# Best way to quickly cycle a new sponge filter?



## Symplicity (Oct 14, 2011)

Hello all,
I want to add a double sponge filter to my CRS tank. I was told to cycle the sponge first in another tank. The issue is my other tank has afew guppies and no filter. And my fluval edge is too small to fit it...

Is there a risk to my shrimp if I add it straight to my CRS tank? Will it cycle with 0/0/0???

Or will my high bioload guppy tank be better?


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## MananaP (Jul 6, 2012)

Symplicity said:


> Hello all,
> I want to add a double sponge filter to my CRS tank. I was told to cycle the sponge first in another tank. The issue is my other tank has afew guppies and no filter. And my fluval edge is too small to fit it...
> 
> Is there a risk to my shrimp if I add it straight to my CRS tank? Will it cycle with 0/0/0???
> ...


Why should it have a risk? It will take longer to cycle the filter than putting it into a new tank but it will have no harm. I suggest doing it though in an already established shrimp tank. GL!


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## RevoBuda (Sep 3, 2011)

Soak the sponge in your guppy tank for a day and then toss it on your tank. Shouldn't cause any issues as long as it's a secondary filter and you have a filter running that is established.


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## Symplicity (Oct 14, 2011)

RevoBuda said:


> Soak the sponge in your guppy tank for a day and then toss it on your tank. Shouldn't cause any issues as long as it's a secondary filter and you have a filter running that is established.


I do have an existing running external canister on my CRS tank. This will be a secondary filter to provide an additional food source. Any idea if putting BT-9 inside the sponge will speed up the process??


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## getochkn (Jul 10, 2011)

Who told you that you have to cycle a sponge in another tank only to put into a fully cycled tank already? That doesn't make sense. Put it in. It will grow bacteria on it. Done.


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## bettaforu (Sep 6, 2009)

I believe he wants to have the bacteria already on it before putting it in his other tank, so baby shrimps have biofilm to eat. A new sponge would not have biofilm on it for a bit, cycling it in an already cycled tank would quicken the process.


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## Dman (May 1, 2012)

If u want to add anything to it or have it cleaned and "cycled" IDE take out a a liter or so of tank water, and add your powders ( nothing will hurt as it will just go threw your filter and into your media) and let it sit for a day under the lights or on a window cell so more biofilm can grow on it then stick it in, it will have a little jump start and help the tank with what ever u put in the sponge.


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## Symplicity (Oct 14, 2011)

Dman said:


> If u want to add anything to it or have it cleaned and "cycled" IDE take out a a liter or so of tank water, and add your powders ( nothing will hurt as it will just go threw your filter and into your media) and let it sit for a day under the lights or on a window cell so more biofilm can grow on it then stick it in, it will have a little jump start and help the tank with what ever u put in the sponge.


Great advise. I will run my new sponge filter in a bucket of tank water with a spoon of BT-9 and Bioplus


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## MananaP (Jul 6, 2012)

Now that i think about it, there is actually more risk in adding a sponge that is already cycled in another tank than say a brand new one. This will do more harm than good in my opinion, you don't know what bacteria it has in one tank which the sponge can take when you cycle it & move to another tank. It is similar to moving shrimps from another tank to an already established tank. I'm not sure if i'm making any sense but i hope you get what i'm trying to say. So i would say it is safer to add brand new sponge filter in an already established tank. I did it last week in my Taiwan bee tank.

MP


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## bettaforu (Sep 6, 2009)

this is how I cycle my new sponges too...just drop them in for a week in the already cycled tank and then pop them in the tank you want to use them in.

I leave all my sponges in a cycled tank so I have a ready made one for any new tank I want to setup...has worked great for me for over 2 years.


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## Dman (May 1, 2012)

MananaP said:


> Now that i think about it, there is actually more risk in adding a sponge that is already cycled in another tank than say a brand new one. This will do more harm than good in my opinion, you don't know what bacteria it has in one tank which the sponge can take when you cycle it & move to another tank. It is similar to moving shrimps from another tank to an already established tank. I'm not sure if i'm making any sense but i hope you get what i'm trying to say. So i would say it is safer to add brand new sponge filter in an already established tank. I did it last week in my Taiwan bee tank.
> 
> MP


I absolutely agree! It could be good or bad, depends how clean you are, you could transfer good bio matter say if the tank had media filter it in compared to a sponge filter tank... But on the bad side you could transfer any single harmful thing to it. Such as worms bacteria shrimps don't thrive with. I think by taking out the filter and putting it in some tank water (of the same tank you plan to use it in) would clean the new stuff thats on it.

I agree with cleaning it, you don't know what kind of chemical that are airborne in any factory.


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## Symplicity (Oct 14, 2011)

I decided to play the safe root and establish my sponge filter in my existing CRS tank. Dosed some BT9 all over it and shrimp are all over it. I figure in 1-2weeks the sponge should have enough good bacteria to feed my shrimp.

Anyone know how to tell when a sponge filter has enough good bacteria to be able to support shrimps eating from it?


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## getochkn (Jul 10, 2011)

Symplicity said:


> I decided to play the safe root and establish my sponge filter in my existing CRS tank. Dosed some BT9 all over it and shrimp are all over it. I figure in 1-2weeks the sponge should have enough good bacteria to feed my shrimp.
> 
> Anyone know how to tell when a sponge filter has enough good bacteria to be able to support shrimps eating from it?


Just put it in and leave it, you're overthinking a sponge filter too much. lol. If the shrimp find something tasty, they may eat from it. It's not like having a sponge filter is going to have 100's of shrimp flocked on it 24/7 as soon as it hits a certain level. They'll pick at it like they pick at the biofilm on plants, rocks, substrate, glass, wood, filter tubing, mineral stones, almond leaves, alder cones, or whatever else you have in your tank and that bioflim takes time regardless of where you have it.


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## RevoBuda (Sep 3, 2011)

I agree with Getochkn, you're over thinking it. Mind you, I appreciate the 'better safe, than sorry' approach.


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## Fishfur (Mar 4, 2012)

If you see your shrimp spending a lot of time picking at the sponge filter.. then it's got enough biofilm on it for them to eat. If they ignore it, it doesn't have enough biofilm on it yet. But it will.. even if you stuck a brand new sponge in a brand new tank and did nothing else but add water, eventually, it would grow a biofilm, because bacteria are everywhere. 

But adding a new sponge to an established tank for awhile will 'seed' it with a dose of bacteria and it will grow it's own biofilm more quickly if you do that than it will if you don't. But it will grow biofilm regardless, as Getochkn said. It's simple. 

And don't forget that sponge filters do need to be cleaned periodically. They will get clogged with gunk over time. To preserve the biofilm, never, never clean it in tap water. Use tank water only and squeeze the sponge out really well, you'll get a lot of gunk coming out of it.. then put it back in the tank. Takes about two minutes, tops. 

You can also make it more efficient, if you want to, by putting a longer uptake tube on it. If you make the tube long enough so it ends just short of the surface of your water, it will work better and it will make less bubbling noise as well. I don't mind the noise so much but it drives some people nuts. 

All you need is a piece of clear rigid tubing, from a store. It should be a diameter just large enough to fit over the top of the air outlet on the filter. Might have to use a bit of silicone if you can't find tubing just the right diameter.. filters are made with different size openings at the top. But so long as it's reasonably snug it's fine. Just cut it to the right length for your water level and it will speed up the draw of water through the filter, which makes it more efficient. It's not necessary to do this, btw, but I find it gives me better results over time.


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