Cycling Tank in 3 Minutes Youtube Vid - Work?

[Brian_Nano12g]

Hey guys, just watched this video on youtube from the watersnake.com about cycling a tank in 3 minutes. I've heard that you can speed up the cycling process by adding a filter sponge and/or media from an established tank. I was thinking of the store-bought bottled cycling stuff but wanted to save some cash and time. But since I'm on a budget and I'm thinking of all the other stuff I need to buy (i.e. test kits, cleaning supplies, decor, fish, etc.), I've been researching.

This video seems plausible by adding the dark bacteria infested juice straight from the filter sponge of a healthy tank to the water or a new in-the-process cycling tank. However, this particular video on youtube.com does not have the comments enabled so I'm unable to see if people had success with this method.

The video is at: YouTube - Cycle a fish tank in 3 minutes

I want to know if this is the fastest method? If so, I do have a few friends who own well established tanks. Also, would the sponge juice work from any tropical freshwater tank to an intended new freshwater tank (i.e. from an African Cichlid Tank to a Souther American Cichlid Tank)? I'm cool with trying out the fishless method of cycling.. but the sticky note method of adding pure ammonia seems hard and finding "pure" ammonia seems even harder for most folks...LOL

 

[Mark Hewitt]

I would imagine it would help speed up the process. But it certainly wouldn't be cycled in "three minutes" as obviously the bacteria needs to colonise the filter and one would imagine it takes a little longer for it to settle down!

But there's no reason why it wouldn't speed up the process. My worry is that with such a concentration of bacteria, that some may die and release toxins in transport.

That being said putting gravel, sponges, decorations etc from existing tanks into new ones *does* speed up the process. But of course if you put the bacteria in and there is no ammonia supply, either from fishes or putting it in yourself, they'll die off from lack of food.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Yeah I wouldn't think it would work to cycle a tank in just 3 minutes. It's just the process of getting a sponge and juicing the bacteria into a cup and in to a new tank took the guy in the video 3 minutes...LOL

However, I do have a small tank (12 gallon nano cube) that I'll be getting in a few days. I think, due to the small size, this tank should cycle quickly regardless? Moreover, I'm wondering if this method in the video would enable me to cycle the tank in a matter of days as opposed to a week or so?

 

[dkpate]

Yes, seeding a tank with bacteria will most likely make you not even have a cycle. I seeded my tank with established gravel in a piece of new pantyhose, and an established filter media, and I never even had a cycle.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

@dkpate, what do you mean that you "never even had a cycle?" I'm a bit confused..please elaborate. Do you mean it didn't work and there was no cycle to begin with? I know this cycling thing is no rocket science, but it's starting to give me a headache....LOL

Or by "seeding" in the manner in which you described allowed you to introduce a fish to your tank right away? I'm guessing the beneficial bacteria seeded in a tank can survive long enough if a hardy fish is introduced to the tank fairly swiftly to create the ammonia for them to feed on and multiply?

 

[Mark Hewitt]

The cycle is just where the ammonia rises because there isn't enough bacteria to consume it, but in dkpate's case there was enough bacteria so the he didn't experience any ammonia or nitrite spike you would associate with a cycling tank.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Thanks Mark for clarifying that for me. I'm still a newbie and I'm learning something new all the time with this. So we can conclude that seeding a tank with bacteria such as in the video and placing a hardy fish to get things going is safe to do a day or two after initial tank setup? Or earlier perhaps? I know patience is key for new tanks and is the hardest to follow... but yes, I'm guilty of being an eager-beaver! LOL

 

[meegosh]

That is true. I don't think it would have to be a really hardy fish either. As long as you watch your parameters and do adequate water changes you will be fine. I do the same thing as in the video but I just squeeze a well used filter into the water column, let it settle, then turn the filter on. You may experience what they call a mini cycle but a few water changes and you are good.

 

[Mark Hewitt]

Always worth getting a hardy fish as your first inhabitant, if there is a hiccup, it's much more likely to make it.

 

[dkpate]

I used a BGK in mine, and he's a sensitive fish. But keep in mind, it was only him, and a 75G tank, so there was a lot more room for error, as opposed to like a 10G tank.

 

[roadmaster]

I too have used borrowed filter media from existing tanks to help colonize the new filter with bacteria. While this does indeed make water in new tank safe for two or three small fish, It should be noted that it does not allow the immediate stocking of a tank to it's capacity. Bacteria develops in proportion to existing bio load(fishes). Always good to let the bacteria develop gradually by adding one or two fish and allowing the bacteria to catch up so to speak before adding more. Perhaps a week in between new additions. Has worked well for me.

 

[Mark Hewitt]

Absolutely correct of course. In most stable tanks there only exists enough nitrifying bacteria to support whatever amount of ammonia and nitrites are normally produced. Just like any population can only grow as large as the available food sources.

If you increase the amount of bioload then the amount of bacteria will also increase to compensate, however this does take time, which is why the advice is to only add extra fish slowly, to give the bacteria time to increase.