So I just vacuumed my 10 gallon yesterday, and I want to seed my 29 with the gravel from it....How long after vaccuming with the bacteria take to regrow?? Also, If I want to use filter media, which has been in the tank for about a week and a half, how long must it remain in the larger tank to give any bacterial benifit?
2007-06-20 07:06:06 · 4 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pets ➔ Fish
if i were you, id add some hardy fish to your 29 gallon. then take a handful of gravel and put it into a mesh net and place it into the aquarium...if you can, exchange filters for a while. i did this and its only taken about 10 days to cycle an aquarium. right now i have no ammonia or nitrites and my nitrates are up...today i had to do the first water change :)
2007-06-23 14:08:23 · answer #1 · answered by tyra s 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It would be best to transfer the gravel with a few inches of water to try and preserve the bacteria, but in this case I'd give it a couple of weeks to cycle to be sure. And so long as you don't rinse the filter media (the bacterial bed, not the floss or charcoal/zeolite), it'll start working with bacteria immediately.
2007-06-20 21:01:13 · answer #2 · answered by Stephen M. 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Just adding bacteria to the tank won't mean they'll live or reproduce. For them to grow, you need to have an ammonia source. If you want to cycle without fish, this means a few drops of pure ammonia per gallon, a piece of raw shrimp, or a pinch of fish food so they have something to use as their energy source. Or 1-2 hardy fish can be used, but then you need to keep an eye on the ammonia/nitrite levels for the health of the fish.
Once there's more ammonia/nitrite than the bacteria can use, they'll start multiplying. There's no accurate way to predict how long it will take for the tank to cycle fully - there are variables to consider like the concentration of ammonia (adding too much won't help, either), the number of bacteria you have to start (more to start means more resulting bacteria with each division), and temperature (warmer temperature (88-90o) causes faster reproduction.
2007-06-20 14:20:19 · answer #3 · answered by copperhead 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
the beneficial bacteira is not in the water column, its in the filter media, on the substrate and on any decorations you have in the tank. the bacteria wont go away if you gravel vac or do any water changes.
what i do when seeding a tank is take the media from the new, not yet established tank and put it into the already established filter. i wait until the new media starts to look a little brownish in color. usually about a week.
2007-06-20 14:17:09 · answer #4 · answered by Kerri 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