Fishless Cycle on my first tank.

[Lewis H]

I have just set up my first aquarium. Well i say first, i have a 10l that i had a couple zebra danios in for a month or so, i then found out about fishless cycling and returned them to my lfs. So for a few weeks the tank has been empty bar some snails that came in on plants. For the few weeks that the tank has been *empty* i havent done any water changes.

I am going to begin fishless cycling my new 140l tank with flakes. My question is can i use the decor and filter pads from my 10l to help speed up the process?

The 10l parameters are as follows (without a water change for 3weeks ish) :
Ammonia - 0.2
nitrite - 0
nitrate - 10-20

The test kit is a ntlabs or aquarium lab test kit, not sure on the name?

Should i just cycle with flakes or use the filter pads aswell as the flakes?

Thanks!

 

[seangee]

Did you leave the filter running on the empty tank? Its filter doesn't appear to be cycled. There may be some benefit in moving the pads into your new filter - but only if it has been running continuosly. If not you are probably better off starting from scratch.

 

[Lewis H]

Did you leave the filter running on the empty tank? Its filter doesn't appear to be cycled. There may be some benefit in moving the pads into your new filter - but only if it has been running continuosly. If not you are probably better off starting from scratch.

yes the filter has been running non stop!

 

[Colin_T]

yes move it into the new tank and it will help speed the process up

 

[Lewis H]

yes move it into the new tank and it will help speed the process up

do them parameters indicate that it has cycled then?

 

[Essjay]

It is impossible to say from just one set of test results whether it is cycled or not. The only way to know for sure is to add ammonia and see what the readings are 24 hours later.
And even if the small tank is fully cycled, the media only have enough bacteria for the amount of fish that will fit in a 10 l tank. The new 140 l will need a lot more bacteria to support a tank full of fish.

The best way to proceed is to move all the media in the new tank's filter. If necessary, take some of the new media out to make room. Then add ammonia following the instructions in here http://www.fishforums.net/threads/cycling-your-new-fresh-water-tank-read-this-first.421488/
Any bacteria in the small tank's media will help the cycle in the new tank to go much faster.