[Ryan Mosby]

Just set up my canister to a tank, doing a big water change because I put aquasoil in there. I cut off a piece of sponge filter from an established tank and put it in the canister filter. I also moved some plants from other established tanks into this one. How long does it take for it to get cycled this way, and is there anything else I can do to make it faster?

 

[Sam the Slayer]

Simple answer, 14~ days.

Are you in some way cycled already with the bacteria added from the sponge? Yes. Maybe it could handle processing ammonia from 1 fish. Maybe it could handle 6. But for sure after about 14 days you could add a small group of 4-6 fish and build even more bacteria from those fishes ammonia which would allow you to then add even more 2-4 weeks later.

The plants won’t help anything until they acclimate to the new tank and start really growing. Some do this faster than others and some are better than others at absorbing excess ammonia (nutrients).


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[detroit_fan]

I just set up a new 55. I put in a lot of plants from established tanks, and used an aquaclear sponge from my established 20 long in the new filter(aquaclear 70). I began adding amano shrimp 2 days later, and upped it to 15 amanos and 11 green neons within a week. It’s been several weeks now, not a single loss, all tests showing 0 except nitrate at 5. In my experience, instant cycling tanks has worked very well, and has not taken nearly as long as it seems to for some others. Jmo

 

[Ryan Mosby]

Simple answer, 14~ days.

Are you in some way cycled already with the bacteria added from the sponge? Yes. Maybe it could handle processing ammonia from 1 fish. Maybe it could handle 6. But for sure after about 14 days you could add a small group of 4-6 fish and build even more bacteria from those fishes ammonia which would allow you to then add even more 2-4 weeks later.

The plants won’t help anything until they acclimate to the new tank and start really growing. Some do this faster than others and some are better than others at absorbing excess ammonia (nutrients).


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14 days with the filter media and plants? Dang, that's longer than I was hoping.

I just set up a new 55. I put in a lot of plants from established tanks, and used an aquaclear sponge from my established 20 long in the new filter(aquaclear 70). I began adding amano shrimp 2 days later, and upped it to 15 amanos and 11 green neons within a week. It’s been several weeks now, not a single loss, all tests showing 0 except nitrate at 5. In my experience, instant cycling tanks has worked very well, and has not taken nearly as long as it seems to for some others. Jmo

What were the parameters like 2 days after you seeded the tank, when you put the amano shrimp in?

My other tank's livestock that I would like to eventually put in this new one are 10-20+ dwarf shrimp, 2 nerite snails, and 6 endlers, but I don't have the right kind of algae yet for the nerites. I can feed the shrimp frozen brine shrimp when they go in.

 

[Sam the Slayer]

14 days with the filter media and plants? Dang, that's longer than I was hoping.



What were the parameters like 2 days after you seeded the tank, when you put the amano shrimp in?

My other tank's livestock that I would like to eventually put in this new one are 10-20+ dwarf shrimp, 2 nerite snails, and 6 endlers, but I don't have the right kind of algae yet for the nerites. I can feed the shrimp frozen brine shrimp when they go in.

14 days based on what you wrote in your post yes. Please notice yours and the other persons situation are different. A piece of a sponge vs a full sponge, a few plants vs a lot. I have done both of these situations too many times to count and both work. You just need to take it situation by situation.


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[detroit_fan]

14 days with the filter media and plants? Dang, that's longer than I was hoping.



What were the parameters like 2 days after you seeded the tank, when you put the amano shrimp in?

My other tank's livestock that I would like to eventually put in this new one are 10-20+ dwarf shrimp, 2 nerite snails, and 6 endlers, but I don't have the right kind of algae yet for the nerites. I can feed the shrimp frozen brine shrimp when they go in.

0,0,5 nitrate. Using API test kit. But as stated above, I used a lot of plants, and a whole aquaclear 50 sponge that was very established.

 

[minorhero]

The answer depends on how much bacteria came over in the sponge, how fast it reproduces, and how much bioload its expected to deal with. We really really have no idea what the answer is to these questions. Just do your water tests and watch for zero ammonia and nitrite. Once you see that stable for a few days you can add a fish/snail and see if things remain stable, then slowly introduce more.

 

[Somefishguy]

Placing a sponge inside that canister will not help the new media propagate any bacteria inside that much. You need to squeeze that old media directly into the water so all the good bacteria will now get sucked up and deposited on the new media. Test show that this will cycle a tank in 4-12 days. Also since plants suck up ammonia, nitrite and nitrate, this will slow your cycle down greatly.

 

[Ryan Mosby]

The answer depends on how much bacteria came over in the sponge, how fast it reproduces, and how much bioload its expected to deal with. We really really have no idea what the answer is to these questions. Just do your water tests and watch for zero ammonia and nitrite. Once you see that stable for a few days you can add a fish/snail and see if things remain stable, then slowly introduce more.

Hopefully a lot of bacteria, it was a big piece of the sponge filter I took from an established nano tank.

