Cycling a 3 gallon tank?

[Eleven13]

Hey everyone,

So I just picked up a Marineland Eclipse 3 gallon tank for my betta. I currently have a 10 gallon planted tank with some zebra danios in it that I was going to put my betta in once the danios were gone, but after much debate (and me being lazy about not wanting to catch the zebras ) I decided I'd set up another mini planted tank just for him.

My question is, if I take the filter cartridge out of my 10 gallon tank, and "ring it out" over the running filter of the new tank (filled with water from the 10 gallon) and then put it back in the 10g filter, will this "instantly cycle" the 3 gallon tank? And would it come with any repercussions for my established 10 gallon tank?

Thank you!

 

[jetajockey]

It'll help to do it that way but I wouldn't count on it, so it's a good idea to regularly test for the next upcoming weeks and do water changes as needed. If you can, cut some of the media up and stuff it in the new tanks filter if there is room. Adding some substrate from an established tank doesn't hurt either.

 

[Eleven13]

Alright that sounds good, by cutting up some media, do you mean like snipping off some pieces of the mesh containing the carbon and placing it into the new filter?

And the substrate I can do, would a handful be enough?

Also, do you know if there are any heaters that I can use safely with a 3 gallon tank?

Thanks for the help!

 

[jetajockey]

Yes and yes, I don't know the particular name of any small heater but I know there are some out there, I don't think most of them are adjustable though.

 

[Kingzilla]

I was actually just looking at those heaters today, smallest size the store had was 10W and I don't believe it had a temp setting but I am pretty sure it was intended mostly for bettas... so if the temp is preset, it should be in the proper range. I've never used one of these small heaters so I'm guessing here but it should be the right size for a 3gal tank.
there were 2 choices costing $20-30CDN at Petsmart

 

[Eleven13]

Thanks for the help guys, I definitely will do both substrate and pieces of the filter cartridge when I set up the new tank tomorrow, so I'm hoping it'll retain the cycle.

And I'm happy to hear that they have small heaters like that at Petsmart, I thought it might be something I would have had to order online. Hopefully I'll be able to pick one up tomorrow and get everything squared away all at once!