Cycling Query

[MHunt]

By splitting the mature media we mean take some, perhaps half of the mature sponges out of the established filter, and put that somewhere in the new one.

What kind of filters do you have? From your last post i guess you have a canister on the existing tank. If you have a canister on the new one too that makes the task very easy.

 

[Wishful]

By splitting the mature media we mean take some, perhaps half of the mature sponges out of the established filter, and put that somewhere in the new one.

What kind of filters do you have? From your last post i guess you have a canister on the existing tank. If you have a canister on the new one too that makes the task very easy.

Yes we have a Fluval 205 on the old tank and an Eheim 2076 Professional 3e on the new one. I gather from my other half that putting old media into the new filter now that it's set up is rather difficult because it has a servicing system on it of some sort and breaking the seal on it now will cause that to get screwed up somehow.

 

[MHunt]

I don't know those particular filters myself so you'll have to look at how that works. I don't believe there's no way to stop the filter and start it again though it's just a case of looking at the manuals and see how they advise you to do it. How else do you do maintenance on the filters?

 

[Wishful]

I don't know those particular filters myself so you'll have to look at how that works. I don't believe there's no way to stop the filter and start it again though it's just a case of looking at the manuals and see how they advise you to do it. How else do you do maintenance on the filters?

To be honest I'm not sure - we'll have to have a good look at the manual, but I think this filter is designed to only require maintenance every six months or something.
If I can't find the answer in the manual I'll have to email Eheim.
If it is awkward, what do you think about putting the sponges from the old filter actually into the new tank in a bag?

 

[MHunt]

You could place the bag next to the filter inlet or outlet so it gets good circulation, or you could also squeeze out the sponges into the tank and that should give it a biological kick start too, but not as effective as leaving the media in the tank.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

yeah the media needs to have a good flow rate through it for it to be effective so you'd have to be careful where you placed it.

Don't get me wrong I'm not knocking you for cyclign with fish, I did it on my first 2 tanks, didn't even know fishless cycling existed. And when done correctly you can get through it with no casualties. However it is dangerous, your exposing your fish to potentially deadly levels of ammonia and nitrite, and when you have mature media in your house already so could relativley easily not expose them to it then you should really try to do that.

There will be some way of opening up the filter, then just take half the sponges or whatever media you have in it and swap them all around so each filter has half old media and half new media.

 

[vinylman]

The tank is actually 66 gallons. I think we'll go and find some White Cloud Mountain Minnows that will shoal with the smaller danios.

Great link - thanks.

Don't forget that White Clouds are cold/cool water fish. Putting them in with Danios will compromise the best interests of one or the other.

 

[Wishful]

Don't forget that White Clouds are cold/cool water fish. Putting them in with Danios will compromise the best interests of one or the other.

Ah! The book I usually consult puts all the information about Danios into one lump for all of them and gives a temperature range for the group. Just checked my other book and that says a max temp in summer of 22 degrees. Thanks for the warning, I'd missed that!

Not White Cloud Mountain Minnows then...

 

[Wishful]

yeah the media needs to have a good flow rate through it for it to be effective so you'd have to be careful where you placed it.

Don't get me wrong I'm not knocking you for cyclign with fish, I did it on my first 2 tanks, didn't even know fishless cycling existed. And when done correctly you can get through it with no casualties. However it is dangerous, your exposing your fish to potentially deadly levels of ammonia and nitrite, and when you have mature media in your house already so could relativley easily not expose them to it then you should really try to do that.

There will be some way of opening up the filter, then just take half the sponges or whatever media you have in it and swap them all around so each filter has half old media and half new media.

Which media is it best to mix between the two filters? Thing is that the Fluval uses 4 long sponges and two types of clay media. The Ehiem has one huge sponge (which would never fit in the smaller filter) and two types of clay media. Thus the clay ones could be easily shared but I can't see how the sponges could be shared at all. Maybe I'll have to email Eheim and ask them what they suggest.

The water parameters haven't changed at all at the moment and the fish are happy and eating so I'm quite keen to think about it and take the best course of action rather than make quick decisions and do this and that and then land up making the whole situation worse.

If we were to put the sponges from the old filter directly into the tank would we be at risk of releasing ammonia or nitrite direct into the tank along with the good bacteria and causing a spike? Also, do people think that adding rocks or some gravel from the established tank into the new one would help?

Thanks for everyone's help on this.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

no don't rush things, make sure your happy with whatever descision you make

you can just cut the sponges up to fit whatever spaces you have so that shouldn't be a problem. I'd share some of that out and some of the clay stuff