# Cycling with established filter?



## DM (Sep 2, 2008)

I just finished setting my tank back up after a rebuild. It's cycling at the moment but the filter wasn't cleaned, just disabled for a few days. I'm wondering if I can start the tank up and rely on the filter(which already has established bacteria) to cut my cycling time in half.


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## Pasfur (Mar 29, 2008)

Yes, the old bacteria should seed the aquarium quickly.

However, i am curious as to why this process took place to begin with. Did you move? Was there a problem you were attempting to correct?

I ask for a simple reason. If you are concerned about seeing a biological filter, this tells me a lot of information about your setup. Primarily, you are using a filter that is designed to intentionally introduce Nitrate into the aquarium. Why?


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