Seeding Filters

[blainep]

With the recent large increase in my fish population, I no longer have a quarantine tank.
With some new livestock coming and the lack of a qt tank, I need to get some filters maturing.

I use AquaClear 20 ( mini ) filters on my smaller tanks and quarantine tanks.

Internet research suggests that it takes anywhere from a day to a month to mature a filter in an already established tank.

What's your opinion ?

[thegrandpoohbah]

I've had a bunch of problems with tanks cycling lately and not enough established media to go around. So I say, better safe than sorry.

[Melody]

Now me, I can just chuck a handful or two of gravel in the tank and it does fine. I prefer to both seed the filter and chuck the handfuls in, but I forgot when using 20G gravel once to seed a 33G, so it only had the gravel, not filter. I put almost a full load on it from day two, monitored, never saw a spike, not even a little one.

The smaller the tank, the more careful you need to be though. However, if you take a handful of gravel from an established tank and a sponge that's been used for 2 weeks, you should be fine.

Recently I tore down the 33G and bleached it, gravel & all, even the filter. I put new filter pads in and used a piece of well-used filter pad from an established tank inside one of the new pads. It was so well-used, it fell apart so I couldn't use the whole thing as I intended. Threw a full load on it, probably overloaded if you count snails. Never saw a spike. This is monitoring with a test kit and there's a permanent ammonia monitor in the tank.

So while I don't doubt Mr. GP's experience and it could bite me on the butt anytime, so far I haven't needed much for cycling a tank. Having said that, I know what to watch for so I don't have to rely totally on tests - I wouldn't recommend it to the inexperienced. You of course, are not inexperienced and niether is Mr. GP - he got his spike, he watched his tank occupants and he acted when he knew he should. :Applaud:

You can also move ornaments and plants into the new tanks - there's bacteria on them too. Get as many live plants in there as you can, floaters rock for preventing spikes.

Try to supply as many places as you can for the bacterial colony to establish. That could be what saves me in fact - I overfilter. All of my tanks over 20G's have filter pad systems, which includes two big pads with coral in them, the 90G has 2 filters, 4 pads - that's a lot of surface.

I recently began adding box filters, layer of floss, layer of coral, layer of floss. I can steal floss from other box filters to help seed the bacteria, or just leave it as an extra filter bed for the establishing tank. You can get a lot of floss into those box filters, so if you have to seed a lot of tanks, I'd get one of those going in an established tank right away. They're something like $4 at Zellers and only need a pump to operate. Those little babies are what I use in my smaller quarantine / breeding / brood tanks, so I can take them down and set them up at will.

[Pamelajo]

I have not had a tank cycle on me since my very first. I use over sized aqua clears on all my tanks and each has two foams. When starting up a new tank, I steal one sponge from one of my other tanks or two from separate sources depending on what is going in that tank. Never had any spikes. Sometimes using gravel and ornaments from an existing tank. The first couple of times I did this I monitored with test lits and never saw any kind of a spike. Six tanks later......

[fishenthusiast]

If you are putting a brand new filter in an already established tank I would say it would take a while for the bacterial colony to really establish itself. If you need to set up a tank in a hurry I would suggest putting an established filter media in the new tank. Like Pamelajo when I set up new tanks I take a used filter foam from my filter in my 55G and put a new one in its place. I then put the established foam in with a new foam in the new tank and I have never had a problem.

[Pamelajo]

If starting from scratch I believe 4 - 6 weeks is the cycling time.

[blainep]

I know with a new tank and new equipment, cycling takes a month or more.
I have, on more than one occasion, managed to 'fake' cycling.
Although I don't keep my quarantine tanks running 24/7/365, I do keep one or more HOB filters running on established tanks.
That way when it's time for a new tank or I need to quarantine, I have mature filters ready to go.

Right now, I'm running at full capacity, even my qt tank is in use for my newest arrivals.
I now have more livestock on the way, poor timing I know, but I've been looking for dwarf orange crays for nearly a year. I simply couldn't pass up the chance to get these guys and gals.

This means I need 3 maybe 4 tanks ready to go in short order.

I always use fast growing stem and floating plants to eat up ammonia, and, until now, I've always had a mature filter to add to a new tank.
Now I'm facing new tanks with unprepared filters, so I pose the question, how long does it take to get a new filter well seeded, in order to prevent loss of what is essentially irreplaceable livestock ?

Interesting, most of my livestock, thanks to Melody and Mykiss, is now rare, expensive, hard to replace creatures. Better be sure I'm doing things right !

[Melody]

I'd use gravel from the most established tanks you have. Get the sponges in the established tanks now - floating will do, the bacteria still populates, just not as much. When you set up the tanks with the occupants, take a well-established sponge and squeeze it over the sponge in the new filter - LOTS of bacteria in there. You can do that every day or two for that matter. Its basically the same thing as 'Cycle' products, except this method actually works...lol.

Feed VERY sparingly. They're lucky to find a tiny morsal here and there in the wild, they'll be just fine. My guideline is I take whatever amount that I consider 'very sparing' and cut it in half. They can easily be fed every other day.

Pick up some of those permanent ammonia monitors too - ammonia is your first signal that you're cycling.

Good luck!

[blainep]

I've been using permanent ammonia monitors for quite a while now.

A little DUH factor on my own part also, as I stand in the fishroom, wondering how I'm going to get seeded filter media, staring at the condo, not even realizing I have 14 AC 20 HOB filters sitting on the drain pipes for the tanks. :err:

14 foam filters with tank water flowing thru them, Hmmmmm, can't be any bacteria colonies on those could there. ;)

Feed sparingly she says, how can I feed sparingly with all those little faces at the glass saying FEED ME FEEEEED ME

[Melody]

LOL That's wonderful Blaine, I know you were really worried.:) Santa will have to fill your stocking with test kits.