Seeding a new tank question?

[james77]

I started up another 55g tank and I seeded it with the filter media from my other 55g. I used a lot of the beneficial bacteria from my other tank, 8 filters worth of it. So how long do I need to wait to add some fish?

 

[rmiller]

You should be able to add fish immediately. Waiting can cause all that bacteria to die off. If you want to test it before adding fish, dose pure ammonia to 4 ppm and wait 24 hours. If it measures 0 ammonia and nitrite with some readable amount of nitrate, you're ready to go.

 

[james77]

I added some bloodfin tetras after it ran a few hours with all the bacteria in it.

 

[rmiller]

You should be fine then. Just make sure to keep an eye on your parameters as you add more fish.