Cycl New Rio 400

[berbie38]

hi all
i have just bought a shand rio 400 and am looking to transfer my malawi mbuna from my juwel 180 to the new tank.
in terms of cycling the tank i was wondering the best way to do this. I thought i would put the old media from the 180 into the 400 filter box alongside new 400 media and hopefully the tank will be cycled immediately?
woukd this be a feasible way of doing it obviously the 180 media would not fill the whole volume of the filter box and some if the water would pass by without going through the old media.
any help greatly appreciated
regards
berbie

 

[berbie38]

hi all
i have just bought a shand rio 400 and am looking to transfer my malawi mbuna from my juwel 180 to the new tank.
in terms of cycling the tank i was wondering the best way to do this. I thought i would put the old media from the 180 into the 400 filter box alongside new 400 media and hopefully the tank will be cycled immediately?
woukd this be a feasible way of doing it obviously the 180 media would not fill the whole volume of the filter box and some if the water would pass by without going through the old media.
any help greatly appreciated
regards
berbie

 

[toshapetriji]

So long as the bio load does not change then you can consider the new filter to be cycled.

 

[max1e]

i would put half of your old media into your new filter and leave it to run for a few days, and top up the old filter at the same time and keep moving it across bit by bit. if you're able to of course. (just one way) good luck with the new tank

 

[Aquascaper]

If you are moving all the fish over then move all the filter media. That media has the capacity to deal with those fishes bioload already so adding it to extra new media won't cause a problem.

Check water parameters for a mini cycle daily just in case and be prepared for some large water changes.

 

[Aquascaper]

If you are moving all the fish over then move all the filter media. That media has the capacity to deal with those fishes bioload already so adding it to extra new media won't cause a problem.

Check water parameters for a mini cycle daily just in case and be prepared for some large water changes.

 

[berbie38]

If you are moving all the fish over then move all the filter media. That media has the capacity to deal with those fishes bioload already so adding it to extra new media won't cause a problem.

Check water parameters for a mini cycle daily just in case and be prepared for some large water changes.

ok cool gonna have to squash it in between the new media, how long before i can take out the old media might just take it out a bit at a time.

 

[Aquascaper]

Once you readings are stable for a week remove small pieces (no more than 1/4 of the old stuff) a week at a time and keep checking parameters.

I don't know of any scientific data on propagation speeds of bacteria so it's a bit of a guess really.

 

[Essjay]

If you are woried about the difference in size of the filter media, cut up some new sponge and fill in any gaps. That will stop the water being able to bypass the old media.

 

[Aquascaper]

And put all the old media in the first available chambers ofthe new filter so that water passes through them first.