How Do U Start A Fry Tank?

[defoecurtis]

hello all, iv got a empty tank and want to put fry into it.. the tank came with a sponge filter thats driven by air...iv put this into my main tank to build up the bacteria on it.
 
how long does it need to be in the main tank for before i put it in the fry tank?
 
and how would u fill the fry tank? main tank water % and clean water %?
 
then how long would you leave till butting fry into the tank?
 
many thanks in advance!

 

[the_lock_man]

Just putting the filter in a cycled tank won't do a huge amount - because the existing bacteria are dealing with the current ammonia levels, there's no reason to grow any more on the sponge filter. Eventually some will form there (6-8 weeks), but at the expense of the existing colonies.
 
Your best bet, really, is to set the fry tank up as if it was your first ever tank, fresh water, etc., and fishless cycle with ammonia - but you can seed the filter with some of the sponge from the main filter.

 

[defoecurtis]

Just putting the filter in a cycled tank won't do a huge amount - because the existing bacteria are dealing with the current ammonia levels, there's no reason to grow any more on the sponge filter. Eventually some will form there (6-8 weeks), but at the expense of the existing colonies.
 
Your best bet, really, is to set the fry tank up as if it was your first ever tank, fresh water, etc., and fishless cycle with ammonia - but you can seed the filter with some of the sponge from the main filter.

 
 
is they a faster way has my nets and breading boxes are getting a bit full. how do you seed the filter with the sponge, do u just sqeeze the sponge into the water and then leave the sponge in the tank for so many days..
 
i thought they could be a faster way has u cant wait 6-8 week to set up a hospital tank?

 

[sputnick]

well part of having a spare tank on hand to use as a hospital tank is having a spare cycled filter also. Many people run a spare filter on their main tank and if they need to they can transfer it over to the other tank. That way they can have a cycled tank at a moments notice. One way to possibly seed a new sponge filter would be to take a sponge out of a cycled filter and wrap it around or put it on top of the uncycled sponge. Just squeezing a cycled sponge out onto an uncycled one wont do anything. With the sponges being next to each other the bacteria that has colonized your cycled sponge will start to grow and colonize onto your uncycled sponge. After a while (2-3 weeks I believe is the standard time, someone correct me if I'm wrong about that.) and your sponge should then be cycled. 

 

[Mrsdubs]

Ive recently set up a fry tank, it came with a small internal filter but not the air driven type so I simply cut a piece of sponge out of my existing external fiter and used a few ceramic noodle type things In there aswell, so it was basically an instant cycle

The fastest was to cycle the air driven sponge would be to insert only the sponge part in to your existing filter for a week or so then once setup in the fry tank ensure you check levels and keep to regular water changes, I do a 50% water change every other day on my fry tank to help with growth