# setting up new planted with cycled water



## Biomarine2000 (Apr 14, 2013)

I'm about to setup my new planted tank and have a 240 gallon thats up and running with cycled water. Is it ok for me to setup my new tank with cycled water or do I need it to go through the cycle process?


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

Using the water from your 240 will not really help your new tank. There is very little beneficial bacteria floating the the water. However, if you use mature biofilter media from the 240 in the filter of your new tank, it will greatly reduce the need to cycle the new tank. Just rinse the old media in dechlorinated water before you put it in the other filter.


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## Biomarine2000 (Apr 14, 2013)

Michael said:


> Using the water from your 240 will not really help your new tank. There is very little beneficial bacteria floating the the water. However, if you use mature biofilter media from the 240 in the filter of your new tank, it will greatly reduce the need to cycle the new tank. Just rinse the old media in dechlorinated water before you put it in the other filter.


Ok, thats good to know. I have the canister filter bio media in the sump right now. It should have quite a bit of benificial bacteria built up on it by the time I get it all setup. I guess there's no way around the tank going through a cycling period, even if its a mild one. Thanks for the quick responce.


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## Diana K (Dec 20, 2007)

Cycle:
To grow the nitrifying bacteria that remove ammonia and nitrite from an aquarium with fish or other livestock. 

These bacteria live on surfaces, very little drifting in the water. They are not decomposers, so adding mulm is not the best source. The best source is a cycled filter from a healthy tank. The highest bacteria population is on the media. 

The bacteria population will match the food supply. Ammonia feeds the bacteria. If there are a lot of fish (so you are adding a lot of fish food) then there will be a lot of bacteria. 

When you are starting a new tank it is just fine to take SOME bacteria from an established tank, but if you take too much, then that tank will suffer. Ammonia spike, followed by nitrite spike. 

The best way to start a new tank is to do the fishless cycle. You can take a small amount of bacteria from the established tank to jump start the population in the new tank. 

Adding more media (such as adding media to the sump, or adding another filter) to an established tank will grow bacteria on that media, but some will die off in the old filter. There will not be more bacteria overall. When you remove the extra media, the additional filter, then there is less bacteria to deal with the wastes in the old tank. 
These bacteria are slow growing, so adding such media or filter for just a week or two will just get a starter colony of bacteria going, not enough to fully cycle the new tank. 

Here is a great way to get a new tank up and running:
Cycle: To grow the beneficial bacteria that remove ammonia and nitrite from the aquarium. 

Fish-In Cycle: To expose fish to toxins while using them as the source of ammonia to grow nitrogen cycle bacteria. Exposure to ammonia burns the gills and other soft tissue, stresses the fish and lowers their immunity. Exposure to nitrite makes the blood unable to carry oxygen. Research methemglobinemia for details. 

Fishless Cycle: The safe way to grow more bacteria, faster, in an aquarium, pond or riparium. 

The method I give here was developed by 2 scientists who wanted to quickly grow enough bacteria to fully stock a tank all at one time, with no plants helping, and overstock it as is common with Rift Lake Cichlid tanks. 

1) Set up the tank and all the equipment. You can plant if you want. Include the proper dose of dechlorinator with the water. 
Optimum water chemistry:
GH and KH above 3 German degrees of hardness. A lot harder is just fine. 
pH above 7, and into the mid 8s is just fine. 
Temperature in the upper 70s F (mid 20s C) is good. Higher is OK if the water is well aerated. 
A trace of other minerals may help. Usually this comes in with the water, but if you have a pinch of KH2PO4, that may be helpful. 
High oxygen level. Make sure the filter and power heads are running well. Plenty of water circulation. 
No toxins in the tank. If you washed the tank, or any part of the system with any sort of cleanser, soap, detergent, bleach or anything else make sure it is well rinsed. Do not put your hands in the tank when you are wearing any sort of cosmetics, perfume or hand lotion. No fish medicines of any sort. 
A trace of salt (sodium chloride) is OK, but not required. 
This method of growing bacteria will work in a marine system, too. The species of bacteria are different. 

1a) Optional: Add any source of the bacteria that you are growing to seed the tank. Cycled media from a healthy tank is good. Decor or some gravel from a cycled tank is OK. Live plants or plastic are OK. Bottled bacteria is great, but only if it contains Nitrospira species of bacteria. Read the label and do not waste your money on anything else. 
At the time this was written the right species could be found in: 
Dr. Tims One and Only
Tetra Safe Start
Microbe Lift Nite Out II
...and perhaps others. 
You do not have to jump start the cycle. The right species of bacteria are all around, and will find the tank pretty fast. 

