How long will my filter take to cycle in my situation

[flaggy]

Hi there, I recently started up a 200 litre tank using 5 mature sponge filters and the fish taken from other tanks. Half of the new tank was filled with water taken from these other tanks.

I intend to progressively remove the sponge filters once the filter of the new tank has cycled. In my case, how long do you think the new filter will take to cycle - would it still be the standard 6 weeks?

Thanks!

[Hollowman]

I would give it a couple of weeks at least, 3 to 4 if I was doing it.

hth

H

[fishgeek]

bacterial doubling time can be as short as 24 -36 hrs... all quite variable depending many factors

so depending how many bacteria you moved to the new tank

how much food you provide for those bacteria

then you could cycle the tank in as short as a few days

BUT

most people forget that they need to feed bacteria to have them grow rapidly
and
that when the tank water is good it is more likely because the old filter is cleaning the water... it is easier for the bacteria to grow in an already existing colony than to translocate

squeeze the old filter media at the intake of the new filter
probably then remove the old filter unless it has no where to go

then feed the new filter with upto 5ppm of ammonia
when that ammonia is removed from the water in 24 hrs you are likely good to go

[fishgeek]

sorry i'm a twit didn't read properly about you having fish across

in this instance just squeeze old media in front of new media intake to try and aid transition f bacteria to new media faster... you cant feed heavily as it will be damaging to fish

apologies i should have read thoroughly