How long do you "seed" the tank for?

[heyheyitsrae]

Hi y'all! Still getting my new 6gallon cylindrical tank cycled. I switched filters with my established 10 gallon for 12-18 hours. Is that long enough to establish bacteria colonies? Also there appears to be foam on the water surface. What do I do about that? I just did a PWC (10% or so). Also, are the LED lights that came with my tank okay to grow low light plants (java moss)?

 

[calfishguy]

To seed a tank you need to either leave the cycled filter on the new tank along with the new filter for 6 weeks. If you want to seed your new filter you must take some filter media from your cycled filter and put it in your new filter.

 

[Crazyfoxeye]

If you want to cycle far quicker, try to leave it in there as much as you can. Or you can buy a bottle of live bacteria they sell at the pet store to also be faster. You can also put in established gravel or decor in the new tank to help.

 

[Noah0504]

I don't want to hijack the thread, but how much "seeded" gravel is recommended? I put some in my new tank about a week ago and I'm still not seeing any results. It wasn't much gravel though. About a half a cup or so.

 

[Crazyfoxeye]

I don't want to hijack the thread, but how much "seeded" gravel is recommended? I put some in my new tank about a week ago and I'm still not seeing any results. It wasn't much gravel though. About a half a cup or so.

Just put a good amount, as much as you can, maybe swap the gravel with your established tank. Then your old tank can just reseed that gravel with all the bacteria growing in the filter, decor, walls, etc. You can also maybe just swap the filters too.