Make a new filter "live"

[Enkay]

I have a bio wheel filter which has been out of circulation. I just put it in my established 125 gallon. The 125 has a very good Fluval Cannister filter (Thanks Jose).

My question is how long will it take for the bio wheel to be "established" with the bacteria so that I can use it safely in a new tank set up?

Is it hours/days/weeks?

Thanks!

 

[jonclark96]

I don't know a scientific answer, but I usually run filters on established tanks for 2 weeks before moving them to a new tank. You could also take some of the media out of your fluval and use it in the new filter if you need to set the new tank up faster.

 

[Dreamsofpeace54]

beneficial bacteria supposedly is free floating sometimes, i would think on an established tank that it would begin to collect the bacteria almost immediately.

that being said, i think it would take a few weeks for it to become established enough to support a tank full of fish.

 

[Travis]

I think nitrobacter has a doubling time of about 20 hours. This rate can fluctuate depending on a few different factors (pH, temperature, dissolved oxygen, nitrogen load present). I would assume that attaching the filter to an established tank would promote attachment almost instantly (over a few hours). To fully colonize the 'bio-wheel' a safe bet would be about 2-3 weeks.

 

[Avatar]

Put the lime in the coconut...

...mix it all up. Squeeze the water out of an established sponge filter into a container, add new filters/bio-wheels, a pinch of fish food and 2-3 times more clean (non-chlorinated) water, let sit a day or two. If you want to get really sexy aerate the water or better yet the filter. You're done/ready.

These are bacteria-they grow everywhere (you've got ten times as many in your body as you do cells). They're aren't less demanding organisms on the planet.

 

[Travis]

^FANCY^

 

[UNCLERUCKUS]

...mix it all up. Squeeze the water out of an established sponge filter into a container, add new filters/bio-wheels, a pinch of fish food and 2-3 times more clean (non-chlorinated) water, let sit a day or two. If you want to get really sexy aerate the water or better yet the filter. You're done/ready.

These are bacteria-they grow everywhere (you've got ten times as many in your body as you do cells). They're aren't less demanding organisms on the planet.

I LIKE THIS.

 

[Enkay]

I like it too... thanks for sharing that ... had not thought about doing it that way until now.

Thanks!

 

[Avatar]

Let me know how it works out...

...I just made it up.

I generally do something simpler but slower - that's the first time I ever tried to dictate a formula.

 

[Hawkman2000]

Put it in the new tank and soak it in seachem stability or nitromax. no matter what u doo the new tanks bio cycle needs to balance out on its own. using media from an established tank will speed it up a little but not to much.

 

[Avatar]

Just what is it that needs to 'cycle'?

The sides of the tank, the water or the substrate? Nothing about it that requires store bought chemicals.

The 'cycle' is all about denitrifying bacterial ability to establish and maintain equilibrium. Try putting a virgin filter in a cycled tank vs. an established filter in a virgin tank and see what happens. It's not the latter one that will cloud up as it's the filter that needs to be cycled, not the tank.

 

[minifoot77]

it's the filter that needs to be cycled, not the tank.

+1 but i use stability too it binds some of the ammonia so you don't get the spike in your cycle....

 

[londonloco]

+1 but i use stability too it binds some of the ammonia so you don't get the spike in your cycle....

Using it for the first time to cycle a 125g, fish in. Been over a week, so far, so good

 

[Enkay]

I tried a couple of the "has billions of real living bacteria" stuff ... I honestly dont think it works.

I tried Avatar's method (or dictated formula) ... and pronto, I have 3 "cycled" filters in 24 hours!

 

[Avatar]

Ye of little faith...

I tried a couple of the "has billions of real living bacteria" stuff ... I honestly dont think it works.

I tried Avatar's method (or dictated formula) ... and pronto, I have 3 "cycled" filters in 24 hours!

QED

 

[mchambers]

I picked up a used Eheim 2213 two weekends ago, with the aim of putting it on a 29 gallon that currently has a Tetra Whisper 45. I've been running the Eheim on the tank, side by side with the Whisper, for a week. (For some reason, I didn't add any established biomedia from another filter, such as an Aquaclear, to the Eheim, nor did I try Avatar's sponge squeezings method. Guess I was thinking that running it side by side was easier.)

I was thinking that this weekend I'll retire the Whisper and just go with the Eheim. It will have been 12 or 13 days since I first fired up the Eheim on the tank.

Any risk of a mini-cycle? Conventional wisdom on the interwebs seems to be that two weeks is the period of time required to establish beneficial bacteria in a few filter, but no one who makes this assertion actually cites any authority or experimentation. I'm inclined to think the Eheim will be fine.

 

[jonclark96]

Matt:

I think that you would be fine removing the old filter after 12-13 days. I'd just do a big water change before pulling the filter if you are worried.

 

[Andrewtfw]

I use the same model filter on many of my tanks so when establishing a new tank, I disconnect the canister from an established tank and hook it to the new tank.

 

[jonclark96]

I use the same model filter on many of my tanks so when establishing a new tank, I disconnect the canister from an established tank and hook it to the new tank.

My tanks are set up along the same lines. I have multiple filters on all my tanks bigger than 10 gallons so I can easily pull an established filter and set up a new tank instantly. Plus, you can never have too much filtration in my eyes. This works for heavy bio-loads as well. When Matt had is house fire last year, I happened to have an empty 120 that I was planning on setting up within a few days. I put close to 40 to 50 fish in the tank with seeded filters from his fish room in a tank that had only had water in it for a few hours and did not lose a fish that attributed to poor water quality.

 

[mchambers]

Thanks, Jon

Matt:

I think that you would be fine removing the old filter after 12-13 days. I'd just do a big water change before pulling the filter if you are worried.

Good idea on the water change. I usually do water changes on the weekend, anyway, so I will be especially certain to do one this weekend.