Tank cycling advice please

[Zincubus]

What's the deal if I start up a tank from fresh BUT use a ready matured Fluval 2 filter ( from an existing tank ) in it from day one ??

Presumably this should cut down on the waiting time dramatically !?

I'm planning to hopefully do that that tomorrow and have the water tested on Monday or Tuesday ....... or is that being too optimistic ??

Plus I'll add a bucket of mature water from the existing tank ...

[Eric Alan]

It should cut it down quite dramatically. As long as the Fluval is appropriately sized for your expected fish load, your cycle may be nearly non-existent.

[Lizardlicks]

I have no idea what the actual math would be on how long the levels would take to reestablish equilibrium, but it would be interesting if you could record the results of your water tests for posterity sake and share it with us!

[Zincubus]

It's a decent sized , powerful filter Eric .... and its going into a two foot tank . Years ago I used these Fluvals successfully in 4' and 5' tanks ..

[Zincubus]

It's a decent sized , powerful filter Eric ...... and its going into a two foot tank . Years ago I used these Fluvals successfully in 4' and 5' tanks ..

[Zincubus]

For a while there will be a pair of 3" Platinum White Angelfish , an albino Corry catfish and a 7cm Flying Fox in the new tank which has black sides and a floor of black gravel . The white fish should ' shine like diamonds'

[alucard0822]

Depending on the size of the filter and how much seeded media it has, you might have enough bacteria to support that bioload from the start. It grows across a surface far faster than propagating through open water, so adding old tank water doesn't do much, even bottles of niteout are no substitute for dirty filter floss or ceramic bio substrate in a new tank. Just watch the ammonia/nitrite levels and add fish a couple at a time if possible when the levels drop to 0 for a few days. I used this method setting up my 150 gallon, I put a couple handfuls of old floss in the new FX5 canister filter, then moved my 5 3" silver dollars from my 55 grow tank to the new tank, waited a few days, then moved 1 6" Oscar, then the other 6" Oscar a few days after that, never showed any ammonia, and may have shown the lowest readable amount of Nitrite for one test the day after moving the first Oscar, but that was it. Setup a couple 55s and 29s since using the same method, and with a light load, or adding fish slowly won't read more than the lowest level or 0 Ammonia or Nitrite. With most tanks you want to avoid using cartridges only, they don't have enough floss to support a surplus of bacteria, and you have to throw it out to replace the carbon when it's used up. With enough filter floss or sponge rarely if ever do you have to replace it, it traps waste and houses enough bacteria to break it down completely and keep clean and free-flowing, even if you don't have a canister filter or one with media compartments you can usually loosely pack a couple handfuls of media to help out, and avoid loosing most of your biofilter if you have to replace a cartridge. Despite a pair of messy 12+" Oscars, a school of silver dollars, and a couple Rafael Cats, I have NEVER had to replace the filter sponges or floss in my FX5 for over 2 years, just have to recharge nitrate bags and replace a few ounces of carbon every month or two, change 1/3 of the water and vac the gravel every week.

[Zincubus]

Well I've decided to use TWO decent powered internal Fluval filters as I've got one spare . One will come out of the existing tank and one will be fresh . I was going to start with a bucket of water and quite a bit of the black gravel out of the existing tank as well so that should give it a good kick start .

Anyne known how to get rid of the chlorine in the new tank water ?

Is it just a case if vigorously aerating the water for a short while ??

[trailblazer295]

I always used prime to dechlorinate water. It's very concentrated so only a few drops are needed. If your filter is already cycled then adding 1 or 2 fish to maintain that bacteria depending on the load it had before. Without any source of food the bacteria will die over time.

[Zincubus]

What's prime incidentally ??