to feed on then all the bacteria you added will soon die.

FWIW when I fishless cycled my 46 I added 2 cartridges from my 5G's for a bacteria source and it sped things up a bit.

 

[freshmike]

No one can really say for sure how long it will take...
Definitely test though, chances are, if you have seeded enough, it will be a quicker cycle....just sems that seeding from a ten into a 65 won't be much help....

I seeded my 180 with the gunk from pretty much all of my other tanks...It was disgusting. I didn't get ANY spikes though...just seemed to instantly cycle...probably not, but seemed that way. Just be sure to test.

Good luck!

 

[dixaisy930]

Well, adding what I did must have done something. I tested my water this morning and got a reading of 1.0 on the ammonia (I forget what the units are) and ) on the nitrite. Tested it again this evening and ammonia and nitrite are 0.

I was considering adding a molly to the tank, but I'd really hate to loose it because of cycling. Can I just put in fish food in the 65 for the bacteria?

 

[njnauticalnut]

Are you adding amonia?

I am cycling a 75 gallon (started 12 days ago) and started with no bacteria source, but added amonia most days. Because the amonia reading was 6ppm, I didn't add amonia for a day here and a day there to try and get it down to 5ppm. The nitrites never spiked so I have now seeded it with sponge from my 5 gallon. I still have no nitrite reading. It is probably because of the size difference. I assume the bacteria will eventually increase and I will see some nitrites. At least I hope so.

Good luck.

 

[CFC]

As said above if you transfer bacteria from a existing tank to a new one you must add fish straight away unless you are feeding the tank with ammonia. If you have done neither then the bacteria will have died off within a few hours leaving you with a basicly sterile tank once again.

Transferring water serves no purpose as none of the the good bacteria are free swimming.

 

[dixaisy930]

Well, I still have an ammonia reading, and no nitrite. Is this enough for the bacteria to live off of?

Should I even add fish if the ammonia is .5 ppm? I added more sand for the other tank.

P.S. I have three live plants in there.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi dixaisy930

You could go ahead and add a pair of gouramis if you are going to cycle with fish. They are sturdy fish, and if you do frequent water changes, can help you cycle the tank. I'd definitely wait before adding the corys though, especially pandas.

 

[dixaisy930]

Yeah, the pandas would be the very last fish to go in.

What about my molly and american flagfish from my 10 gallon? I've read they are both pretty hardy.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi dixaisy930

I don't really know about those fish, but I have cycled with gouramis myself. That's why I suggested them. And the sunset gouramis are very pretty too.