Tropical Fish Forum
Tropical Fish Keeping Help and Advice => General Fishkeeping advice => Topic started by: Lellynelly on April 28, 2015, 08:13:43 PM
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Hello all. I have unexpectedly come in to a dozen tropical fish of assorted varieties that I am collecting on Saturday - I am buying the tank to use as a marine set-up and it comes with fish.
So I have had to buy another tank as I can't add a dozen new fish to mu current tropical tank or it will be overstocked. also one of the new fish is an angel and I suspect it may eat my baby molly, or my tetras.
My question is this: I know it's not ideal but with only 4 days before the fish arrive can I speed up the cycle of the new tank by mixing a third of the water from my current tank with the new water?
thanks
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Hello Lellynelly
As I understand it (I may be wrong mind you!) there are very few bacteria in the actual water column
Could you not seed the new filter with some from your established tank?
I know that works as I did it with a small quarantine, although 4 days may be a challenge.
I expect Sue or somebody more knowledgeable will be along soon
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Good idea - I have just put the filter pump on in the current tank alongside it's own pump.
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You've maybe already done this but the key point is to transfer some of the filter media (ie sponge, filter wool - which is the part that the good bacteria inhabits/grows on) from the existing filter into the new filter, so that both filters have this in them. Simply putting a new filter with a clean/new sponge or filter wool in the existing tank won't, as I understand it, necessarily do anything.
However, someone with much better scientific knowledge, and who is good at explaining these things, and has more advanced tropical fishkeeping skills, will hopefully help out shortly. :)
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In a pinch Practical Fishkeeping Magazine recommends using Pure Aquarium balls by Evolution Aqua (recently voted one of the 10 products all fishkeepers should have). There's lots of chat on forums about their effectiveness too, not all good, but it appears some people have used them very successfully when needing to urgently set up a QT.
In your position I'd add as much mature filter media and substrate from your existing tank as possible, as suggested above, and throw in some Pure Aquarium balls as it can't hurt. Keep an eye on the usual water parameters and be prepared for some large water changes! Most of all, enjoy your new fish!
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Is it worth transferring a plant or 2 over as well
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I would say yes for two reasons. 1, the plants will also harbour some beneficial bacteria. 2, plants use ammonia, nitrites and nitrates for growth and will therefore lessen their build up in the tank. Fast growing plants like Egeria densa or Cabomba would be better than slower growers like Java fern.
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The bacteria we are looking to prosper grow on surfaces. So anything in your cycled tank will have some bacteria on its surface. But the media inside your filter is designed to present a huge surface area to the bacteria. If you think about the surface of a piece of foam, it's not just the top surface you can see but the area of the inside of each little bubble too! Ceramic media works in similar but microscopic scale
So transferring media between your filters is, by orders of magnitude, the most efficient way.