If you put an established filter in a new

[Rob_G]

....take for it to turn all the nirtite to nitrate ?

Just curious because I'm cycling a new tank from an established one by adding the plants and rocks and some of the filter material.

Thks.

Rob.

 

[littlefishie]

My tank took about 2 days to establish itself properly after adding established filter material. I used my boyfriend's guppies as an ammonia source to keep the bacteria alive.

 

[Tolak]

Depending on the bio load, the tank should be cycled almost instantly. Let's say you have a bare 20 gallon with 10 guppies & 2 AC minis. If you get another 20 gallon, put in 5 guppies, 1 filter, & half the tank water, it is cycled. I always keep spare filters running in a few tanks for this reason.

Tolak

 

[SirMinion]

Thats how we did it when setting up a tank in an emergency when we got Cookie (rescued puffer)

We floated his bag in the community tank then went out and bought a new tank, stand, heater, light, filter and all the trimmings, then set it up using filter media, sand & water from two mature tanks.

Time from purchase of tank to adding fish: 2 hours.

Very careful monitoring of parameters showed the tank stayed perfectly stable as if it was a mature tank.

Of course, there's only Cookie and a bristlenose in the tank, so the bio-load is quite low.