potential problem

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SeymourFRESH

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Dec 14, 2005
Messages
381
Location
St. Louis, MO
alright. i have 3 aquariums, a 92 gallon, a 55 gallon, and a 10 gallon (which is not cycled yet).
we are currently using our 55 gallon as a QT tank for sick fish/new fish we buy. i just made the mistake of ordering 2 bristlenose plecos off of liveaquaria.com, and i THINK the fish in my QT tank are sick. so the problem is, i have nothing to quarantine these plecos in upon arrival, because my 10 gallon is not cycled. now here is my question:

if i add used fish water, used filter pad, and some algae covered rocks from my 92 gallon to my 10 gallon, and add the fish right away, will that cycle my tank? we tried it with our 55 gallon one time and it worked, but i'm not sure if we just got lucky lol. but the only reason why i think it should work, is because you're adding the beneficial ammonia/nitrite feeding bacteria from the other established tank, as well as the fish water, and you're adding fish to produce more ammonia, therefore starting the cycle? right? or am i missing something?
 
I did it in my 55 and my 75 from my 20 but it didn't instant cycle. just cut it down to about 10 days. Actually the only problem I had was nitrites sitting at .5 before pwcs.

It might have been because it went from smaller tank to larger tank and had to split the media between the 2 tanks.
 
i get the fish on friday, it's not really too late to cancel the order, but i'd almost rather not.
so i guess i've got 3 options:

1: attempt to cycle my 10 gallon immediately, which since i'm cycling from a big tank to a small tank, shouldn't be a problem (theoretically)
2: just say screw it, and add the new fish to the 92 gallon without quarantine
3: add the new fish to the 55 gallon quarantine tank, with potentially sick rummy nose tetras (which for some reason, all of them pretty much looked fabulous today!)

what would you guys do? i could just cancel the order, but if there's a possibility of me being able to pull it off with my 10 gallon then i'd love just to QT them in there for about a week at least. i'm sure the fish i've ordered are fine, but i always like to QT just to make sure.
 
I'll speak up since I just did this last week and it worked like a charm . . . had an empty 10 gallon and needed a QT in a big fat hurry . . . took 5 lbs of gravel from my 55 gal and covered the bottom of my 10 gal . . . .filled the 10 gallon halfway up with water from the 55 gal and filled it the rest of the way with new water (so kind of a backwards PWC on the 10 gal) . . . New HOB filter, 25 watt heater and added one ailing fish. Parameter check 6 hours later came up ammonia 0, nitrite 0 and nitrate 5.0. Instant cycle.

Like you, I mighta just got lucky, but with all that from the 55 gallon, I'm thinkin' it was a safe bet.

If I were you, I'd do that like, tomorrow and don't worry about cancelling the order.
 
Golly. I would just add them. It seems like the safer choice rather than dip them in a possibly uncycled tank or a disease. Maybe you will get it cycled in time. They'll be fine.
 
I would go with the instant cycle on the 10g. Why risk all the fish in the 92g for 2 plecos? I wouldnt. Why risk the health of they plecos by putting them in a tank with already sick fish? Seems like an easy choice to me.
 
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