Scarletmonuka Posted November 7, 2012 Report Share Posted November 7, 2012 So i bought a tank off trademe in chch. picking it up this sunday. dimensions are 1200 long by 540 wide by 370 high. (Pics to come). because its just the tank all the equipment is already here. my canister filter has not been fully cleaned out meaning it still has all bacteria in it. my question is how long should i be waiting for the tank to cycle properly with having the benifical bacteria already in the filter? Smidey is being good enough to hang onto the fish i am buying off him for a week. i will use some throw away fish (either white convict juvies or some zebra juvies that we might pick up in dunedin on the way home) to help to cycle it as well. cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calculator Posted November 7, 2012 Report Share Posted November 7, 2012 Most of the bacteria that converts the ammonia to nitrates is in the bio material of your filter. If your canister is being put straight on the new tank from another cycled tank the canister itself will still be cycled and all the beneficial bacteria will still be alive it it. If this is the case you can start putting fish in the new tank straight away as the filter is already cycled and will be able to cope with the bio load, you might want to only stock it up lightly low so that the filter is overloaded with fish waist. That would make it similar to how I have set up all my tanks where I have got some already cycled filter material (the ceramic 'noodle things') from an already set up tank and put it in the filter of my new tank and stocked it straight away. If your filter hasnt been running on a tank, or if it is dry the bacteria in it could have died, which would mean you have to cycle the tank and filter again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmsmith Posted November 7, 2012 Report Share Posted November 7, 2012 So i bought a tank off trademe in chch. picking it up this sunday. dimensions are 1200 long by 540 wide by 370 high. (Pics to come). because its just the tank all the equipment is already here. my canister filter has not been fully cleaned out meaning it still has all bacteria in it. my question is how long should i be waiting for the tank to cycle properly with having the benifical bacteria already in the filter? Smidey is being good enough to hang onto the fish i am buying off him for a week. i will use some throw away fish (either white convict juvies or some zebra juvies that we might pick up in dunedin on the way home) to help to cycle it as well. cheers If your filter hasn't been running, all the bacteria will be dead. The filter needs water flowing through it to keep the bacteria alive, or it turns into a massive cesspit. You'll have a massive ammonia problem. If you're moving a filter from an existing, running tank, it should be cycled almost straight away - sometimes it might need a bit to build bacteria levels up, but if you slowly add livestock, you'll be fine. I wouldn't use 'throwaway fish'. Putting fish under stress for nothing just because YOU consider them worthless is cruel and unnecessary. There are lots of ways to successfully cycle a tank without harming fish in the process, and I urge you to reconsider. When your tank is ready and cycled, slowly add fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarletmonuka Posted November 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 7, 2012 although the 140 litre tank i was using is now empty the canister filter has been put into my partners tank and will go from there to my new tank once the water is up to temp. first lot of fish will be 6 fry (2-3) cm which will be late next week when they are sent to me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmsmith Posted November 7, 2012 Report Share Posted November 7, 2012 although the 140 litre tank i was using is now empty the canister filter has been put into my partners tank and will go from there to my new tank once the water is up to temp. first lot of fish will be 6 fry (2-3) cm which will be late next week when they are sent to me Oh, if it's been on a tank and running, it'll be fine. Usually when I fill a tank I add a few buckets of hot water and then the heaters aren't doing all the work. Congrats on the new tank! It's always exciting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted November 7, 2012 Report Share Posted November 7, 2012 i regularly set up a "new tank" when i need to house fry, it's 300L and this is how i do it. 1) I take substrate from the existing tank and put it in the new tank. Enough to cover most of the bottom. 2) I then use water taken out of the existing tank to part fill the new tank, maybe 1/3 of the new tank. 3) add the heater, air and new canister filter. 4) fill new tank to level desired and add fish as long as temp is somewhere near what it should be. Maybe fill it over a few days. 5) do a 25% water change 3 days later just to be cautious. This works for me very well and has not posed an issue in the dozen or more times i have done it this way without using an existing filter, with an existing filter you'll be fine. I think the key is the substrate, it must hold some or a good amount of the bacteria required. I generally am only adding 6 to 12 fry to 300L so the bio load is very little as well. If i was to use an existing filter i would still change the substrate and some water, doing that is just basically changing tanks and doing a water change. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmsmith Posted November 7, 2012 Report Share Posted November 7, 2012 i regularly set up a "new tank" when i need to house fry, it's 300L and this is how i do it. 1) I take substrate from the existing tank and put it in the new tank. Enough to cover most of the bottom. 2) I then use water taken out of the existing tank to part fill the new tank, maybe 1/3 of the new tank. 3) add the heater, air and new canister filter. 4) fill new tank to level desired and add fish as long as temp is somewhere near what it should be. Maybe fill it over a few days. 5) do a 25% water change 3 days later just to be cautious. This works for me very well and has not posed an issue in the dozen or more times i have done it this way without using an existing filter, with an existing filter you'll be fine. I think the key is the substrate, it must hold some or a good amount of the bacteria required. I generally am only adding 6 to 12 fry to 300L so the bio load is very little as well. If i was to use an existing filter i would still change the substrate and some water, doing that is just basically changing tanks and doing a water change. If it's only 12 fry in a 300l, I wouldn't even be bothering with a filter tbh. Water change every couple of days and you'll be fine. I guess the filter is great for water flow though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calculator Posted November 7, 2012 Report Share Posted November 7, 2012 although the 140 litre tank i was using is now empty the canister filter has been put into my partners tank and will go from there to my new tank once the water is up to temp. first lot of fish will be 6 fry (2-3) cm which will be late next week when they are sent to me Be sure to watch your partners tank when you remove the filter. It might go through a mini cycle, as you have removed some of the filtration capability. As the first lot of fish wont have much bio load I am sure the filter will be fine (as long as it has a high enough water turn over rate). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted November 7, 2012 Report Share Posted November 7, 2012 If it's only 12 fry in a 300l, I wouldn't even be bothering with a filter tbh. Water change every couple of days and you'll be fine. I guess the filter is great for water flow though. yeah i keep them in a net and feed a lot to start with so if there is no flow then the water can go nasty if its not turning over Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarletmonuka Posted November 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 7, 2012 substrate will be dryish no doubt by the time i get home as the tank is empty its just sitting at the bottom of the 140 litre sitting at home empty. just gotta go to the river and grab a whole bunch of slate for my rock formations and my drift wood. should be ready to add fish middle of next week Congrats on the new tank! It's always exciting! Thanks :thup: Be sure to watch your partners tank when you remove the filter. It might go through a mini cycle, as you have removed some of the filtration capability. As the first lot of fish wont have much bio load I am sure the filter will be fine (as long as it has a high enough water turn over rate). Oh my partners tank already has more then enough filtration in it without my filter. and yes my canister is rated to 350 litres which is more then enough for the tank i'm buying Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calculator Posted November 7, 2012 Report Share Posted November 7, 2012 Sounds exciting, looking forward to seeing pics/a build thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anthony law Posted November 8, 2012 Report Share Posted November 8, 2012 :nfs: :dunno: :spop: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.