Can I cheat?

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KimS

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Nov 4, 2010
Messages
12
Location
Pacific Northwest
I have an established 72 gallon that I was fortunate to get with the existing filter and substrate. We just transferred and filled with water. It's been running for 4 months with no issues such as deaths, disease, or number spikes. I added an additional HOB filter because I thought, what the heck, you can never have enough filtration.

Here's my question. I am thinking of getting another smaller (55ish) tank for another room in the house. Would I be able to just take one of the HOB filters from my existing tank, add it to the new tank, and avoid having to cycle?

All advice for this newb is welcome!
 
Yes! You may have a small cycle in the main tank as you'll be removing a good part of the bacteria. So keep an eye on it.

I did something similar setting up my small tank got the new filter and ran it on the big tank for 3 weeks then transferred it across and it's been fine since.
 
Welcome to AA!

Yes, if the filters are big enough. I did this when I set up my wife's 20H. I just pulled the AC30 off my 20L and left the AC50 on the 20L. No cycle, no problems.
 
Yep. Sounds like a plan! :)

We "start up" a lot of tanks and that is exactly how we do it. Media transfer and planning ftw.
 
Perfect!

Thank you for the welcome and the advice.

If I got the thumbs up from you veterans my plan was to have one old and one new filter on each tank.
 
If I got the thumbs up from you veterans my plan was to have one old and one new filter on each tank.

Even better!
Best thing to do IMO, is set up your new tank and then put the new filter on it while the tank is empty, then leave it to settle for a couple of days.

Letting it settle makes sure that most of the gases in the water can bubble out and it's all at the right temperature and there are no leaks etc. But it's also important to have the a filter running on it while it's settling down, as I found the water goes all weird if you don't :p
 
Also, you can add some of the substrate out of your 72 to the 55. Every time I acquire a new tank I add some of the substrate out of one of the established tanks and have had no problems whatsoever.
 
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