Cycling a sponge filter

npbarca

Members
Hey guys,

I set up my 4 10g fry tanks, and my 20l all run off sponge filters. What is the best way to cycle with a sponge filter, and how will I keep my bacteria in between batches of fry and when there is no fish in the tank. I have an already established 75g.

Nick
 

ddavila06

Members
whatever filter u have in the 75, clean its contents in a bucket and fill with water from that 75 also. spread all that dirty water through out the new tanks you are setting up and give it some time :)

when you have no fry just let the tanks run normally..nothing will happen.
 

ddavila06

Members
not just the water, but also the contents from your up and running filter. the filter goo also has a lot of microorganisms that will get the new tanks kick started. is the easiest./best way to go imo
 

npbarca

Members
But how would the bacteria grow without a food source? I'm not looking for the easiest, im looking for a way to make sure all my tanks will be completely cycled when the fry are put in.
 
What kind of filter is on the 75? Is the substrate the same in all the tanks?

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npbarca

Members
I have a emperor 400 biowheel. The substrate is not the same, the 75g is a tropical community and the fry setup is for breeding cichlids.
 
BB only exist in enviorments favorable for existence. Its not very hard to accommodate them, all they need is food and somewhat consistant water conditions. The will only proliferate to the point where no more food is left over to support higher numbers. When you think about it fry produce a very light bioload so you don't need to have to tank ready for a heavy stocking of large fish you just need to supply a small amount of BB to take care of the light bioload. As the fry grow the bacteria colony will grow with them. As more food for them becomes available their numbers will grow to handle it. So there are several ways to do this but almost all include moving bacteria from your established tank. You can put the sponges in the 75 for a week or two, you can add some floss to the filter for a few weeks then remove it cut it up and drop it in the fry tanks, you could ring out your filter media in the new tanks......there is countless different ways but the principal is that the BB grow on anything with surface area they cover the whole tank and filter so add surface area to the host tank then remove it and put it in the new tanks. In between periods where the tank is empty you have two options either supply food for the existing bacteria or remove surface area put it back in the main tank until you are ready to use them again and return it.

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npbarca

Members
Now that's the answer I was looking for! Thanks. Ill start soaking my sponges in the main tank until I get fish.
 
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