How long for tanks to cycle?

[Fish for Nothin]

Hello, and I was wondering how long it would take for a 75 gallon tank and 110 gallon tank to cycle. For the 110 I was gonna use a DIY 5 gal bucket filter, and for the 75 I would use 2-3 of the largest sponge filters I can afford. I also might add plants to both of the tanks. I am asking because I was assuming it would take about 4 weeks, but after a little research it looks like it might take longer. Thanks!

Edited February 7 by Fish for Nothin

[Tony s]

anywhere from 4-6 weeks. depending on how you do it. It can be speed up if you have access to used filter material. and one of either Fritzzyme7 or Seachem Stability

And, yes, absolutely add plants if you can. They'll help you by reducing the amount of water changes you're going to be doing. but that also depends on the fish you want. a lot of fish are not plant friendly.

[Fish for Nothin]

Thanks. I have a turtle tank, and the filter cartridge has been in there for a long time. If I squeeze that out in the tank, could that jumpstart it? I also have a fake plant in there and rocks. If I put those in there could that help? And also if I use some of the water itself?

[Galabar]

That can all help a little.  However, you should probably still expect about 40 days.  Fritz Zyme 7 can help as well as your used filter cartridge.  However, they may just knock a few days or a week off of the time... 

[Tony s]

Squeezing it out in the tank may not do a whole lot. The bacteria don’t inhabit the water column. They would be directly attached to the filter media. You may get some transfer, but not enough to be effective. Transferring water won’t do anything at all. Transferring the decoration would be somewhat effective. Now if you could move the filter cartridge into the new tank’s filter, that would be really effective. Add some of the fritz7 or stability, and you’d be most of the way there. The cartridge is fully cycled, if your other tank is fully cycled. Adding the other bacteria would help to increase the size of your colony and allow it to establish itself into your substrate and other surfaces.  You’ll need a source of nitrogen to keep your colony growing until you add fish. You could add fish food daily and let it decompose. That adds nitrogen. Or you could be more direct and use a product called Fritz Fuel. That would actually be ammonia. This feeding would help your colony to grow in size. 
 

I’ve seen some people say that moving the old cartridge into the new filter causes you to be instantly cycled. That may technically be true. You could try that, but only add a small number of fish in case it fails. Then constant checking every day to see if it actually works. And if ammonia does start to show up, you’d be doing a fish-in cycle from there. Which can be done, it’s just more of a pain. Every time ammonia shows up you’d need to do a water change and dechlorination. Seachem prime is one of the best products for that. So testing daily would be the best solution. You’d probably want to do that when first adding fish anyway though. If you see any ammonia, just change water. 75 is a lot of water, hopefully it keeps it diluted. When I did my 75, I thought I had fully cycled, but no. I had to quickly remove my fish and put them in other tanks for a few weeks more. Luckily for me, I had a few spare.

Edited February 7 by Tony s

[AllFishNoBrakes]

In my experience, it’s 30-40 days if you’re starting from 0. 
 

Considering you already have a turtle tank, and if that tank is cycled, you’re already way ahead. 
 

If they were my tanks, I’d be buying whatever filtration will go on the 75 and 110 and I’d run them in the turtle tank for a couple of weeks. Doing so will grow bacteria on them. After 2-3 weeks I’d move those filters to their new homes, and I would squeeze the filters into the new tank, along with any other media you can squeeze in there. From there, you can either feed the tank ammonia, or stock it lightly and then build up from there. 
 

I do this with my fry grow out tanks all the time. When I don’t need the tanks up, the sponge filters live in my 55 gallon that grows out the fish I breed to sell. When it’s time to hatch new eggs, the hatchery tank goes up, and I hatch out the eggs. When I’m ready to start feeding them, the sponge filter gets squeezed into the hatchery tank, and then goes into the tank to run. I can then feed heavy and add snails and I have a fully cycled little grow out tank. 
 

TL;DR: Buy the filters that will go on the new tanks, run them in the turtle tank for 2-3 weeks, and use the turtle tank to cycle the new filters. 
 

 

[Fish for Nothin]

Thank you! I was just thinking last night that I would get some large sponge filters, and run them on the turtle tank. I wasn't even gonna get the tanks themselves for at least a month anyway. I will let them run, and when I get the new tanks, I don't even have to let it cycle, and just put the filters in there and plug it in.

[Tony s]

I’d still probably add some fritz or stability, just to get the bacteria into the substrate quickly. But you should be okay with just the filters 

[Fish for Nothin]

I wasnt planning to add substrate, at least not at first. I plan to put goldfish in these. After the tanks were cycled, I would put one in each tank, and after however much time I would add another one, so it could have time to adjust. Especially since goldies produce a lot more waste than most fish

 

[Tony s]

Okay, very cool. Just take you're time then. Losing wet pets is on a whole other level