Kick Start Second Tank

[lacnibor]

Is there a safe and effective way to kick start a second tank? I was given a 29 Gallon tank with stand. I opted to throw out the hot pink gravel. So far I have put in gravel, water, conditioner, heater, and filter. It's been up for almost three days. Is it a bad idea to steal the filter bag from my cycled tank and put it in the new filter to get some bacteria flowing?

[travie]

No. Best thing you can do for the cycle to start in the new tank.

[Drumachine09]

Go for it!


I opted to throw out the hot pink gravel.

Best decision you will EVER make. Believe me.

[Algenco]

or you can clean the old filter medium in the new tank

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

Unless you have biowheels or extra bio-media in the filter, I wouldn't remove it from the first tank, I move the media from the new tank to the old filter. You really don't want to remove that much of your biofilter from your established tank. Now, if you have the things I listed in the beginning then it's not a big deal, it will kick start it very nicely. When I knew I would be starting my 60gal tank, I moved setup my Emperor 400 on my established 75gal for a about 4 weeks and then when I got my 60gal, I was able to immediatly add the fish to it because the filter was established all ready. You could accomplish this in about a week or 2 with your setup.

[lacnibor]

Filter medium? Is that the white stuff?

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

Possibly, what kind of filter do you have?

[travie]

Filter medium would equal your filter bag.

[Ellen4God]

You could put some of the substrate from your cycled tank into panty hose (just cut it off at the ankle) and then stick that into your filter. That will help it develop bacteria faster than if you left it alone.

[lacnibor]

Tetra Whisper. One is a 20 and one is 30 but I think that the bags are the same. Is the bio "whatever" mentioned earlier the thing that sits in front of the bag of charcoal and looks like a scrubber for pots and pans?

[lacnibor]

I'm afraid my wife might get the wrong idea if she notices a set of pantyhose missing (again) lol.

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

Tetra Whisper. One is a 20 and one is 30 but I think that the bags are the same. Is the bio "whatever" mentioned earlier the thing that sits in front of the bag of charcoal and looks like a scrubber for pots and pans?

That would be the biomedia. If that has been well established you can move the other part to your other tank or you can move the new one to the old one. Either way it will accomplish what you are trying to do. It will also accomplish it faster than the the substrate in the pantyhose. (although that method will work)

[lacnibor]

Now, if I move the biomedia from the established tank to the new tank, will I be removing too much bacteria from the established tank? There should be enough bacteria in the tank with all the gravel, plants, and decor wouldn't ya' think? If I do transfer the biomedia to the new tank, how long should I wait before putting fish in there? I was thinking of adding like three or five zebra danios because they seem so resilient.

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

There's not as much bacteria in the tank as you might think. There can be as much as 80-90% of the biofilter, located in the filter media. That is a significant chunk to remove from your tank.

[lacnibor]

Hmm, then maybe it might be safest to take the new biomedia and expose it to the established filter for a while? How long do you think?

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

1-2 weeks should be enough to establish it. I wouldn't put a full load in there right away though.

[lacnibor]

Was someone also suggesting to sort of rinse the old biomedia in the new tank? If so, should I just stir it in for a minute or two or maybe ring it out gently like a mop? You really have to spell it out for me, I'm kinda slow.

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

EIther way will work. You don't want to "over rinse" it though. You want to get just enough out to kick start the new filter. If you "over rinse" the old biomedia, you can cycle the new filter but kick the old one into a mini cycle as well.

[lacnibor]

How long until I add some fish? How many do you think I should start with?

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

If you take the steps we've layed out for you then you could add 2-3 right away. You need to add a source of ammonia to the tank or the bacteria you add will starve.

[lacnibor]

So, I could do this tonight and put 3 danios in tomorrow afternoon, ya think?

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

You could put them in tomorrow morning if you want to. :)

[lacnibor]

Thanks for the advice. I think I'll wait till tomorrow night to start this since I have the next day off. This is exciting.

[RainMan]

Well... I didn't follow this whole thread... I just wanted to say hi to someone from my twin state. :) Lovely spring weather we are having today, ay?

See ya around!

[shockshockshad]

How are the danios?

[lacnibor]

I decided to wait till this evening. It was too late last night to get into things. I'm thinking, unless someone tells me otherwise, of doing "the thing" with the biomedia and soon after (matter of hours) introducing the danios.

To my friend in Vermont, it's as windy as heck here on the seacoast of NH. I haven't been outside all day (except to drive to work). I think I just saw Dorothy fly by. What part of Vermont are ya from?

[RainMan]

Yeah... windy is an understatement... it's like a tornado today. LOL I can't imagine feeling the full force of that wind off of the coat. Snowed about an inch here that day. I want spring!!!!!

Anyway, I'm in the lower valley area. About 15miles west of the CT river.... commuting distance to Leb. NH area.