# Cycle new tank with seeded media



## Ianwp (Jan 2, 2014)

I have a friend who is getting into fish keeping, and he wants to seed his new mechanical filter in my cycled tank. i was wondering how long it would take for a new filter to get enough bacteria to be good to cycle his tank. My tank is a 55 gallon, and he has a 15 tall with an aquaclear 70. So he gave me an aquaclear 70 mechanical filter, nice big filter. I have it soaking in my tank since my canister is full.

How long should I leave it in the tank to get bacteria in the sponge?

Should I move stuff around in my canister and put the sponge in there instead?

I also have a piece of driftwood I could spare, at least to lend to him til his tank is cycled, would this help to cycle his tank? its probably 8 inches long by 2 wide.


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## Flint (Oct 22, 2013)

The driftwood won't help much but running the filter on your tank, I'd say about two weeks. I would run the filter and put the sponge in your canister.
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## Ianwp (Jan 2, 2014)

K thank you I also removed a filter pad I had in the canister already and put it in his hob, hopefully that will get it started, he is dosing ammonia.
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## Flint (Oct 22, 2013)

The filter pad from your tank alone will be enough, honestly. He can have the filter now.


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## jaysee (Dec 9, 2009)

Agreed. If it's not 100% instantly cycled it will be very quickly.


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## Crazyfish (Feb 3, 2014)

I'm not so sure about "instantly" cycled. I think it still takes time for the tank to go through the cycle as the bacteria has to occupy all parts of the tank and not just the filter. Even if you take a filter from a cycled tank and place it into a new tank, there will most likely still be bacteria blooms as the bacteria will quickly multiply to occupy the space so there may even be some cloudy water periods. I would say anywhere from days to 2 weeks.


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## jaysee (Dec 9, 2009)

I've started a dozen tanks by instantly cycling them with seeded media. Never once have I had a bacteria bloom. It's really important to add enough seeded media to handle the bioload of the new tank, otherwise you will have a mini cycle. The bacteria does not need to colonize all the other places that it will colonize in order for the tank to be cycled. That's how lots of people operate their quarantine tanks.

Taking media from a 55 to seed a 15 gallon tank is easy. Seeding a 55 from a 15 is not as easy. Some common sense is needed when stocking a larger tank started with media from a smaller tank.


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## Flint (Oct 22, 2013)

I would disagree, in my opinion, the bacteria in the filter are the most important. Hence why if you remove the filter, the tank will crash without water changes to remove toxins. The tank surfaces can harbor nowhere near enough bacteria to support livestock.


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## jaysee (Dec 9, 2009)

The bacteria in the filter and the bacteria in the substrate work together to provide 100% filtration. With no substrate, that 100% will be in the filter. With no filter, that 100% will be in the substrate. With a filter and substrate, it's split. What's the split? Depends on the filter, IMO. I believe more surface area in the filter means a larger portion of the bacteria colony will live there, due to being force fed by the pump.


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## Ianwp (Jan 2, 2014)

As a backup, I am giving him a sponge I got from angelsplus to help cycle my tank. It has a lot of build up waste in it, do I clean it out first by squeezing it in tank water, or is that the stuff he needs to squeeze out in his tank to cycle? Thanks again.
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## Tolak (Nov 13, 2012)

Crazyfish said:


> I'm not so sure about "instantly" cycled. I think it still takes time for the tank to go through the cycle as the bacteria has to occupy all parts of the tank and not just the filter. Even if you take a filter from a cycled tank and place it into a new tank, there will most likely still be bacteria blooms as the bacteria will quickly multiply to occupy the space so there may even be some cloudy water periods. I would say anywhere from days to 2 weeks.


Instant, as long as you are aware of the bio load of the donor tank, as well as the new tank. A mature colony of nitrifying bacteria is capable of doubling every 20 hours, I go with 24 for a bit of a safety cushion & ease of math. I also never take more than 1/3, once again safety cushion. Having many tanks running, with many extra filters means having the ability to set up just about any size tank I like, and rest assured that it's instantly cycled. For someone new to this stick to the 24 hour & 1/3 deal, feed the tanks lightly for the next few days.




jaysee said:


> I've started a dozen tanks by instantly cycling them with seeded media. Never once have I had a bacteria bloom. It's really important to add enough seeded media to handle the bioload of the new tank, otherwise you will have a mini cycle. The bacteria does not need to colonize all the other places that it will colonize in order for the tank to be cycled. That's how lots of people operate their quarantine tanks.
> 
> Taking media from a 55 to seed a 15 gallon tank is easy. Seeding a 55 from a 15 is not as easy. Some common sense is needed when stocking a larger tank started with media from a smaller tank.


Jaysee is on the money with this, same thing I've been doing for years, shutting down & setting up tanks as the need arises. Having tanks with a few mature filters in each, most running for years, and knowing the nitrifying bacteria is capable of doubling every 24 hours means (common sense here) I can & do on a regular basis take a tank that has 10 angels, add 100 angels, and not have a problem. 

The common sense part is a bit of math, some water changes, and knowing Prime will lock up ammonia & nitrite for 48 hours. This most likely isn't something a new fishkeeper would want to try, (more common sense) but it is something more advanced aquarists routinely accomplish. I have no problem cloning tanks, jaysee has no problem doing it, many many others do the same without an issue. Much of running an aquarium is understanding bacteria, and taking care of those bacteria.


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## jaysee (Dec 9, 2009)

Right on. A mini cycle is just the time it takes for the bacteria to play catch up.


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## Tolak (Nov 13, 2012)

Yup, deal with that mini cycle via water changes and a bit of chemistry & carry on.


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## Ianwp (Jan 2, 2014)

Well i was about to give him some media, and this morning I went to feed my quarantine fish tank and I lost a few fish and my ammonia spiked. I still have 10 neons and a guppy alive. It has been 2 weeks for them in quarantine.

I guess my options are add them to my main tank, or tear down the quarantine and start it over again. I have 2 sponges from my 55 in there and it was cycled I tested it for the whole first week to make sure, so frustrated, thought i finally figured this stuff out and graduated from a newbie.

Any help is much appreciated.

Edit: The tank is still running just no fish, Has a hob and an air sponge filter. going to check the water again and add that info


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## Ianwp (Jan 2, 2014)

Checked water

Ammo: .50 ppm
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 5 

When I checked this morning there was Nitrite I think around .25 or .50
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## Tolak (Nov 13, 2012)

Fish deteriorate pretty quickly, creating ammonia. Most likely you're seeing the bacteria play catch up.


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## Ianwp (Jan 2, 2014)

Hmm could be. Neons are doing fine. I guess I will exchange fish since it has only been a week, sad I have to do this. I need to find a good fish breeder instead of the chain store stock.
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