cycling short cut?

[jcf]

i am upgrading from a 20 gallon tank to a 55 gallon. i have read several articles on the need to cycle a new aquarium before adding fish. can i avoid this by using the water from the 20 gallon tank in the new tank (say 10-15 gallons)?

ideally i would like to take the 20 gallon water and fish and put in the 55 gallon tank, but this may be oversimplifying the process.

thanks...jcf

[kimmers318]

The water from what I understand won't help all that much....but decor, gravel and especially filter media will help immensely in speeding up the cycling process. Just remember that the bacteria levels you have in the 20 gal have grown to take care of the amount of bioload you have in the 20 gal, not the bioload you can fit into the 55 gal so don't go adding a bunch of fish the day you move. Treat the 55 gal as a new tank (which it is) and add fish slowly until you reach your maximum giving the bacteria time to multiply. If you don't want to use the existing gravel permanently in the new tank, or filter media won't work in larger filter, you can purchase fine mesh filter bags at most pet stores that carry aquarium supplies and fill them up with gravel and/or media to let sit in the tank to seed the new bacteria colonies. When you no longer need it, just remove the bags. Hope that helps...I have used the gravel bag trick in my Q tank when my bacteria was harmed by meds by pulling some gravel from my 64 gal to drop in there, within 24 hours things were starting to level out.

[jcf]

thanks...this is just what i needed...jcf

[kimmers318]

No problem...waiting for a tank to cycle is a killer if you don't have patience...which I am low on! I cycled my 29 gal immediately by putting one biowheel from my 64 gal which has 2 into it, and hubby's 75 gal was helped along with gravel from same 64 gal.