Help quick cycling new 29 Gal

[almcloud]

Like I was saying on my previous thread, my GBR nipped one of my Cory's fins a bit, chasing him all the time and I had to put him in a breeder temporarily.
I wanted to get a 75 Gal and built a nice aquascape for my future Black Ghost but due to time constraints with my GBR I decided to get today a 29 gal for him (Marineland with Penguin 150 Bio Wheel filter KIT)
Need advice please on the fastest way to Cycle the 29 gal.
Was told to move media from current "recently" cycled 10 gal (Marineland with Penguin 100 Bio Wheel filter)
I will still keep my 2 Corys in the 10 gal and get few more soon for a bigger school, so I wont move all the media.
Was thinking to take Corys out for a bit and move a few fake plants and some of my gravel in the new 29 (to get some of the bacteria over) then rearrange the 10 with some new plants and and gravel to feel out the remained space. What do you think?
What should I do with my current filter, should I move it to the new 29 gal for a while or keep it in 10 gal not to mess with its cycle?
I would appreciate all the help I can get to start this process today.
Thank you very much!

 

[almcloud]

I also heard that a live shrimp can help with the bio load and cycling. True?

 

[librarygirl]

Cycling can be sped up with moving some seeded media over from another tank, but unless it's a lot of media the tank won't cycle instantly. Cycling usually takes time whether it's fish-in or fishless.

If your 10 gal tank was recently cycled I'd be hesitant to remove media from it. If you do, remove a very small portion and check the water daily for a week and do water changes as needed if you start seeing ammonia and/or nitrite until the tank can re-establish itself.

Moving some substrate and decorations from the 10 to the new tank should be fine too. Most bacteria live on the filters and some but not much on the substrate and decorations. Again if you move anything from the 10 gal I'd check the water daily for any toxin spikes.

When you move media to the new tank, I'd also test the water daily and do water changes as needed until the tank fully cycles. The link in my signature called: new tank with fish will tell you when do to water change and how much (basically any time ammonia and/or nitrite go over .25).

If you're going to keep fish in the 10 gal I wouldn't move the whole filter. You could run the new filter for the 29 on the 10 gal tank for a few weeks to seed it, but you'd need to keep all of the fish in the 10 gal for that time (and again I'd still check parameters in the 29 gal for a while to be sure there aren't any toxin spikes).

Shrimp won't help with cycling; they have a pretty small bioload. Usually in a fishless cycle you can either add pure ammonia or use raw shrimp (dead from the store in the frozen section ) as an ammonia source. I guess from your post I assumed you were going to move the fish to the 29 gal right away and do a fish-in cycle? If not, you could use the raw shrimp method but it can be messy and unreliable as to how much ammonia is being added to the tank. So your options are:

1. Keep all the fish in the 10 gal for now; run the filter for the 29 on the 10 gal for 2-3 weeks to help seed it. Then move the filter to the 29 with the fish you are going to put in there and test the tank daily to make sure there aren't any toxin spikes and do water changes as needed OR
2. Move a small bit of media and/or substrate and decor from the 10 to the 29 and: a) test the 10 gal daily to make sure there aren't any toxin spikes and do water changes as needed and b) keep all the fish in the 10 gal and do a fishLESS cycle on the 29 gal with pure ammonia (or raw shrimp) OR
3. Move a small bit of media and/or substrate and decor from the 10 to the 29 and: a) test the 10 gal daily to make sure there aren't any toxin spikes and do water changes as needed and b) move the other fish to the 29 gal and test the water daily for toxin spikes and do water changes as needed.

Hope this helps.

 

[almcloud]

Cycling can be sped up with moving some seeded media over from another tank, but unless it's a lot of media the tank won't cycle instantly. Cycling usually takes time whether it's fish-in or fishless.

If your 10 gal tank was recently cycled I'd be hesitant to remove media from it. If you do, remove a very small portion and check the water daily for a week and do water changes as needed if you start seeing ammonia and/or nitrite until the tank can re-establish itself.

