Setting up 2nd Aquarium?

[TML182]

Hey guys , just wondering if you guys know of any tips or tricks to setting up a 2nd tank, without going through a full cycle with the high anmonia and nitrate levels etc? I currently have a 50G planted freshwater tank thats been set up for nearly a year and everythings doing and looking great. But i'm starting to want a 2nd tank that I can use to use to house some of my swordtails as the population begins to rise (2 pregnant females in less then a week since if gotten them ) lol. So i was just wondering if a transfered some of my subtrate from my 50G tank or some of the decorations, would that make this stabalize a little faster?
Thanks in Advance!

 

[Jason7894561230]

Yes that would work, but you would still go through the cycle. If you put some plants from the other tank into the other tank then that would also speed things up.

 

[fort384]

Anything you put in the new tank from the established tank will help speed it up. Another good trick is to take some of the filter media from the established tank and put it in the new tank. Most likely it will still go through a mini cycle, but it will be quick. Keep in mind, that if you move that stuff over, there needs to be some source of ammonia or the bacteria will starve... I would put a couple of fish in the new tank as you move the other stuff over, and just keep an eye on the water parameters. You might have to do a water change or 2 over the course of a couple of days, but it shouldn't take much longer than that to cycle the new tank if you get some good seed material in there.

 

[TML182]

Thanks a lot for clearing things up!

 

[Mark Hewitt]

Hey guys , just wondering if you guys know of any tips or tricks to setting up a 2nd tank, without going through a full cycle with the high anmonia and nitrate levels etc? I currently have a 50G planted freshwater tank thats been set up for nearly a year and everythings doing and looking great. But i'm starting to want a 2nd tank that I can use to use to house some of my swordtails as the population begins to rise (2 pregnant females in less then a week since if gotten them ) lol. So i was just wondering if a transfered some of my subtrate from my 50G tank or some of the decorations, would that make this stabalize a little faster?
Thanks in Advance!

It would help, yes. But to get things going even faster then you could take the filter for the new tank and run it on the old tank for 2-4 weeks, this should pretty much cycle the filter and have it ready to go immediately on the new tank.

If you can't do that simply putting the filter sponges etc from the new filter into the old tank for the same amount of time will have massively.