If you move the sponge from a cycled tank to your new tank, it is instantly cycled. Adding the "poops and all the mess" does nothing but drop your water quality. Is your sponge a new one or a cycled one?
Willie
Once waiting for my tank and sump to be ready I want to cycle the media. I have K1 and dump it into a 20 gallon container together with 19x19 sponge.
I add water from my discus tank with poops and all the mess. There is also a small air pomp attached to that.
Do you think it should be sufficient to cycle K1?
If you move the sponge from a cycled tank to your new tank, it is instantly cycled. Adding the "poops and all the mess" does nothing but drop your water quality. Is your sponge a new one or a cycled one?
Willie
At my age, everything is irritating.
I haven’t explained it clearly. Currently I have ~55 gallon tank which has external filter and two spong filters. In few weeks I want to move fish to a new 190 gallon tank which would have a sump.
I don’t want to move external filter there. My plan was to move sponge filters and in parallel cycle K1 media (externally). So whenever new tank and sump are ready (3 weeks) I would have k1 ready with all bacteria in place.
What I explained is how I’m trying to cycle k1 media without connecting it to tank. Does it make a sense?
Sorry, I don't know what is a "cycle K1 media". But if you just moved the sponge filters over, your tank is completely cycled. You can either put the sponges in the tank or in the sump. Once you fill the new tank and add dechlor, the fish are ready to go. If you plan to add more fish, just add a few more sponges. With time, they'll become seeded and increase the nitrogen cycle capacity in the tank.
At my age, everything is irritating.
Thanks Willy. So basically you are saying, that I should not really care about new un-cycled media as long as I move old sponges.
Yes, I think that is what Willie is saying. Gradually, the K1 media will cycle to a point. All three, 2 sponges and sump, will "divide" the bacteria between them. If you only want a sump then after 6-8 weeks, remove one sponge, then, the other after some more weeks.
I’m with Willie here. What’s K1? A new type of media that removes nitrates and polishes your fish?. Or is this the filter that hangs on the back of a tank like an above tank sump?
I'm talking about K1 plastic / moving bad media.
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See
https://aquariumscience.org/index.php/7-filter-media/
https://aquariumscience.org/index.php/7-2-3-k1-media/
It has almost two times better surface area than 30 PPI sponge.
The key is to polish the water free of any particulates so that the media doesn't get coated. You want the media to have maximum exposure to dissolved oxygen to maximize the amount of nitrogen cycling. Hence your media should be placed in a later compartment after the water has gone through floss to filter out particulates.
At my age, everything is irritating.
Yes, you right about polishing water first. Its what I exactly what to do, as I place socks before K1
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I'd put the air stone in with the K1. The K1 is meant to be best when tumbling in a sort of coarse fluidized bed.
In my sump I don't have filter socks and have a small quarter wall in front of my pump what I've observed is mulm collecting in front of the quarter wall which I remove each water change. I think it might be time to update my tank journal.