old filter, new water

[mynamzmudd]

Hi all, just got the 55 gallon tank home. It was used for freshwater fish. the filter for the tank was being used on another tank. can I use it to help cycle the tank or should i replace it? thank's all.

[KingFisher]

If the media has remained submerged and the filter hasn't been off more than a couple hours, go ahead and use it. If it has been off for a while, don't bother. Clean it out and put new media in it.

[jackson17]

If its on the tank now, with dechlored water and it wasn't dry for very long, yes like kingfisher said. If not, just get some new stuff.

What kind of filter?

[DrNic]

Yup the guys are right. As long as the media is reasonably fresh it will be fine. If it's dried out or been sitting for too long it will do more harm than good.

[jaysee]

The bacteria will stay alive for several hours as long as it's kept wet. If the media has not dried out, plug it in and add fish - you will have an instant cycle. After about 12 hours without "food" the colony starts to die. Adding just 1 fish will maintain the cycle.

Used media is the undisputed best way to start a new tank. I went through the cycle process with my first tank, but completely skipped it with the other 10. With propper planning, you can go buy a tank, filter and fish all at the same time, go home and set it all up without a problem.

Nic - Looking at your sig I see that your MTS has been progressing quite nicely!

[mynamzmudd]

it's a biowheel filter. it was taken off the tank at approx 8:15 and the media was still wet when I added water. the blue part of the filter was more dry than not. It had a little dampness to it but the media was wet.

[jaysee]

Well, there's only one way to know if the colony survived....

[mynamzmudd]

and that is? lol

[jaysee]

Pour some ammonia in the tank and then test the water. Put enough in to get a reading and see if it disappears. If the colony is alive, the ammonia will drop to 0. If you still have ammonia in your tank after a couple days, the colony didn't survive.

[Jaster]

The blue filter sounds like it would be just the mechanical filter. IMO you should replace that either way. The bio wheel is the one I would be concerned with. What kind of filter is it? Just curious...

[mynamzmudd]

marineland biowheel filter.