Using Mature Media To Cycle New Tank

[yabadaba]

Guys, I've finally set up my new 5ft tank and now need to cycle it. My plan is to 'kick-start' things by taking some of the mature media from the Fluval U3 I have running in my 60 litre tank and placing it in the new filter, an Eheim 2080.

Please can anyone advise what media I should actually transfer across - one of the foam pads, some of the biomax, both? Also, where in the Eheim 2080 should I place this media for best results? The 2080 has three media baskets, the first having one type of media and the other two having another. I'm guessing that one of these might encourage beneficial bacterial growth more than the other.

 

[yvez9]

i'm guessing biomax is some sort of porous material. I'd use that if it's the case. Just put it in the basket where you would use biomax and mix it with some new media. put fish immediately or fishless cycle it and bacteria will colonize very fast.

if you go with the fish option, you'll have to stock a little bit at a tiome, wait at least a week before adding additional fish.

 

[waterdrop]

Here are some of the things I've learned here on TFF about using mature media successfully: Don't take more than about 1/3 of the mature media of the donor filter. It shouldn't matter much whether you take sponge or biomax if both are mature in the filter. Both should have lots of biofilms on their surfaces. I'd try to work them into the bottom basket of the 2080 so that they can colonize the surrounding new media and work upward since the water flows up from bottom to top through the baskets.

Although mature media seeding is the very best way to speed up a fishless cycle, there is an element of unpredictableness to it and if you really want to assure yourself that you have produced a robust, sufficient biofilter prior to introducing fish, its best to take your time and follow the good add and wait process that's well-documented between RDDs excellent article and many, many threads archived over in the beginner section. If the biofilter has not reached the point where it can drop a 5ppm ammonia dosing to zero ppm ammonia and nitrites(NO2) within 12 hours and repeat this daily feat reliably for a week then there's a reasonable chance that either the ammonia or nitrite will come back on you when you do the first fish introduction. Using fish as the ammonia source of course risks leaving them with an unpredictable amount of gill and nerve damage and sometimes subjects you to laborious water changing that could have been avoided using the simple fishless cycling techniques that have been refined over the last twenty years or more.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[yabadaba]

Here are some of the things I've learned here on TFF about using mature media successfully: Don't take more than about 1/3 of the mature media of the donor filter. It shouldn't matter much whether you take sponge or biomax if both are mature in the filter. Both should have lots of biofilms on their surfaces. I'd try to work them into the bottom basket of the 2080 so that they can colonize the surrounding new media and work upward since the water flows up from bottom to top through the baskets.

Although mature media seeding is the very best way to speed up a fishless cycle, there is an element of unpredictableness to it and if you really want to assure yourself that you have produced a robust, sufficient biofilter prior to introducing fish, its best to take your time and follow the good add and wait process that's well-documented between RDDs excellent article and many, many threads archived over in the beginner section. If the biofilter has not reached the point where it can drop a 5ppm ammonia dosing to zero ppm ammonia and nitrites(NO2) within 12 hours and repeat this daily feat reliably for a week then there's a reasonable chance that either the ammonia or nitrite will come back on you when you do the first fish introduction. Using fish as the ammonia source of course risks leaving them with an unpredictable amount of gill and nerve damage and sometimes subjects you to laborious water changing that could have been avoided using the simple fishless cycling techniques that have been refined over the last twenty years or more.

~~waterdrop~~

Yes it was a fishless cycle I was looking at doing and have read through quite a lot on that - was just hoping the mature media would speed it up considerably. Thanks for the advice on which basket to place the mature media in. I shall start all this tomorrow, assuming I can find a syringe somewhere that will allow me to measure the ammonia 'dose' accurately. I have a bottle of Homebase Household Ammonia ready and waiting

 

[yvez9]

excellent
the cylcing should be complete within a few days if you dose at 5ppm

 

[Leila2]

excellent
the cylcing should be complete within a few days if you dose at 5ppm

This is exactly what I want to do next week as well - with a 45 UK gallon tank. Can you tell me how much of the Homebase ammonia to add each day to get a 5ppm reading on tests? I have just used fish-in cycles in the past. I hope to add a half a dozen of 4cm cichlids asap.

 

[Leila2]

How about this idea: I have a fluval 4 plus internal filter established in one 37 gallon tank, with my new tank I take out one of the 2 sponges in that filter, which needs refreshing anyway, and put that sponge into another Fluval 4 plus filter which I place in my new tank along with running a new external filter. Effectively this should mean that the new tank is immediately able to take the same fish load as the old one surely? After all what else does the old established tank have that the new one would be lacking? After a few weeks or so the new external filter should be okay on its own. Am I wrong somewhere?

This way there is no need to get any ammonia at all, just add the fish asap after installing the Fluval with the old media.

 

[yabadaba]

Okay, I transplanted some of my mature media into the new filter yesterday evening and added 25ml of ammonia to raise the level to approx 5ppm....now I guess it's just the waiting game. Just wondering though, is it okay to start dosing with Flourish Excel (liquid carbon for my plants) now, or would that interfere with the cycling process?

 

[yvez9]

i doubt the fertiliser would bother the cycling. unless something in there neutralises ammonia or nitrites, shouldn't be any issues!

 

[coldcazzie]

This is exactly what I want to do next week as well - with a 45 UK gallon tank. Can you tell me how much of the Homebase ammonia to add each day to get a 5ppm reading on tests? I have just used fish-in cycles in the past. I hope to add a half a dozen of 4cm cichlids asap.

use the aquarium calculator at the top of the forum - type in your water amount and it'll tell you how much ammonia to add.