Placing a sponge inside that canister will not help the new media propagate any bacteria inside that much. You need to squeeze that old media directly into the water so all the good bacteria will now get sucked up and deposited on the new media. Test show that this will cycle a tank in 4-12 days. Also since plants suck up ammonia, nitrite and nitrate, this will slow your cycle down greatly.

You mean squeeze the the old media over the substrate? I have other filter media I can use, so I'll try that tomorrow. I can't remove the plants so I'll have to deal with the wait.

Thank you everyone for the help!

 

[Somefishguy]

You mean squeeze the the old media over the substrate?

Take your media from another tank, and just squeeze it out into the water of your new tank. This will release all the good bacteria into the water so your new filter will suck it up and deposit it on your new filter media. Your water will clear in hours. You can put the old filter media back in you old tank. This is how your are supposed to seed new media using cycled media.

 

[Ryan Mosby]

Take your media from another tank, and just squeeze it out into the water of your new tank. This will release all the good bacteria into the water so your new filter will suck it up and deposit it on your new filter media. Your water will clear in hours. You can put the old filter media back in you old tank. This is how your are supposed to seed new media using cycled media.

Sounds like a plan, thank you! I'm going to do this right now.

 

[Somefishguy]

Sounds like a plan, thank you! I'm going to do this right now.

Remember now that old media, that you just squeezed, has just about all it's bacteria removed so it will have to be cycled again, about 4 weeks. Since you say it's a small piece from you old tank, should not be a problem.

 

[Ryan Mosby]

Remember now that old media, that you just squeezed, has just about all it's bacteria removed so it will have to be cycled again, about 4 weeks. Since you say it's a small piece from you old tank, should not be a problem.

Apparently I hadn't cleaned that filter media in a while, so now there's a fine layer of grime on my substrate. I'll vacuum it out tomorrow, didn't have time to today. Started adding 4 ppm of ammonia daily to the tank, so I can keep an eye on that. The new fish get here on March 4th so I need to be on top of it.

The filter media I used in the tank and in the canister filter is from a much smaller tank (5 gallon), so would it help the beneficial bacteria multiply faster if I bought nitrifying bacteria in a bottle?

 

[Somefishguy]

The filter media I used in the tank and in the canister filter is from a much smaller tank (5 gallon), so would it help the beneficial bacteria multiply faster if I bought nitrifying bacteria in a bottle?

Sorry but Bacteria in a Bottle does nothing.

 

[MissCris]

Just start testing your water and go from there.

This is why I always keep a small sponge filter running in one of my tanks as a contingency in case I have to set up an extra tank fast (quarantine, nursery, hospital, etc.). I also always keep one extra floss pad in each filter unit. I've had the ability to have "instant cycle" situations before by doing this, but I'm bringing in a fully cycled sponge to cover the heavy lifting at the start and a load of seeded media for the primary filter unit.

At this stage, you've already introduced a bunch of nitrifying bacteria into your system, and added ammonia, so I expect you'll see results quickly. Do your daily testing and let that guide the timeline.

 

[jellopuddinpop]

Apparently I hadn't cleaned that filter media in a while, so now there's a fine layer of grime on my substrate. I'll vacuum it out tomorrow, didn't have time to today. Started adding 4 ppm of ammonia daily to the tank, so I can keep an eye on that. The new fish get here on March 4th so I need to be on top of it.

The filter media I used in the tank and in the canister filter is from a much smaller tank (5 gallon), so would it help the beneficial bacteria multiply faster if I bought nitrifying bacteria in a bottle?

Don't vacuum out that grime, leave it in there. That is mulm, but it also has a ton of bacteria in it. It's not going to hurt anything.

 

[Ryan Mosby]

Don't vacuum out that grime, leave it in there. That is mulm, but it also has a ton of bacteria in it. It's not going to hurt anything.

Oh, glad I saw this! Can I vacuum it out once the tank is cycled or does it need to stay in for a few weeks after?

 

[jellopuddinpop]

Once you're fully cycled, you can siphon it out. The bacteria will have colonated your substrate by then.

 

[Ryan Mosby]

I'm not sure about my current parameters, they're a bit low for cultivating bacteria. How do I raise my pH to 7-8 and GH and KH to 3+?

Parameters:
Nitrate: somewhere between 0-5 ppm (I use the API Master Test kit, it wasn't 0 ppm but it wasn't 5 ppm either)
Nitrite: somewhere between .25-50 ppm
GH: 3
KH: 2
pH: 6.32 (without CO2)
Ammonia: 4ppm
TDS: 125
Temperature: 74.5 (heater was set to wrong temp, upped it back to 78 F)

I never meant for the temperature to go room temperature; it seems while I was fiddling with my filter yesterday, I accidentally moved the dial on the in-line heater down. I've since set it back to 78F.

 

[MissCris]

You can add a small amount of crushed coral to your filter media to naturally increase hardness (which will stabilize and increase your Ph). Don't add too much, or it will increase your hardness more than your plants like, though you can always remove some of it if you find your gh rising more than you want.

There are also ph increasers on the market, but you have to add those regularly.