Bacteria on filter question

[Strider]

Hey all.

My 30 gallon tank is taking a long time to cycle....going on three weeks now even after dumping several cups of primed gravel from another established tank.

I have a Penguin 200 HOB filter on my established 20 gallon tank, which has two slots in it for filters and stuck in a second filter a few days ago. I plan to put the second filter into my 30 gallon in hopes it may help get the ammonia down.

My question is anyone know how long it would take for the second filter to get a good quantity of bacteria population on it to assist in my 30 gallon?

Thanks

 

[Lotus]

It would take a couple of weeks to establish the bacteria on a new sponge. If the existing tank has been set up for more than a few months, you could just take the sponge that's in its filter and put it in the new tank, and put a new sponge into the filter on the existing tank. I wouldn't recommend doing that if the first tank is only a month or two old.

 

[Strider]

The first tank is a couple years old, but I just swapped out the gravel in it, so am hesitant about moving the filter over to the other tank. So I'll just continue to prime the second filter and see how things go.....thx

 

[MissFishy]

Stating the obvious...just to make sure, but you do have an ammonia source in the "cycling" tank right? If you just dump cycled gravel and/or filter media in a tank without fish, the bacteria will just die off and not cycle.

 

[Strider]

Yeah I have 6 serpea tetras in it.

These are my tough fish. They have been my ammonia source for a couple years and all survive the rigors of various water chemistry through many tanks.

My ammonia keeps jumping to over 1ppm.....then I do a water change.

I've cycled my other 4 tanks with "seed" gravel and they all cycled real quick, but this 30 gallon is being stubborn. It's just a waiting game.

 

[homebunnyj]

You can swish one of the filter pads from the other tank in the new one every day or so; that will help without putting a totally new pad in the old tank.

 

[exhumed07]

I would say just wait it out. with only 6 sepea and 10 danios in my 55 it cycled in just about 4-6 weeks. and I never did a water change in it untill it was cycled.

 

[MissFishy]

If this tank has been cycling for 3 weeks with no drop in ammonia or appearance of nitrites, you could possibly want to make sure you haven't been adding any chemicals to the water that could be killing off your bacteria. Make sure to treat the water with dechlor BEFORE adding it to the tank. That is really odd...my tanks are instantly cycled whenever I do an established gravel cycle.