I have a 28l fish 2tank with a large filter in it with additional media, established about 6 months.
Yesterday in anticipation of setting up a second tank, I added a second, small filter and put in a small handful of the established media. Both were topped up with new media.
Today I removed the large filter and put it in the new 60l tank - forgetting that I hadn't dechlorinated the water. It was about 5 minutes before I realised my mistake and dechlorinated. I'm worried now that I killed the bacteria!
The 28l tank showed some nitrites 0.25 this morning after the change but they are now back down to 0. The small filter looks fine.
The 60l tank I have added 2ppm ammonia to see if it is processed by tomorrow. Right now it's showing some nitrites 0.5 and a hint of nitrates <5.
The question: How long does it take for bacteria to establish on the new media? Can I take some of the undamaged established media from the small filter again to put in the large filter? If so, how much can I take without negatively affecting the existing tank? If not, how long should I wait before taking media to seed?
Yesterday in anticipation of setting up a second tank, I added a second, small filter and put in a small handful of the established media. Both were topped up with new media.
Today I removed the large filter and put it in the new 60l tank - forgetting that I hadn't dechlorinated the water. It was about 5 minutes before I realised my mistake and dechlorinated. I'm worried now that I killed the bacteria!
The 28l tank showed some nitrites 0.25 this morning after the change but they are now back down to 0. The small filter looks fine.
The 60l tank I have added 2ppm ammonia to see if it is processed by tomorrow. Right now it's showing some nitrites 0.5 and a hint of nitrates <5.
The question: How long does it take for bacteria to establish on the new media? Can I take some of the undamaged established media from the small filter again to put in the large filter? If so, how much can I take without negatively affecting the existing tank? If not, how long should I wait before taking media to seed?