Beneficial Bacteria

[troublesum]

As most of you know I'm setting up a 55 gallon and i have the new AC 70 i took the sponge and about 5 bags of Fluval ceramic rings (size of a females fist) and put them in my 125 my question is how long would it take for the sponge and bags of ceramic rings colonize enough BB to be safe to put in the AC 70 and be cycled in my 55?
I know i can open my FX can and take media from it, but as most know who run cans it is a PITA.

 

[Milingu]

Did you just put them in the tank, or are they sitting in a filter or somwhere else where the water flows through them? In the first case there will not be much effect in terms of having a cycled tank. Yes, its better than nothing and will help to start the cycle faster, but you still will be going through the cycling process.

 

[troublesum]

Did you just put them in the tank, or are they sitting in a filter or somwhere else where the water flows through them? In the first case there will not be much effect in terms of having a cycled tank. Yes, its better than nothing and will help to start the cycle faster, but you still will be going through the cycling process.

2 of the bags are sitting on top of sponge filters the rest are just on the floor of the tank. Also i forgot to mentioned i have a AC 50 that is very well established which will also go on the 55 so with that being said will the AC 50 in combination with the AC 70 will the tank be cycled?

 

[esoxlucius]

It's all guess work, no one can give you a definitive answer. If I was you I'd get as much mature media as possible from your current tanks, without crashing them, and add the mature media to your new tank.

Then add fish immediately so you've got an ongoing ammonia supply. It's at this time you also need to observe and regularly test your water.

If the media you've swapped over happens to be BB rich, then the transition should be seamless. On the other hand, if you have insufficient BB then they will need to take up the slack, ie increase in numbers, which takes time. It is during this time you may see a slight ammonia spike.

Observation and testing should see you through.

 

[troublesum]

LOL thanks ESO my FX 6 is well established i just don't want to open the can and again its only an AC70 not much room to stuff a lot into it.
My plan was to move the established AC 50 plus the media i have in the sitting in my tank to the 55 and move the fish all at the same time its only a 6in female RT
unfortunately i don't have a test kit haven't tested water in about 4 years but i do 3 80% WC a week been my schedule for the last 8 years also with a light stocking and light feeding

 

[duanes]

One way to get an idea whether the tank is seeded enough, would be to put the media in, and a few momemts later, add a few drops of ammonia to the tank, to see if it disappears after an hour, or whether its still registering, and (or course) invest an API liquid test.

 

[troublesum]

One way to get an idea whether the tank is seeded enough, would be to put the media in, and a few momemts later, add a few drops of ammonia to the tank, to see if it disappears after an hour, or whether its still registering, and (or course) invest an API liquid test.

When you say add a few drops of ammonia do you mean just regular ammonia like what my wife uses to clean? after so many years with my 125 and all the WC i do i find it hard to drop $55 for a API test kit.
i think I'll be alright after i add the established AC50 filter, also I'm gonna to take a extra large sponge from my 125 squeeze and rinse it out real good in the 55 and add the sponge to the 55 along with the media for the AC 70.

 

[duanes]

Yes
Common, but straight type ammonia used in cleaning, with no perfumes or additives.
That's the same stuff used in fishless cycling, the same stuff that comes from gills and fish waste, the same stuff you smell if you;ve let a piece if shrimp go unrefrigerated too long

An API test kit can also tell you if you have the right water for a fish you are going to buy, when you use the pH reagent.
as an example......if you want an Altum angelfish, and the pH of your tap water, and tank is pH 8, you'd know it wasn't a good idea to buy that fish.

Or if your were going to add a Fossorochromis rostratus to a tank with a pH of 6, it probably wouldn't work long term

It can also tell you if you've gone to long without a water change, or ....
you are determining what the right water change schedule for the amount of fish you have, in what size tank.

I do a water change if the nitrate reagent test hits or exceeds 5 ppm.

 

[RD.]

Seachem - Ammonia Alert

www.seachem.com

use one of those for first little while to gauge how things are going

Some test kits will give you false positive readings if you use Prime or Safe.

 

[RD.]

Quite possibly just a false ammonia reading from your test kit, if you are using Seachem Prime or Safe as a water conditioner. Salicylate or Nessler based test kits determine the total ammonia by raising the pH of the test solution to 12 or greater. At this high pH all ammonia removal products will breakdown and re-release the ammonia, giving a false ammonia reading. Total ammonia is simply a reading of NH3 (toxic) and NH4+ (non toxic) combined.


According to Seachem, when using their products such as Prime and/or Safe, the ammonia is converted into the Schiff base of an aldehyde (R2C=NH) which is non-toxic.

A handy little gadget by Seachem

Seachem - Ammonia Alert