The Best Time To Add Established Media?

[jonnyf84]

Hi there, i am new to fish keeping so this probably sounds really silly but when is the best time to add the established media to a new tank as to speed the cycling process up? Do i add it when i put the first dosage of ammonia in or not until the nitrites show up?

Also if i use gravel as a media how much would i need, would a cup full be ok (say for a 100 litre tank)?

Finally i have access to a tank at my workplace and the nitrate level is higher than normal, would using media form this tank speed up the process even more?

I'm sorry for all the questions but i really want this to work. Many thanks in advance for reading this.

Jonny

 

[pastabake]

Put it in straight away as it should have both the bacteria for turning ammonia into nitrIte and nitrIte into nitrAte.

 

[aaronnorth]

Put the sponges in straight away then you can add fish approx 5 a week (depending on size), if you don't add fish then add amonnia otherwise the bacteria will die without a supply of ammonia

Don't know how much gravel would be needed, just enough to almost fill the chamber

No, it won't speed up process because nothing turns nitrates into asnything alse and that's why you have to do water changes, if it is higher than normal then you need to increase your w/c

 

[jonnyf84]

Put the sponges in straight away then you can add fish approx 5 a week (depending on size), if you don't add fish then add amonnia otherwise the bacteria will die without a supply of ammonia

Don't know how much gravel would be needed, just enough to almost fill the chamber

No, it won't speed up process because nothing turns nitrates into asnything alse and that's why you have to do water changes, if it is higher than normal then you need to increase your w/c

Great, thanks. Aaron what do you mean b the chamber? do you mean the tank itself of the filter chamber?

 

[aaronnorth]

Yes the filter compartment/ chamber, i couldn't think of name

 

[raptorrex]

Hi there, i am new to fish keeping so this probably sounds really silly but when is the best time to add the established media to a new tank as to speed the cycling process up? Do i add it when i put the first dosage of ammonia in or not until the nitrites show up?

Also if i use gravel as a media how much would i need, would a cup full be ok (say for a 100 litre tank)?

Finally i have access to a tank at my workplace and the nitrate level is higher than normal, would using media form this tank speed up the process even more?

I'm sorry for all the questions but i really want this to work. Many thanks in advance for reading this.

Jonny

first one is a good question. in theory adding mature media will give you an instant cycle, or very close to it, though this depends on the stocking in the donor tank, against your stocking. so i would be inclined to put it in when you start to see the nitrates drop. but i am sure we will find there are as many opinions on when to do it as there are members on the forum. i would not put the media in the filter, i would squeeze the sponges into your filter, after that i would put the media in a bag and pop it in the tank for a couple of weeks.

using the substrate as a bio area, well i find 2 and 1/2 inches does me fine.

take care when taking media from a tank, you really need to trust the donor. but one lot of mature media should be ok.