Cycling a 5 gallon betta tank

[jc102]

Hey guys,

I have two 5 gallon aquariums each with one betta stocked. One of the tanks somehow cycled right under my nose. I was gone for a week and when I came back it was cycled. The other is not cycled, and it was setup 2 weeks before the cycled tank.

I was wanting to know if I can take the filter off of my uncycled tank and add it to the cycled tank for a week or so and then transfer it back to the uncycled tank to speed up the process. It's been well over a month since I set them up, and I'm not seeing anything but high levels of ammonia in the uncycled tank.

 

[Ashenwelt]

Honestly I wouldn't but I would buy some bottled bacteria... partly from lack of patience. I do however keep extra media always cycling in other tanks.

 

[brendenscott]

If you have media in it I would transfer half of the media from the cycled tank to the uncycled one. The already cycled one will be fine with half as there is also some bb in the tank substrate and such. That is what I have done a few times and it works great.

 

[jc102]

If you have media in it I would transfer half of the media from the cycled tank to the uncycled one. The already cycled one will be fine with half as there is also some bb in the tank substrate and such. That is what I have done a few times and it works great.

Do I just cut the filter in half?
This is not my filter but it's the same kind that I use lol.

 

[brendenscott]

Do I just cut the filter in half?
This is not my filter but it's the same kind that I use lol.

Hmm that makes it interesting. In that case what I would do is try and squeeze some from that filter onto the other one. When doing it try and squeeze it inside the filter so you get as much to stay inside as possible. That should definitely give the newer one a good kick start. Once you have some in the new one it will help spread to more areas in the new filter.

 

[jc102]

Thanks, I'll try that! I didn't know there were any other types of filter media. I thought I was missing something

 

[Mebbid]

Buy a new filter cartridge, cut the old 1 in half and cram 1 in each filter

 

[brendenscott]

Buy a new filter cartridge, cut the old 1 in half and cram 1 in each filter

That's a good idea and what my original thought was. As long as you can get some of that BB on the new filter is what you want to do and should be instantly cycled.