Water from an established tank?

[fishcrazy]

I visited a store specifically for fish, just a local store not a chain. The guy in there was super nice and I was talking to him a little bit about the nitrogen cycle and he said I could bring a huge bucket and take some of his water from an established tank. I didnt think about it till later but would this speed up or slow down my cycle? Do I need to do anything different or just keep testing? Not sure where i would pick up in the cycle with established water? Thanks for any help.

 

[lionheart]

i doubt very much there would be much if any good bacteria in the water they stick to surfaces,
substrate filter media ornaments etc,
your best bet would be to get some substrate out of is his established aquarium or some old media sponge off him and stick it in your filter to seed or take your filter sponge from your filter and get it rubbed across the substrate in is established tanks make sure it is in water when taking it home,
also i dont advise taking quantity of water from is aquariums cos if those tanks contain desease's then you basically putting them deseases into your aquarium

 

[mgamer20o0]

right on lionheart. you can speed up the cycle by weeks with cycled substrate or media.

 

[CA_BroncoFan]

Do not under pretty much any circumstances take water from local fish store tanks. They will more times than none have a lot of harmful things in them. This is a big reason people say you should put new fish in a QT tank before introducing then into your main tank. The bacteria you need is going to be in the substrate, filter media or decor.

 

[Aquarium1]

+1 for all these replies. Good job guys

 

[fishcrazy]

right on, I'll steer clear then thanks for the help guys. Think i'll just stay on the safe side and use only my water and just let it keep goin on its own.