Fish In Cycle Without Water Changes?

[VespertineStar]

Got a new Fluval canister the other day and while flipping through the user manual I came across the page that describes different media you can buy. One of the was an ammonia removal media. Now I'm no expert here at all and it's just a question I'd like an answer to; I'm not planning on doing a fish in cycle (mainly because even after 3 tanks I've still got 3/4 of a bottle of ammonia left lol )

Could you stick some of this ammonia removal media in the last basket of the filter, thereby exposing the sponge and other media to ammonia so bacteria can build up whilst leaving the output of the filter relatively ammonia free? Would this then reduce the need for twice daily water changes? Would it even work at all?

Since most people who end up in a fish in cycle don't have time to learn why they shouldn't have done it and why they need to perform a lot of water changes before they actually need to do them wouldn't it be great if this method worked?

 

[snowflake311]

If you have an established tank you can seed your new filter with the old media. And pretty much your tank will be instantly cycled. BUT with this method you need to slowly add fish to the tank.

I do it all the time for my hospital tank. I keep an extra sponge in one of the filters. When I need to set it up I take one sponge out and put it in the hospital tank filter and I am done the tank is cycled.

 

[VespertineStar]

Thanks but all the filters I have had in the past have been single sponge only, I was really just on about a hypothetical situation and whether this would help people who find themselves in a fish in cycle that might not have the time for lots of water changes.