Need Help With Seeding A New Aquarium

[FLFishChik]

So I have a 10g tank with a brand new sponge filter and I am wanting to move 3 Albino Cory to that tank. I was wondering if I take a media bag from an established filter and set it next to the new sponge filter, would that work? How soon could I add the Corys... if not immediately, then do I 'ghost feed' the tank? I dont know how to do this as Ive only ever done fishless cycles from scratch.

[jwcarlson]

Squeeze a sponge filter or two in from another tank?

[knee]

 

On 1/26/2023 at 1:57 PM, FLFishChik said:

So I have a 10g tank with a brand new sponge filter and I am wanting to move 3 Albino Cory to that tank. I was wondering if I take a media bag from an established filter and set it next to the new sponge filter, would that work? How soon could I add the Corys... if not immediately, then do I 'ghost feed' the tank? I dont know how to do this as Ive only ever done fishless cycles from scratch.

That's what I did for my hospital tank. I would also get water from the tank that the cycled media is coming from and fill the tank 50% then the rest with new dechlorinated water. 

[Lennie]

To my experience, that still lasted 1.5 weeks for me to cycle with this method. In addition I've used Stability and some established media, I've poured gunk of my filter to the new filter/tank as well.. The seeding action came from 1 year old overstock tank media.

Idk, maybe it was my experience. Still speeds up the cycling for sure! Like normally you don't get 1.5 week cycle ofc. But not instant. At least it was not on my case

So keep testing no matter what.

I would not move corys instantly for sure

[FLFishChik]

 

 

@Lennie I knew it wouldnt cycle immediately. I just wasnt sure if when seeding it, I am supposed to move the fish in and continue with a 'fish-in' cycle or if I am suppose to ghost feed until there is alot of bacteria... Im new to the seeding method, lol

Edited January 26, 2023 by FLFishChik

[Lennie]

I would probably act in a way you normally cycle your tank and see "seeding" as a speed up factor.

[MattyM]

I would add a full dose of Fritzyme 7 when adding the fish, but I'd still let some time pass as others have stated when using established media. I chuck some snails in to help the cycle along too, and plant heavily. Then after adding the fish with the Fritzyme, I usually still get low nitrIte levels for a week or so. If it's .25ppm or less I add more Fritzyme. If it's more I change some water and add Prime. Then one day it's 0, and I'm good. I also try to start with a hardy fish - not sure how sensitive Corys are - I've only ever added them to more established tanks. Good luck 👍

[Schuyler]

Why are you moving them and what is the tank setup like?

If it's for a quarantine or hospital tank I would just move them and keep on top of the water quality. Otherwise I would give it time to get established.

[FLFishChik]

 

On 1/26/2023 at 5:24 PM, Schuyler said:

Why are you moving them and what is the tank setup like?

If it's for a quarantine or hospital tank I would just move them and keep on top of the water quality. Otherwise I would give it time to get established.

They are being moved to the 10g as a permanent residence. It’s a glo tank

[Odd Duck]

If you’re wanting to put cories into a freshly planted tank, they are highly likely to disrupt all or most of your plants unless you give the plants a few weeks to root.  Cories are some of the worst for disrupting plants.  😆  I love them, but really bad about uprooting plants unless the cories are tiny.

If not a newly planted tank, or everything has long roots held down by gravel or pebbles, then seed the tank heavily with sponge filter “gunk”, run the new tank long enough to get all the gunk into the new filter and start blind feeding and testing.  If you add fish very gradually, you don’t need to blind feed, just feed the fish, but stay very on top of testing and water changes.

I use quite a few HOB that I pack with sponge.  If I start a new tank, I just pluck a couple sponge blocks out of old tanks and move them to the new tank and replace blocks in the old filters - for instance a block of sponge from tank 1 filter, one from tank 2 filter, and both “old” blocks go into tank 3’s new filter and one new block goes into each filter of tanks 1 and 2.  Or I’ll move a single air driven sponge from tank 1 into tank 3 (and leave the HOB sponge blocks alone) and put a new air-driven sponge into tank 1 to get seasoned.

[Ken Burke]

IMO: 10 gallons and 3 corys.  Not much of a bio load.  If you moved a well seasoned sponge over, you should be able to move them pretty fast.  Just monitor your water closely, and don’t add any other fish for a while.