Cycling

[stagerlee]

I just got done cycling a 5 gallon FW tank (fish less) with ammonia. I took a while but seemed to be pretty straight forward. I now have a 25 gallon FW tank I'm starting. Any thought on using the starter bacteria you can buy or is using ammonia my best bet?

 

[Chronos313]

Stick with the ammonia fish less cycle. I would never recommend the starter bb products

 

[stagerlee]

Thanks, guess there is no quick way to do something correctly

 

[shellieca]

My understanding is you would have to use both together but the BB starters are hit & miss.

 

[Borderlesscott]

Use some media from your 5 gallon to seed your bigger tank, it should be okay if you slowly add fish.

 

[stagerlee]

Ya I thought I might try that (seeding with something from the other tank) en conjunction with some ammonia, till the levels get right

 

[CrashCourse]

Seeding is good, but be careful not to take too much. Especially if it's newly cycled, you may end up with a mini cycle in the 5 gallon.

 

[DavidAl]

Seeding is good, but be careful not to take too much. Especially if it's newly cycled, you may end up with a mini cycle in the 5 gallon.

Word up!

Stock your 5-gallon and enjoy it. Leave the media alone; it's actually still colonizing with beneficial bacteria. A filter is not fully mature until it's been running for several months. Anything can disrupt a newly cycled tank.

Now that you've had practice cycling a tank with bottled ammonia, the next go around should be a breeze. And that's what I suggest you do to cycle the 25-gallon.

Good luck!

David

 

[stagerlee]

Thanks for the help, sounds like that's what I'm gonna do. Should start it next week. Appreciate the input.