How Long To Mature My Filters?

[Rob5]

I have a 200litre tank which has been running for over a year now
 
I am planning to buy and set up a 30l cherry shrimp only tank
 
A week ago i placed two small internal filters, sponge only, into my tank
 
I am curious as to how long the filters will take to mature this way
 
Any feedback will be gratefully received
 
Rob

 

[The Taffy Apple]

Months, probably.
An easier option is take some of your already mature media from the filter/s in the big tank and transfer as much as you safely can into your new filter/s for your shrimp tank.
Job done.
 
Terry.

 

[fluttermoth]

If you can fit the sponges into the actual body of your main filter, you should get enough bacteria for a small shrimp tank in a month or so, although you should still do a (hopefully) shortened!) fishless cycle afterwards.
 
Just adding the filters to your main tank won't really mature them, for two reasons. The first is that your main filter will already have a large enough bacterial colony to deal with the waste from that stocking, so there won't be any 'spare' ammonia in the tank to feed a new colony. The second is that the bacteria are pretty 'fixed' to the media; you won't have bacteria loose in the water column to seed  a new filter. They will spread out onto material that's in contact with your old media, but they won't be able to 'migrate' to a completely new location.

 

[Rob5]

Thanks for that guys
 
I have just found an Aquanano 30 for £50, which i am seriously thinking of getting, which will now be perfect as it has a large filter compartment built in the back of the tank, perfect for putting some of my mature media into