Pre-Starting A New Filter?

[noobWITHaPROBLEM]

So I'm setting up yet another tank and I would love to do it right this time..
It's a 35 gal tank and I just bought the AquaClear power filter 40 - 70 gal.
Now, can I prestart the cycle in a running cycled 8 month old tank?
The old tank is a 28 gal bowfront. I was also considering moving half of the running media to the new filter at the same time.. ?

 

[dh058977]

You can use the media from an established tank to seed the new filter but I wouldnt move anymore than about 1/3 of the media.

 

[noobWITHaPROBLEM]

You can use the media from an established tank to seed the new filter but I wouldnt move anymore than about 1/3 of the media.

What about adding the new filter to the old tank?
old tank is 28 gal and new filter is 40 - 70 gal
it would be runnig there in addition to the original filter..

 

[noobWITHaPROBLEM]

bump..

 

[fluttermoth]

Adding the new filter to the old tank probably won't do much. The current filter will (hopefully!) be processing all the ammonia the current fish are producing, so there won't be enough 'spare' ammonia to similate a new colony to form in the new filter.

The best way (and the way most of us with multiple tanks seed a new one), is to take up to a third of the mature media, replacing it with new, and stocking the new tank with no more than the old media was supporting (so, if your old tank had 10 guppies, and you take a third of the media, you could add 2 or 3 guppies to the new tank).

You must add the new fish to the new tank within a day or two of adding the mature media, or the bacteria will die off. Or you can run a fishless cycle on the new tank, just using the mature media to give you a head start.

Both tanks must be fed lightly and tested often for the first week, in case of 'mini cycles', where the bacteria die back slightly after being disturbed.

 

[noobWITHaPROBLEM]

Adding the new filter to the old tank probably won't do much. The current filter will (hopefully!) be processing all the ammonia the current fish are producing, so there won't be enough 'spare' ammonia to similate a new colony to form in the new filter.

The best way (and the way most of us with multiple tanks seed a new one), is to take up to a third of the mature media, replacing it with new, and stocking the new tank with no more than the old media was supporting (so, if your old tank had 10 guppies, and you take a third of the media, you could add 2 or 3 guppies to the new tank).

You must add the new fish to the new tank within a day or two of adding the mature media, or the bacteria will die off. Or you can run a fishless cycle on the new tank, just using the mature media to give you a head start.

Both tanks must be fed lightly and tested often for the first week, in case of 'mini cycles', where the bacteria die back slightly after being disturbed.

i have also another tank that is having ammonia problems right now.... what if i put the new filter on that tank... would it help me out at all? cycle both filters at the same tank? im getting a reading of 1ppm ammonia every day....

 

[fluttermoth]

The trouble you'll have running two filters in one tank, is that each filter will hold half the bacteria needed for the bioload of the fish in the tank; when you take out one filter, you'll be losing half the bacteria, which is really too much.

 

[Tizer]

A weeks worth of testing and water changes after the removal of one should see the bacteria multiply enough to support it though, it grows at a much faster rate once its fully established.