Instant seeding of sponge filters with beneficial bacteria

[ganesan]

I have seen in some youtube videos that
1) if you take out your submerged old sponge filter while cleaning it by squeezing it in a bucket of same tank water and then if you take a new sponge filter and immerse it into that bucket of water which has muck in it and squeeze the new sponge filter several times and connect that new sponge filter to airpump and start it on a new aquarium the beneficial bacteria will start the cycle immediate.
2) Another method is to pour the muck of water which was used to clean the old sponge filter into a new aquarium which has fresh water and new sponge filters and the bacteria in the muck water will settle down into new sponge filter for quick cycle. Which is a better way method 1 or 2

[seanyuki]

Cross contamination can happen when you mix any aquatic living things from different sources (even water) into the same tank. It can be fish, shrimp, snails, plants or sponges etc. The point of having a quarantine tank is not having anything from an existing tank due to cross contamination.

I have seen in some youtube videos that
1) if you take out your submerged old sponge filter while cleaning it by squeezing it in a bucket of same tank water and then if you take a new sponge filter and immerse it into that bucket of water which has muck in it and squeeze the new sponge filter several times and connect that new sponge filter to airpump and start it on a new aquarium the beneficial bacteria will start the cycle immediate.
2) Another method is to pour the muck of water which was used to clean the old sponge filter into a new aquarium which has fresh water and new sponge filters and the bacteria in the muck water will settle down into new sponge filter for quick cycle. Which is a better way method 1 or 2

[LizStreithorst]

It works to some extent but it isn't an instant cycle. It's just a kick start to a good cycle. I do it when I am moving fish around in the fish room but I always have to do large water changes until the cycle is complete.

[seanyuki]

Totally agreed with Liz.

It works to some extent but it isn't an instant cycle. It's just a kick start to a good cycle. I do it when I am moving fish around in the fish room but I always have to do large water changes until the cycle is complete.

[ganesan]

Thanks for the reply and yes one should be wary about cross contamination

[Iminit]

No you can’t instant cycle a tank on waste water. Yes there is bacteria in it but no where near enough to instant cycle. You can instant cycle a tank by moving a filter from An existing tank into a new tank. This will work going from a smaller tank to a bigger tank as long as all you add is the fish from the smaller tank and add new fish slowly to give new bacteria a chance to grow. You can also take pieces of filter media from a large tank and add it to a filter in a smaller tank to instant cycle a qt tank. There’s beneficial bacteria on everything in the tank but not really much. Most of the bacteria in the tank resides in the filter. So by removing old media from existing tanks and adding it to the filter of a qt tank that only has one or a few fish in it will work out perfectly for you. Now if your just starting a new tank this also works fine. Just add fish slowly with a few days in between add fish. For a qt you should still can water daily because clean water is best for sick or stressed fish.