First Post-Cycling new 20g from cycled 55g

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fish tank mike

Aquarium Advice Newbie
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Apr 10, 2013
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First post, please be gentle. I have an established 55g community tank that has been cycled for about 2 months and since then I've been bitten by "the bug". I picked up a 20g tall with stand on Craigslist and I'm looking to get this one fired up in another month or so. On the 55 I'm running an Aquaclear 70 with sponge, biomax and carbon (month on, month off with the carbon). For the 20g I'm planning on using an Eheim Classic 2211 or 2213. What is my best bet to get the small tank to cycle quickly using something from the 55g that won't cause a mini-cycle in the 55? I was thinking of maybe the biomax but I'm not sure if would work well in the canister filter plus the Eheim already comes with Substrat Pro which I'd prefer to use for biological filtration anyway. I've heard about using gravel (substrate) or even artificial plants from an existing tank. Does this work? If so how much gravel/plant stuff would I have to transfer?
 
Its hard to say how much your going to need to tranfer because everyones bacteria and tank is different. If you run a sponge or filter floss you can add that o the new filter. I wouldnt do a thing to the older tank because of mini cycles and it hasnt been running very.long.
 
I would take a bit of media from the 55 and add it to the new tank's filter then proceed with a fishless cycle to build up the bacteria. You wont' be able to remove enough media to fully cycle the 20 gal instantly. The 55 could take a temporary hit but it shouldn't be too bad unless it's heavily stocked; just test the 55 daily for a week or so to ensure that there aren't any ammonia, etc spikes and if there are just do some extra water changes.
 
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