old tank empty

[Briarmoor]

Q1: Now that all the fish are in the 20g, I am wondering the best way to keep bene bac in the 10g until I seed the new 20g and can hook the 10g filter back up on the old tank? Will putting some fish waste in the old tank be enough? I am having so much trouble with ammonia in my fishless cycle on the 55g that I am hesitant to use it if I can avoid it. I am running the heater and bubble wand in the empty 10g to keep the water warm and aerated.

Q2: Should I leave just enough water to cover the gravel? Change the water down to the gravel (the tank was due before I moved the fish) and leave enough to cover the heater and wand and gravel? Or how much water should be left in there and changed or not? Right now the 10g is about 3/4 full.

Anything else you listers can think of?

Thanks!

P.

 

[rdd1952]

If you have pure ammonia (could also use fish food) you can just add a few drops each day as if you were cycling it. I have an empty 5 gallon now that I have been using as a quarantine tank. I add a few drops every few days just to keep the bacteria fed. I also have a filter running on it though. I think you moved your filter out if this tank to help cycle the other one. You could probably just put and airstone in the empty tank to get some aeration and keep the water moving a bit.

 

[Briarmoor]

Thanks, rdd! I have an air wand going in there along with the heater. Am noticing a good bit of algae setting up. Should I go ahead and change the water out down to the gravel (vacuum?) to get some of that out of there or do I want that waste in there to feed the benebac while no fish are in there?

Once the 20g is for sure okay (levels looked great today, some nitrates and no nitrites), I'll move the filter back to the 10g and figure out what I want in there. I am thinking a nice pack of black neons might be good. Looking for ideas. One tank at a time.

P.

 

[rdd1952]

If you have algae, you probably should do a good gravel vac and large water change. Algae growth means there are nutrients in the water or on the bottom. It won't actually turn into waste unless it's food source is gone, it will continue to grow so getting it out is probably the best option