blink Posted April 7, 2012 Report Share Posted April 7, 2012 I've been poking around the net trying to find out how long it takes to get a bacterial culture in a sponge filter and it's either "a couple days" or "7-8 weeks". Erm, that's quite a variance, does anyone here have practical experience? I'm looking at upgrading my tank, going from a 12 gallon to a 27 and I'd like to use the sponge filter and the sponge insert from my aquaclear to jumpstart the cycle in the new tank and I'd hate to shoot myself in the foot by transferring the sponge too early. However, I've also read that if I increase filtration on my current tank (by adding the sponge filter) I also should increase bio-load, is this really an issue or am I going to get some bacteria growth with my current bio-load? I did turn down my aquaclear to minimum to try and put some of the load on the sponge but I don't know if that's really viable or just seemed like a good idea at the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckmullin Posted April 7, 2012 Report Share Posted April 7, 2012 7-14 days for it to build up again with a transplant with my own history. Jump-starting always helps imo. Grab some filter media...grab some substrate and seed the tank and filter.. Throw the transfered media in as soon as you start the tank. Ask 10 different people, get 10 different opinions! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishman35 Posted April 7, 2012 Report Share Posted April 7, 2012 I would definetly use the filter from the small tank and put it on the larger one. It usually takes at least 4-6 weeks to really get the bacteria colonies going in any new filter. The use of cycle would be good as it feeds the filters with the beneficial bacteria you want. I add extra filter material like bio-balls or ceramic discs in my filters, just to increase the area for good bacteria to grow. If I need established filter material, I then just take a bunch of bio-balls or discs from the established filter. I always like having at least 2 different filters on one tank, just so when I clean one of them, there is always a well established one that hasnt been touched or cleaned yet. I alternate cleaning them, at least 3 or 4 weeks apart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JORG Posted April 7, 2012 Report Share Posted April 7, 2012 If you are transferring cycled media either by using the old sponge or moving the old filter into the new tank it will be instantly cycled and you can start adding a few fish right away and increase the amount of fish slowly over a couple weeks. Here is an old thread on bacteria growth. http://albertaaquatica.com/index.php?showtopic=35118&st=0&p=2250840&hl=+nitrifying%20+bacteria&fromsearch=1entry2250840 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesbarr Posted April 8, 2012 Report Share Posted April 8, 2012 i took that small filter from my smaller tank and put it on my larger tank with the old media in it to help seed the tank. If you dont want a ton of flow just turn your larger and the smaller filters down to slow flow rate and run them together, That way when you take the small one off (or just leave it on like I did) you can adjust the larger one to meet your flow rate needs.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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