Using Tank Media From Established Tank?

[NewToFish1989]

I'm currently cycling a 200 litre tank to keep 3 red bellied piranhas in and I already have 2 established tanks which have been up and running for 2 years (one is a angel fish and gourami tank and another is a cichlid tank) and to speed the cycling up, can I use a little filter media from each tank and put it in my new canister?

A friend also said squeezing the filter media into the water so the filter will suck it up, would that help are does the media ACTUALLY need to be in the filter?

Also how much faster does it speed up the cycle?

 

[Brookster123]

Do it all, stuff the canister and squeeze it out in the tank, some will say squeezing it is just adding crap to the water... even stilll, it's bb food.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[RightTurnClyde]

I can only speak to doing this with an HOB filter, but I used all the ceramic media from a prior, smaller filter and my cycle on a brand new tank happened over night, literally.