what to take from a friends fishtank to do a fishless cycle?

[lancerland]

I was wondering what I would need to take from a friends tank and put into mine in order to complete a fishless cycle.

He has a 6 gallon eclipse with a bio-wheel. I have a 10 gal. all glass with and aquaclear 30. Is that a problem. We also will not be keeping the same fish in our tanks, this probably isn't of any concern but I thought I would ask

Thanks

 

[GlitcH]

The best thing to take is filter media .......second best is gravel.

Either one can be put in a filter bag or panty hose and set inside the new tank till the good stuff multiplies. It's not pretty ........but it's effective.

 

[black hills tj]

hmm..if there is room you'd have to run your AC 30 on the back of his 6 gal tank. The only other way to work it that I can think of his to find a way to fit one of his biowheels in the media area on your AC30.

 

[severum mama]

Hey lancerland, welcome to AA!

Here's what I would do to cycle the tank quickly. I've done this many times with FW tanks.

Set your tank up with dechlorinated water, gravel, decor, equipment, etc. Get everything running and get the temp where you want it; 77-80 is good for most tropicals.
If possible, get some filter media from your friend- his old filter pad would work great, since he probably changes it every few weeks anyway. If you can't do that, then you can borrow a handful of his gravel and tie it up in un-used pantyhose, and stick it in your tank. If you're lucky enough to get the filter pad, simply put it in your filter. If it doesn't fit, just put it in the tank. Now, you'll need to either add a couple of small fish, or some other source of ammonia to keep the bacteria alive. Without a food source it will die. Leave the media in your tank for 2-3 weeks to be safe.

This is the quickest way I can think of to cycle a tank, but it isn't instantaneous. You should keep a test kit handy (preferable a liquid reagent kit, as they are more accurate than the strips) and test the water every day for a week or so. Be prepared to do some water changes if you see any detectable ammonia or nitrite. Do not gravel vac or change your filter media for a couple of weeks.

Hope this helps and good luck!

 

[lancerland]

Okay I already have everything set up and my tank has been running for about 6 days now without anything but the fake plants, substrate and a live rock in there.

I should be able to get some gravel from my friend, and I will put that in there this Saturday.

When should I add the fish then? Does having the bacteria from my friends tank make it easier on the fish during the cycle?

 

[severum mama]

Yes, the point of adding the media is to cycle almost instantly (almost!), and to greatly minimize the impact on fish. That said, you have to stock VERY lightly at first for this to work. I always just add a small bioload along with the filter media, but if you are worried about that, you can just feed the bacteria with pure ammonia, fish food, a raw shrimp, etc. until you are confident your perams are stable.

 

[lancerland]

I just talked to the guy and he is going to bring it in to my work on friday, so I should be ok with adding a few fish an Saturday?

 

[severum mama]

It depends on the species, as you want to add a very small bioload to start out with, and it would be best to add the fish as you add the media. What do you plan to keep?

 

[lancerland]

4 or 5 rasboras and a Gourami

 

[severum mama]

That's really pushing it in a 10 gallon, IMO, even if it's a dwarf gourami. You certainly wouldn't want to add all the fish at once.

In this case, your best bet may be to just add the media and complete a fishless cycle with pure ammonia (no surfactants), a raw shrimp, fish food, etc. This will allow you to build up a good sized colony of bacteria, but it will still happen fairly quickly. When your cycle completes, I'd do a 50% water change and add the rasboras. Then wait a couple of weeks and add a dwarf gourami. Any other species will grow too large.

 

[lancerland]

I apologize, I meant to type Dwarf Gourami. I was thinking this guy would be cool

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=981

Also I talked again to my buddy, and he will be giving me his used filter, which he said needs to be changed anyway. So I will try to fit that into my Filter, which is pretty tight, if it doesn't fit then I will take it and put it in an unused nylon, and drop it in there. Then I will go ahead with the fishless cycle.