Someone, another MOD really, pointed out that we do not have a good reference thread on how to go about cloning a filter. As this is the right section for just such a thread, I am going to make the attempt.
Cloning is the term we use for taking a mature filter and making a new fully cycled filter from it. On this forum that has been used for quite some time to include both the results of using loaned media in a new filter and using other methods of establishing a cycled filter using something from a mature filter's media. Let's take this one step at a time. Any mature filter can serve to establish a new fully cycled filter. A simple thumb rule for using media from one filter to start another in another tank is to never take more than 1/3 of an established filter for use in the new one unless you are simply moving the media from one filter to another and will simply be using that new filter in place of the old one.
A first method, perhaps the easiest, is to place a sample of mature filter media into a new filter and let its bacterial colony spread to the new filter's media. This is the method that we contemplated using when we set up the thread for people to donate mature media to new fish keepers as shown here. When we use this method we simply take some mature filter media and place it into the flow path of a new filter. It is best if the new media is in a position that allows its bacterial contents to be easily passed along to the rest of that new filter. First in the line of the flow is often the position of choice for any donated media of that type. That method will support whatever number of fish were originally being supported by that sample of filter media. It can also be used as a way to jump start a new filter to do a fishless or fish-in cycle for a larger population.
Another common way to establish a rapid cycle using mature bacteria from a filter is to use filter "squeezings" from the established filter. The squeezings are not as robust a sample as physical media samples so they cannot be relied on right away to support any fish. This method can also be used when working with someone who is unwilling to give you a sample of their filter media. Ask them instead to squeeze out a filter sponge, etc. into a bag of water and you can take that bag home to start your new filter's cycle. What you want to do with that sample is place it so that the new filter will suck up the water that you go from the cleaned filter. That water will contain a rich sample of the correct filter bacteria for you to establish your new filter's bacterial colony but may also contain things you do not want in your tank. A lot depends on how much you trust the source to have clean tanks with no diseases.
A final way that I have found successful in my own tanks is a simple variation of the filter "squeezings" method. Rather than rely on a sample from my someone else, I take a filter from a well established tank and use my new tank, with the filter operating, as the cleaning bucket for my established filter. By cleaning the established filter I end up with a sample of the exact right beneficial bacteria on the new filter. Again this is not enough to use right away but it does shorten my typical fishless cycle to about a week.
Almost any of these methods rely on you doing some followup action. Once you have established a viable bacterial colony of the right bacteria, you must grow it to become a fully functional biological filter. That is done by using the fishless cycle or even the fish-in cycle method already detailed in other threads. The fishless cycle approach still needs to use some ammonia to develop the seeding into a fully functional filter while a fish-in cycle relies on you doing water changes as needed until the newly seeded filter is mature enough to handle the bioload on its own.
Any other people who have done successful filter media swaps, please feel free to add to this content until I post it as a pinned topic.
Cloning is the term we use for taking a mature filter and making a new fully cycled filter from it. On this forum that has been used for quite some time to include both the results of using loaned media in a new filter and using other methods of establishing a cycled filter using something from a mature filter's media. Let's take this one step at a time. Any mature filter can serve to establish a new fully cycled filter. A simple thumb rule for using media from one filter to start another in another tank is to never take more than 1/3 of an established filter for use in the new one unless you are simply moving the media from one filter to another and will simply be using that new filter in place of the old one.
A first method, perhaps the easiest, is to place a sample of mature filter media into a new filter and let its bacterial colony spread to the new filter's media. This is the method that we contemplated using when we set up the thread for people to donate mature media to new fish keepers as shown here. When we use this method we simply take some mature filter media and place it into the flow path of a new filter. It is best if the new media is in a position that allows its bacterial contents to be easily passed along to the rest of that new filter. First in the line of the flow is often the position of choice for any donated media of that type. That method will support whatever number of fish were originally being supported by that sample of filter media. It can also be used as a way to jump start a new filter to do a fishless or fish-in cycle for a larger population.
Another common way to establish a rapid cycle using mature bacteria from a filter is to use filter "squeezings" from the established filter. The squeezings are not as robust a sample as physical media samples so they cannot be relied on right away to support any fish. This method can also be used when working with someone who is unwilling to give you a sample of their filter media. Ask them instead to squeeze out a filter sponge, etc. into a bag of water and you can take that bag home to start your new filter's cycle. What you want to do with that sample is place it so that the new filter will suck up the water that you go from the cleaned filter. That water will contain a rich sample of the correct filter bacteria for you to establish your new filter's bacterial colony but may also contain things you do not want in your tank. A lot depends on how much you trust the source to have clean tanks with no diseases.
A final way that I have found successful in my own tanks is a simple variation of the filter "squeezings" method. Rather than rely on a sample from my someone else, I take a filter from a well established tank and use my new tank, with the filter operating, as the cleaning bucket for my established filter. By cleaning the established filter I end up with a sample of the exact right beneficial bacteria on the new filter. Again this is not enough to use right away but it does shorten my typical fishless cycle to about a week.
Almost any of these methods rely on you doing some followup action. Once you have established a viable bacterial colony of the right bacteria, you must grow it to become a fully functional biological filter. That is done by using the fishless cycle or even the fish-in cycle method already detailed in other threads. The fishless cycle approach still needs to use some ammonia to develop the seeding into a fully functional filter while a fish-in cycle relies on you doing water changes as needed until the newly seeded filter is mature enough to handle the bioload on its own.
Any other people who have done successful filter media swaps, please feel free to add to this content until I post it as a pinned topic.
Very useful and clearly written!
