Little Filter In With Big Filter

[Fish_Man43]

Hello and good afternoon

Today i got myself a little mini filter to go with my other filter, so if i wanted to use the mini filter for a Q tank how long will it take to grow the beneficial bacteria, to start using in a Q tank? as you can't test the water and the other filter as put all stats right. So is it down to guest work?

 

[Monty-2010]

it should take about 4 weeksish for all the bacteria to grow

 

[Fish_Man43]

it should take about 4 weeksish for all the bacteria to grow

Thanks as i'm buying another Q tank this week as i give my other small 8 gallon to my daughter to place a betta

 

[fishnovice]

Add a small piece of sponge from old filter to new filter to clone it and transfer good bacteria. Works well, speeds up the process

 

[Fish_Man43]

Add a small piece of sponge from old filter to new filter to clone it and transfer good bacteria. Works well, speeds up the process

Thank's should of thought of thank myself :stupid: Just done it as in my filter sponge i have a hole in the middle for carbon as i don't use this i added some fine wool so i put that in to the new filter

 

[hamfist]

it should take about 4 weeksish for all the bacteria to grow

Difficult to have a catagoric answer for this but I'd guess more like 1 week than 4.

A completely virgin tank/filter will take 4-8 weeks to colonise and cycle, but in the OP's scenario, all the right bacteria are already in the system (and will be floating around the water in noticable numbers too) due to the mature filter.
The new filter will start to be colonised by all those "right" bacteria immediately, and in an inhabited tank there will be nutrients for the bacteria to grow, so will be potentially doubling in numbers every 18 hours (or so).
Each different tank/filter combination will be slightly different of course, but its very, very similar to seeding a new virgin filter/tank with a small amount of mature media And I know that in that situation one can get a fully cycled and relatively mature filter in 3 days, in the right environment.

 

[bitteraspects]

if your tank is already established, the new filter may never "grow".
your tank will only culture enough bacteria to balance the system. so unless you are adding more fish or a steady source of ammonia, your tank will not likely grow any additional bacteria.
if all your bacteria is housed in one filter, and you want to split it between the two, you can pull the media out of one filter and place it directly in the tank. however, this does not mean you will ultimately end up with an even amount of bacteria in ach. just because you add a second filter, does not mean half of the currently established bacteria colony will move to the new filter. this will be greatly dependent on things like turnover and circulation.

your best bet is to simply remove some of the media from your current filter, and place it directly in the new filter. then you can establish your new QT very quickly. (or even immediately, depending on the situation.)