2nd Tank Setup Question

[bobprobert]

i am starting up a second tank in my home and i took a sponge out of my established aquarium last night and put in my new filter. my question is if I don't put fish in the new tank right away will the beneficial bacteria on the sponge die without new ammonia to feed it?

 

[sinibotia]

Yes, but it takes some time. Your bacteria should survive for at least a few days without ammonia.

 

[lbanner]

Are you doing a fishless cycle? Bc you can purchase ammonia (pure ammonia - no soap or additives) at Ace Hardware stores if you need to feed your BB during cycling. I couldn't find unadulterated ammonia anywhere other than Ace.

While you're cycling the new tank, you can also shove an extra piece of filter media in your original tank's filter to seed that for a couple of weeks, and then you'll have even more BB to go around if needed (that's what I did when I started a 2nd tank).