Using "mature" Water For A Fishless Cycle

[Chops126]

Hi there,

Thinking of setting up a new tank. Can I start a fishless cycle with water from my existing tank instad of Ammonia? And should I continue adding water from my established tank to the new tank during the weekly water changes?

Won't the Nitrates in the water break down back into ammonia again if there's no bacteria to take them up?

During the fishless cycle phase, can I also start adding plants a little at a time?

Thanks

 

[littlest]

Rather than using the water from the existing tank, use some of the mature filter media. That's where all (well the vast majority) of bacteria live. Water contains very little bacteria indeed.

Nitrate won't break down into ammonia, it will just continue to build up, that's a big part of why we do water changes, to remove nitrate. or do you mean nitrites? Again this doesn't break back down into ammonia, it just rises until there is enough bacteria to convert it into nitrate.