Starting Up New Tank....sort Of

[Trillian]

I just bought a littel 2 gallon aquarium with all the neccessary pumps and filters to house my molly fry hopefully until they are large enough to put back into the main tank (ther are 4 of them). I have never had to start up a new tank before and I'm wondering if I set it up entirely with gravel, plants, and water from my already established tank, if the new tank will still need to go through a cycling period before I can use it? Or will the water, gravel and plants from the established tank provide enough of the right bacteria etc to allow the new tank to be used right away. They molly fry are curretly in a breeding trap but they are already growing and I don't want them to get stressed from being in such a small space for too long. I do have a bit time to play with though as they are only 1.5 weeks old.

 

[dthoffsett]

Putting gravel and plants from you existing tank is a great idea, you don't need to use the water though as the bacteria grows on surfaces, though there are trace amounts in the water. However, if you can spare a week, run your new filter in your establish tank before moving over everything (the filter, gravel, and plant). That would be cloning a tank. I like to keep a close eye on my water stats for a couple of weeks after I clone a tank, but I haven't had a mini cycle yet. Good luck.

 

[Trillian]

Oh fantastic, thanks so much for your help. I will set the tank up a week ahead of time.

 

[dthoffsett]

Actually you don't have to set the tank up until the day you want to add the fry. Just run the new filter in the old tank for a week, then the day you add fry add everything, (gravel, plants, filter, water) to the new tank, be sure to get the temp of the water close to where you want it (a few degrees cooler will work) and then wait a couple of hours to let the water get up to temp, then add fish. As I said, keep a close eye on the stats for a couple of weeks, all should be well. Good luck!