Cycling question

[flatty]

Reading up on the cycling it says to speed things up you can borrow filter media from another existing aquarium to speed things up. My question is will a small outdoor pond do? I have a preform plastic molded pond, could I grab a couple of the balls from the filter to speed things along?

 

[Dnoel5787]

Some would say that it's a risk, but it does work. I did the same with my first tank. The risk is that you could introduce a parasite or a bacteria you don't want in your tank, but my thought is that you would be more likely to get something nasty (like columnaris) from aquarium filter media. I'm no expert as I have only cycled 3 tanks, but I did this, it worked, and I would do it again. Let's see what the other members have to say.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[BBradbury]

Tank Cycling

Reading up on the cycling it says to speed things up you can borrow filter media from another existing aquarium to speed things up. My question is will a small outdoor pond do? I have a preform plastic molded pond, could I grab a couple of the balls from the filter to speed things along?

Hello flat...

Anything with a surface from an established tank will house good bacteria. As long as the pond has fresh water, I would say use it and see how the fish do. It would be good to test the tank water daily to see if forms of nitrogen like ammonia and nitrite stay at "0". It's best to add hardy fish like Platys, Guppies, White Clouds, Zebra Danios or Rasboras. These species have no trouble tolerating the less than pure water condtions that come with the nitrogen cycle.

Give the outside media a try and monitor the tank water. If you have a trace of either of the above toxins, then change 25 percent of the tank water and retest in a day. When you have several daily tests that show no trace of ammonia or nitrite, the tank is cycled. The process generally takes a month.

B