As someone who crashed a cycle this is a must, it will definitely decrease the cycle time and handle more of a bio load than using nothing or fresh filters. You can also speed it up by using substrate or wood from another tank. Keep the fish count low and slowly add - good luck!
Hello; To me it is not the size of the tanks. It is more the biomass of living things in the tanks. Lets pretend only the fish count for a moment. I have a 55 gallon set up with only a single angel fish cichlid right now. The amount of beneficial bacteria (bb) this single fish will be dependent on the ammonia it excretes on average. That single fish could be kept in a smaller tank or a larger tank but would still only support a similar amount of bb. So the issue will more be what biomass/bioload are in the old tanks compared to the new tank.
This is good advice. In the large new set up the sponge filters you rob from the established tanks will have some colonies of bb so will be able to handle an amount of ammonia from the get go. Problem can be matching the bb capacity to the fish load at first. So adding smaller fish or smaller numbers of fish to the new setup at first and adding more over time can allow the bb populations to increase naturally. BB bacteria do not reproduce at fast rates compared to some other bacteria is my understanding, so coming into balance can take a few weeks.
Have you had any problems with losing fry with the coarse sponge filter? That is my main concern, and why I still use fine sponges. Thanks.
