Avoiding a water cycle

[Marekzero]

Hey guys,

Just wondering what you guys think about transferring water from an old aquarium into a new one.

I recently bought a new tank (thanks wombat) and want to transfer the water/bio of the old tank into the new one. Only problem is that my old tank holds about 50L and the new one 190L.

Do do you guys think if I transfer say 40L and a juicy filter pad and then add about another 50L on top of that - that the bio load would still be enough to not go through a new cycle? and then i can slowly top up the aquarium.

Also any other suggestions would be welcome.

Thanks.

[yarra2]

As a general rule of thumb - yes. It will certainly help get the cycle going.

Mike

[Marekzero]

Thanks Yarra2,

I went to the lfs and they mentioned that there isnt much bio in the water its more so in the filter pads and gravel. So I've put some other pads into my tank so I can take them out and put them into my new filter.

How long would you say that it would take to get some good bio in those pads?

Thanks.

[yarra2]

It's been my experience with putting old pads into a new filter that the process takes at least a few weeks - even then, if you have multiple pads I'd change them one at a time over a period so you maintain some consistency with the bio cycle.

If you look at the post I just did now you can see that I'm having my own problems at the moment :)) One just has to be so careful - take it slow and easy.

Cheers,

Mike

[joz]

I used to populate brand new tanks the day they were installed.
Did this by having treated or in my case aged water ready to fill the tank, then I'd just pull a big handful of mature filter medium out of an existing filter and place it directly into the new filter.
Not only did I never experience any problems, but I used this method for setting up tanks quickly for discus breeding.