Speeding up Cycling by "Loading" new filter?

[JoshA.]

I was wonderng if I could speed up the cycling process for my new tank by running my new filter on my old tank for a few days?

I also could transfer water, use Bio Spira, and scrape my Bio wheel. Would ths be enough to support the load of a meduim sized Jack Dempsey and a larger Pleco in a 90G?

 

[greenmaji]

If you ran your new filter on the old tank for a couple of weeks (more time then nessisary IME but would be average advise) that alone should do to get your cycle started..

 

[JoshA.]

Yes, but I was hoping to cut the time down to days, since I will be heading out to school shortly :x Not looking forward to going back, but I don't wanna have to cycle my tank there, and then turn around and run back to get the fish....

 

[greenmaji]

ok.. heres the advise I would give.. the bacteria will double in colony size given the proper place to grow in 24 hours.. so if your new filter can hold twice the bacteria (the bio-media has twice the surface area, ether by size or by porosity; or a combination of both) as your current filter on the tank then it would only need 2 days to be colonized.. Hope this Helps..

 

[JoshA.]

Awesome!! I have two days to spare.... I didn't mean to sound pushy, sorry if I came across that way. My new filter can easily hold twice that, Im sure. Thanks for the help!!

 

[greenmaji]

I would try to give it enough time to completly colinize though.. ie if it has more then double the area try to give it more time then 48 hours.. but if it has less then double then 48 hours will be a good amount of over-kill IME.
dont worry about it.. I usually tell people about the doubleing and get others advising against it.. :? Mostly for sake of redundancey or over-kill, just to be on the safe side sort of thing.

 

[Toirtis]

The new filter will need at least 10 days to completely colonise, but you can speed that up by swapping some of the filter media from the old filter into the new one and running the new filter on your current tank for a couple of days. Your new tank will still need a few days to become fully cycled, but it will be mostly there.

 

[TomK2]

Agreed, swap media. then both filters will be part new media and colonized media. That would be the fastest way given your time constraints.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

hi..

When it's time to change your filter in the old tank, place that filter in the new tank, and put the new filter in the old tank.

 

[Toirtis]

Re: hi..

When it's time to change your filter in the old tank, place that filter in the new tank, and put the new filter in the old tank.

That would actually be disastrous....without the colony in the old filter, the old tank would go through a semi-cycle and unless there were enough fish in the new tank, the bacteria in the old filter would at least partially die-off.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Actually it would not be disasterous, as many filter systems have 2 filter cartriges, or a filter cartridge and a media cartridge. And what would be the difference if you had to change the filter cartrige anyways? I have the Emperor 280 and change the filter every 2 weeks, and the media cartrige maybe once every other month. Have had no problems. Once I get my new tank, when it comes time to change the filter, I'll take the filter cartridge out of the old filter in the old tank and put it into the new filter in the new tank.

Just to clarify, I don't mean take the whole filter out of the tank, but just the cartridge when you change it.

 

[Toirtis]

That is why cartridge filters are undesireable compared to ones with media 'buckets'.....very little media and no ability to swap just a portion of it.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Question...

How would you rate the Marineland Emperor 280 and the 400? Just curious on how good they are.....

 

[greenmaji]

The Marineland Emperor 280 and the 400 have redundunt cartridge's you can clean only one at a time.. Its not a standard comparison with normal cartridge filters that only have one cartrage per output...

 

[Toirtis]

Re: Question...

How would you rate the Marineland Emperor 280 and the 400? Just curious on how good they are.....

Better than most cartridge filters, but I still prefer HOBs with customisable media 'buckets' and canister filters.