I'm trying to help my friend start a 5 gallon tank. I have a 20 gallon running tank with fish. I was wondering what I can do to speed up cycling the 5 gallon? Should I give him some of my water? Since his filter will be smaller than mine, I can't exactly give him filter media... would getting some water from my tank and soaking my filter in there for a minute or two then putting it in the small tank help? I also have the Nutrafin Cycle stuff. Any thoughts? Also out of curiosity, I assume all tanks cycle in the same amount of time... a smaller tank doesn't cycle quicker or anything does it?
cycling
- Thread starter Yao
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Fishyfanatic
Aquarium Advice Addict
Water won't help with the cycle since it does not hold bacteria. The best thing to do would be to put his filter on your tank for two weeks. Then when he fills up his tank, be sure to make sure the water is dechlorinated, turn on the filter, and immediately add fish. Instant Cycle.
The Cycle product does not really work. I have never heard of any good reviews of it. Bio-Spira is better but is not really needed in this case.
BTW- Do you know what he plans on stocking the tank with?
The Cycle product does not really work. I have never heard of any good reviews of it. Bio-Spira is better but is not really needed in this case.
BTW- Do you know what he plans on stocking the tank with?
cplawrence
Aquarium Advice Freak
You could give him some of your gravel which will provide some bacteria to seed his tank. If your filter has any removable media (sponge, filter pads, etc.) you could just toss it into the tank. That worked very well for one of my tanks.
TomK2
Aquarium Advice Addict
I'm with FF on this one. Run his filter on your tank for at least two weeks, more if you can. Then fill his tank, dechlorinate it, heat it, add fish and put the filter on it. I would start at 10 to 20 percent of planned bioload with a seeded filter. Yes, a gravel seed is helpful too, but I don't think you would need it if you ran the filter on an established tank, and 3 or 4 weeks would be even better if you could do it. If you want to dechlorinate and heat the tank without the filter to circualte the water, an airstone would help move the water around.
Fishyfanatic
Aquarium Advice Addict
A 5 gal tank is easy to plant because the standard stock lighting is normally 10 Watts. That is sufficient for low light plants. He could plant with Java Ferns, Anubias, Java moss, well, the list goes on and on. 
Small tanks are hard to stock because options are very limited. Betta's are very popular in 5 gal tanks (NO Vases or small bowls) with a few ghost shrimp or apple snails. The 1 inch per gal guideline does not apply to 5 gal tanks. Ie: It would not be possible to put mollies in it even though they only grow to about 3 inches because it does not provide enough swimming space.
The only thing I can think of would be a Betta. But there are other options that just aren't coming to my mind at the moment.
Small tanks are hard to stock because options are very limited. Betta's are very popular in 5 gal tanks (NO Vases or small bowls) with a few ghost shrimp or apple snails. The 1 inch per gal guideline does not apply to 5 gal tanks. Ie: It would not be possible to put mollies in it even though they only grow to about 3 inches because it does not provide enough swimming space.
The only thing I can think of would be a Betta. But there are other options that just aren't coming to my mind at the moment.
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