Moving some substrate and decorations from the 10 to the new tank should be fine too. Most bacteria live on the filters and some but not much on the substrate and decorations. Again if you move anything from the 10 gal I'd check the water daily for any toxin spikes.

When you move media to the new tank, I'd also test the water daily and do water changes as needed until the tank fully cycles. The link in my signature called: new tank with fish will tell you when do to water change and how much (basically any time ammonia and/or nitrite go over .25).

If you're going to keep fish in the 10 gal I wouldn't move the whole filter. You could run the new filter for the 29 on the 10 gal tank for a few weeks to seed it, but you'd need to keep all of the fish in the 10 gal for that time (and again I'd still check parameters in the 29 gal for a while to be sure there aren't any toxin spikes).

Shrimp won't help with cycling; they have a pretty small bioload. Usually in a fishless cycle you can either add pure ammonia or use raw shrimp (dead from the store in the frozen section ) as an ammonia source. I guess from your post I assumed you were going to move the fish to the 29 gal right away and do a fish-in cycle? If not, you could use the raw shrimp method but it can be messy and unreliable as to how much ammonia is being added to the tank. So your options are:

1. Keep all the fish in the 10 gal for now; run the filter for the 29 on the 10 gal for 2-3 weeks to help seed it. Then move the filter to the 29 with the fish you are going to put in there and test the tank daily to make sure there aren't any toxin spikes and do water changes as needed OR
2. Move a small bit of media and/or substrate and decor from the 10 to the 29 and: a) test the 10 gal daily to make sure there aren't any toxin spikes and do water changes as needed and b) keep all the fish in the 10 gal and do a fishLESS cycle on the 29 gal with pure ammonia (or raw shrimp) OR
3. Move a small bit of media and/or substrate and decor from the 10 to the 29 and: a) test the 10 gal daily to make sure there aren't any toxin spikes and do water changes as needed and b) move the other fish to the 29 gal and test the water daily for toxin spikes and do water changes as needed.

Hope this helps.

Ty for your suggestion. Another member ECO32 suggested to move everything in to the new 29 gal.
Main reason why I do this is because 2 days ago my GBR nipped one Cory and I had to put him in a mesh breeder because he was constantly chasing him and being territorial (found out lfs sold GBR to me for a 10 gal which they shouldn't have).
Can't have him in 10 gal with Cory but don't want him in the mesh breeder any longer neither.
Pls advice based on complete info I gave u.
Thanks very much.

 

[librarygirl]

Well Eco is usually right But I'm wondering if he understood that you'll be keeping some fish in the 10 gal and not moving everything over. If you were going to move all the fish to the larger tank then yes just move everything to the 29. But if you're going to keep some fish in the 10 you can't just take the filter off and not have a filter on the 10 gal. Sorry if I'm the one that's misunderstanding.

 

[eco23]

Well Eco is usually right But I'm wondering if he understood that you'll be keeping some fish in the 10 gal and not moving everything over. If you were going to move all the fish to the larger tank then yes just move everything to the 29. But if you're going to keep some fish in the 10 you can't just take the filter off and not have a filter on the 10 gal. Sorry if I'm the one that's misunderstanding.

We're on the same page . Almcloud originally wanted to keep the Corys in the 10 gallon due to aggression issues with the GBR..but I told them if they were together in a 29 instead of jammed into a 10 I'd be shocked if there were any more run-ins. Originally I told him (her?) to move everything over to the 29, keep both filters running on the new tank and keep the 10 gallon empty as a QT. Almcloud actually wants to turn the 10 gallon into a Betta tank, so I told him to do the same thing...and in a few weeks once the 29 is well established he could pull the 10 gallons filter back off the 29 and it'd be insta-cycled for the Betta.

 

[almcloud]

Got it. Thanks guys.
Almcloud is a HE
Will post some pics of my 29. It took my a good few HRS but well worth it.