Tropical Fish Forums

[loveforfish]

aright I was sitting around trying to figure a way to cycle my tank in half the time, I came up with this simple idea that I would imagine would work.

seeing how its really the filter that has to cycle I was toying with the idea of puttyin my filter for my 50 gallon tank on my 10 gallon tank to cut the cycle time in half because of the water volume.

would this work or do I need to cycle it in the tank I intend on using?

[Shai]

You can do that, but keep in mind that if you are going to do this with a hang on back (HOB) filter like an AquaClear or Whisper, the one for the 50g is going to be too powerful for the 10g, so the fish in the 10g will get blasted by the current.

If you're using an HOB filter, put the sponge from the 50g into the 10g instead. Place the filter media from the 10g in a clean pair of nylons or other mesh bag and hang it in the 10g so that the bacteria will stay alive.

You'll still need to leave it for at least a week or two to allow enough bacteria to uptake into the sponge for the 50g.

If you're using some other kind of filter, other people will have to comment about what you want to do; I only have experience with HOBs. ^^
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[loveforfish]

idk if I correctly stated my idea 100% accurate.

to break it down, this is my idea.

I have 2 tanks. one of which is a brand new 55 gallon, other is a brand new 10 gallon.

both tanks are vote of fish and have never been cycled.

my filter is a brand new penguin 350 dual biowheel.

I was thinking that if I put that filter on my new ten gallon, it would cycle the water way faster then on my big 55 gallon, thus allowing my filter to become mature faster.

right now I have 2 piece of mature media from a tank at my fish store in my filter so once it takes off I would amagein the cycel would be much faster in my 10 gallon and then once my filter is mature I could move it to my 55 gallon and I would be good to go?

[ceci9293]

Oh, so it's not a mature filter, just a bigger one? I don't think that's going to speed up the cycle. It will move the water faster is all. The bacteria still have to grow. The only way to speed up your cycle is to add live bacteria. You can use filter media from a mature tank and that will really help, or you can add some Biospira.

[loveforfish]

whats biospira. I was looking for pure ammonia today in the stores but no one had it and when I did find it it wasnt the right kind.

is biospira like a type of ammonia that gets the bactira growing.

what do you think about the stuff called cycle?

is that simmular to biospira?

[ceci9293]

Here's a webpage about the BioSpira. Essentially, it's live bacteria in a pouch. Cycle is supposed to be the same thing, but it's not the right kind of bacteria and doesn't really work. It can help matured aquariums deal with new bioload somewhat, but it doesn't do anything to establish new bacteria growth in a new tank.

If you can find it locally to you, just make sure they were refrigerating it, add it to your aquarium at the same time as fish (preferably dump it straight into the filter,) and also, don't add too many fish at once.