Kick-start Cycling?

[Doug62]

Hi all,
I set up a 110 litre tank about 8 weeks ago and it is now running nicely with half a dozen guppies and 3 mollies (ready for some more additions). However, on discovery that 2 of the mollies are pregnant ive decided to set up a second smaller tank in my study (about 2ft) to use as a breeding tank. I was hoping to have it up to speed in a week or two, hopefully before the first molly gives birth so i was wondering if i can use filter material and water from my first tank to speed up the cycling? The orignal tank is a juwel with an internal filter and the second tank will be an undergravel filter with a powerhead. So i'm wondering, if put a sponge from my juwel tank filter straight into the second tank will this speed up the cycling? Secondly, if i do water changes on my orignal tank and put the water in my new tank, how often could i do them? Daily? Every other day? And finally, if i use an undergravel filter, does it HAVE to be gravel or can i use sand? i know this might sound daft but i wasnt sure if there needs to be space for bacteria to grown under the plate (which i would suspect would be filled up if i used sand.
Any help would be greatly appreciated
Cheers
Doug

 

[freddyk]

Using filter media from the old tank is the perfect way to jumstart the new cycle.

Using old water in the new tank for water changes is simply using dirty fish water to replace dirty fish water. Bacteria grows on surfaces and is not floating in the water column, so don't bother.

Sand is too dense to use with UGFs, the water can't be drawn through it properly, so stick to gravel, or better yet us a box or sponge filter instead, that way you can actually clean it.