# 2 week cycling



## duckyser (Oct 4, 2009)

I have my 55 all set up and just need to add water. If i throw in some gunk from my eheim 2215 and let it run for a couple weeks will this be too long and make the water go bad?


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## Philip.Chan.92 (Apr 25, 2010)

What I would do is put take the foam from the eheim 2215 and squeeze the gunk out of it into your new filter and then put in whatever plants you are planning to use. Keep a few fish in there so there is a source of ammonia, plants will help avoid or lower the affects of the impending ammonia spike before your new tank's bacteria is fully established. You need to have a source of ammonia added to the tank one way or another, either you use some hardy fish or some store bought ammonia. Hopefully this help


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## Zebrapl3co (Mar 29, 2006)

Should be fine. How long it will last depends on how much poop is in your gunk. It should be OK and help you cycle your new tank. The poop does not decompose over night. It will last at least 2 weeks and slowly release ammonia in that period. When it's time add fish, don't dump a whole load of fish in at once. Just add them gradually. Even a fully established tank that have been running for years can go into a mini cycle if you add an extra %30 bioload into the tank.

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## dl88dl (Mar 8, 2010)

duckyser said:


> I have my 55 all set up and just need to add water. If i throw in some gunk from my eheim 2215 and let it run for a couple weeks will this be too long and make the water go bad?


Not sure what you have in your 55gal(gravel, rocks, driftwoods etc) and what filter or filters you are using but once you add the tap water you can add Prime and run it for 10 minutes or so. Some people also like to add Stability too at this time. Take your old sponge from your 2215 and squeeze it in the 55gal so all your gravel, rocks, filters & glass etc will be seeded with these good bacteria. Don't be alarm that your water turn into very dark brown color but in 2 to 3 hours the 55gal will be crystal clear and you can add some fishy at this time but since you want to keep Discus then I would let the 55gal run for a day or 2 and add Stability each day before you add your 2 Discus and wait a week before adding more. 55gal can only host 3 max 4 adult Discus.


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## BettaBeats (Jan 14, 2010)

or, if you have spare media from your first tank, put it in your second filter for a while.

you definitely want to 'seed' the new tank.

gravel, plants, fish poop, filter media, all work well..


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## TBemba (Jan 11, 2010)

I personally would add old water from established tank to new tank by doing a water change on old tank and treat both tanks with (Prime). I would add the old filter to the new tank and new filter to established tank leave running over night. If temp is ok then you can slowly start adding fish to the new tank as early as the next day. I have done this dozens of times and know other that have done so as well with no issues.


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## dl88dl (Mar 8, 2010)

TBemba said:


> I personally would add old water from established tank to new tank by doing a water change on old tank and treat both tanks with (Prime). I would add the old filter to the new tank and new filter to established tank leave running over night. If temp is ok then you can slowly start adding fish to the new tank as early as the next day. I have done this dozens of times and know other that have done so as well with no issues.


You can only do that if your old tank was lightly stocked but if you over stock like most people do then running a new filter in your old tank will created many issues. Adding old water to the new tank from a WC is a great idea.


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## TBemba (Jan 11, 2010)

dl88dl said:


> You can only do that if your old tank was lightly stocked but if you over stock like most people do then running a new filter in your old tank will created many issues. Adding old water to the new tank from a WC is a great idea.


Too True, but you should never overstock a tank. Also most people with multiple tanks are rarely over stocking and are a more advanced hobbyist (mostly). I also use WC to water my plants


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## dl88dl (Mar 8, 2010)

TBemba said:


> Too True, but you should never overstock a tank. Also most people with multiple tanks are rarely over stocking and are a more advanced hobbyist (mostly). I also use WC to water my plants


You are 100% correct about the over stock but many fellow hobbist that I know and visit their fishroom have some tanks over stocked. I am quilty of that to...I am running 30 tanks but 2 of them are over stocked but those 2 tanks has many filters


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## duckyser (Oct 4, 2009)

thanks for the advice, i will squeeze in the gunk and let it run for a couple weeks i guess. Just a side question, my gramps told me that discus need a bare bottom tank because discus might not be able to find food when it lands in the flourite which would eventually would foul the water. Do discus really have such problems finding food?


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## dl88dl (Mar 8, 2010)

duckyser said:


> thanks for the advice, i will squeeze in the gunk and let it run for a couple weeks i guess. Just a side question, my gramps told me that discus need a bare bottom tank because discus might not be able to find food when it lands in the flourite which would eventually would foul the water. Do discus really have such problems finding food?


You can use low tech to keep Discus with bare bottom and just 2 sponge filters driven with a air pump but does not look that nice. Most Discus will not look for food that fell to the bottom therefore it is good to keep Discus with some high temperature cory like Corydoras Palentus aka Pepper Cory. I had also try with Clown loaches but once they get comfortable with their environment they will bother the Discus. Discus will look much nicer with a planted tank with some driftwood/substrate and a group of Cardinal Tetra and Cories.


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## TBemba (Jan 11, 2010)

IMO,

There are 2 ways to keep Discus. 


1. Buy them young and grow them up. This requires a Bare bottom tank and major daily water changes and 3 or 4 times a day feedings and maybe a BN pleco to clean up the scraps. But you will be cleaning up most of that with every water change any way. Sponge filters are the way to go. If you don't do this you can have issues with growth and health.

2. Buy Adult Discus and put them in a planted tank with all the fixings the way you like (need to consider High Temps) Then Enjoy. Only issue is you will get pairing and spawning behaviours and Discus will make a mess of plants.


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## Zebrapl3co (Mar 29, 2006)

Having read this thread a second time just made me realized that there was a better way to do this. Why don't you just run your new filter on your old tank for a few weeks. My preference would have been splitting 1/2 of the media from the old filter to the new one. You can run the dual filter for as long as you like. When it's time to set up your new tank, just bring your new filter from the old tank and hook it up to your new one. Tada, instant cycle tank that just went through %100 water change. I would probably leave it running for at least 2 days just to be on the safe side and measure the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. I've done this lots of time with my hospital and quarenteen tanks. The catch is, you have to go from either a bigger old tank to a smaller or equal size new tank. Going from a smaller old tank to a newer big tank is a bit risky (you may want to monitor it for 3 or 4 days by taking readings of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate to make sure.)

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## Zebrapl3co (Mar 29, 2006)

duckyser said:


> thanks for the advice, i will squeeze in the gunk and let it run for a couple weeks i guess. Just a side question, my gramps told me that discus need a bare bottom tank because discus might not be able to find food when it lands in the flourite which would eventually would foul the water. Do discus really have such problems finding food?


Your grampa is a wise man. Well ... at least he knows what hes talking about.
Not only what he said above, but it's also easy to spot uneaten food and clean it up as well (like after 1/2 hour and it's still sitting there uneaten). There are other methods, but for a beginner, there are less chances of something bad happenning, when you go bare bottom.

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