2) Add ammonia until the test reads 5 ppm. This ammonia is the cheapest you can find. No surfactants, no perfumes. Read the fine print. This is often found at discount stores like Dollar Tree, or hardware stores like Ace. You could also use a dead shrimp form the grocery store, or fish food. Protein breaks down to become ammonia. You do not have good control over the ammonia level, though. 

3) Test daily. For the first few days not much will happen, but the bacteria that remove ammonia are getting started. Finally the ammonia starts to drop. Add a little more, once a day, to test 5 ppm. 

4) Test for nitrite. A day or so after the ammonia starts to drop the nitrite will show up. When it does allow the ammonia to drop to 3 ppm. 

5) Test daily. Add ammonia to 3 ppm once a day. If the nitrite or ammonia go to 5 ppm do a water change to get these lower. The ammonia removing species and the nitrite removing species (Nitrospira) do not do well when the ammonia or nitrite are over 5 ppm. 

6) When the ammonia and nitrite both hit zero 24 hours after you have added the ammonia the cycle is done. You can challenge the bacteria by adding a bit more than 3 ppm ammonia, and it should be able to handle that, too, within 24 hours. 

7) Now test the nitrate. Probably sky high! 
Do as big a water change as needed to lower the nitrate until it is safe for fish. Certainly well under 20, and a lot lower is better. This may call for more than one water change, and up to 100% water change is not a problem. Remember the dechlor!
If you will be stocking right away (within 24 hours) no need to add more ammonia. If stocking will be delayed keep feeding the bacteria by adding ammonia to 3 ppm once a day. You will need to do another water change right before adding the fish.
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Helpful hints:

A) You can run a fishless cycle in a bucket to grow bacteria on almost any filter media like bio balls, sponges, ceramic bio noodles, lava rock or Matala mats. Simply set up any sort of water circulation such as a fountain pump or air bubbler and add the media to the bucket. Follow the directions for the fishless cycle. When the cycle is done add the media to the filter. I have run a canister filter in a bucket and done the fishless cycle.

B) The nitrogen cycle bacteria will live under a wide range of conditions and bounce back from minor set backs. By following the set up suggestions in part 1) you are setting up optimum conditions for fastest reproduction and growth.
GH and KH can be as low as 1 degree, but watch it! These bacteria use the carbon in carbonates, and if it is all used up (KH = 0) the bacteria may die off. 
pH as low as 6.5 is OK, but by 6.0 the bacteria are not going to be doing very well. They are still there, and will recover pretty well when conditions get better. 
Temperature almost to freezing is OK, but they must not freeze, and they are not very active at all. They do survive in a pond, but they are slow to warm up and get going in the spring. This is where you might need to grow some in a bucket in a warm place and supplement the pond population. Too warm is not good, either. Topical or room temperature tank temperatures are best. (68 to 85*F or 20 to 28*C)
Moderate oxygen can be tolerated for a while. However, to remove lots of ammonia and nitrite these bacteria must have oxygen. They turn one into the other by adding oxygen. If you must stop running the filter for an hour or so, no problem. If longer, remove the media and keep it where it will get more oxygen. 
Once the bacteria are established they can tolerate some fish medicines. This is because they live in a complex film called Bio film on all the surfaces in the filter and the tank. Medicines do not enter the bio film well. 
These bacteria do not need to live under water. They do just fine in a humid location. They live in healthy garden soil, as well as wet locations. 

C) Planted tanks may not tolerate 3 ppm or 5 ppm ammonia. It is possible to cycle the tank at lower levels of ammonia so the plants do not get ammonia burn. Add ammonia to only 1 ppm, but test twice a day, and add ammonia as needed to keep it at 1 ppm. The plants are also part of the bio filter, and you may be able to add the fish sooner, if the plants are thriving.


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## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

Suck up as much dirt from the bottom of an existing tank. Squeeze the sponges of the mature tank's filter in a container.

Dump all that dirty water in the new tank. Have air running in the tank.

One day later the water will be crystal clear. Mulm would have settled everywhere - just fluff it up so it is not on the decorations. Done. Fish ready. Works every time.


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