Is it possible to cycle a 2.5 gallon? Same procedures?

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bloodlucky

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My 1 gallon nursery/qt tank sprung a minor leak but luckily I kept the receipt and the box for it, so I'm taking it back to petco and getting a 2.5 gallon to upgrade my qt tank.

Anyway what I did to prepare my 1 gallon was I filled it with my main tank water then threw a cheap test guppy in there to make sure the water quality was ok before I put actual sick/baby fish in there. The test guppy showed no signs of stress so after a month I moved the guppy into the main tank and I was all set with the qt

But since 2.5 gallon is a bit larger I'm wondering if there's anything additional I should do besides using the water I have in my main tank. Should I also use the substrate for my main tank? That must hold a lot of beneficial bacteria

One more thing. Do 2.5's need heaters or does the light still warm it?
 
Small tanks need all the things larger ones do. This includes a heater. Do you have a filter on it?
 
aqua_chem said:
Small tanks need all the things larger ones do. This includes a heater. Do you have a filter on it?

Yes it will come in a kit by Aqueon

I had the Aqueon MiniBow 1 gallon (original qt) but since it sprung a leak I'm getting the Aqueon MiniBow 2.5 gallon on friday
 
aqua_chem said:
Small tanks need all the things larger ones do. This includes a heater. Do you have a filter on it?

So are you saying I need to do a full nitrogen cycle for a 2.5? What do you think I should do with my dry until then?
 
If your main tank is fully cycled, just move some cycled media into the new filter. If your using the old filter for the new tank, keep the media wet in tank water to keep the bacteria alive or run it on your main tank until you set up the new tank. Yes, you still need to cycle your tank whether its 2.5 or 250g. Using some cycled media from your main tank is the easiest means to do so. :)
 
jlk said:
If your main tank is fully cycled, just move some cycled media into the new filter. If your using the old filter for the new tank, keep the media wet in tank water to keep the bacteria alive or run it on your main tank until you set up the new tank. Yes, you still need to cycle your tank whether its 2.5 or 250g. Using some cycled media from your main tank is the easiest means to do so. :)

Yeah, I use dat media!

Btw by media what specifically do you mean? I run a carbon filter but there ain't much I can use besides my substrate and tank water
 
Did you keep your old filter/media from the small tank? If not, you can add some gravel from your main tank and snip some pieces of the fabric off the cartridge from your main tank. Adding the water from your main tank wont help very much because very little bacteria lives in the water column.
 
jlk said:
Did you keep your old filter/media from the small tank? If not, you can add some gravel from your main tank and snip some pieces of the fabric off the cartridge from your main tank. Adding the water from your main tank wont help very much because very little bacteria lives in the water column.

Your right I will use my gravel. What exactly do you mean by media
 
Media is anything you put in your filter for bacteria to grow on. It can be cartridges, sponges, filter floss, bioballs, ceramic rings, etcetcetc.
 
jlk said:
Media is anything you put in your filter for bacteria to grow on. It can be cartridges, sponges, filter floss, bioballs, ceramic rings, etcetcetc.

Crap but 10 gallon cartridges won't fit in a 2.5 gal filter so could I use my gravel instead? Also maybe a plant or something
 
Bobjoefredsky said:
Crap but 10 gallon cartridges won't fit in a 2.5 gal filter so could I use my gravel instead? Also maybe a plant or something

IMO, you should not use gravel, or any substrate, in a QT. It's not possible to keep it as clean as a QT needs to be. Rip the floss off of the '10 gallon cartridge' and jam it into the '2.5 gal filter'. How do you plan to keep the QT "live"?
 
blert said:
IMO, you should not use gravel, or any substrate, in a QT. It's not possible to keep it as clean as a QT needs to be. Rip the floss off of the '10 gallon cartridge' and jam it into the '2.5 gal filter'. How do you plan to keep the QT "live"?

What do you mean rip the floss off the cartridge? Should I put it on top of the 2.5 cartridge? What exactly is "floss"
 
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