curviceps Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 Hi there, I am helping someone set up his new 300L tank, using approx 1L of mature Seachem Matrix from my existing canister filter into his new filter. I was expecting that this would allow him to start stocking and he added 4 small rosy barbs and 2 small clown loaches. After one day, he is seeing approx 0.1ppm ammonia and 0.25 nitrite. pH is 6.8. Seeing that its got nitrite, I presume that at least he is not needing to go through the full cycle process. What is happening here? Is this a 'mini-cycle"? How long will this last, and what else should he do - apart from dosing with Prime, which he has already done, and not getting anymore new fish. cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
genetik_defekt Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 stock slowly. After one week add a few more fish and do a small water change. After 2 weeks add a few more fish and do another small water change. Its recommended you cycle for atleast a month. I can say i have never done this. You could have used the amonia method and had the tank up and running in a week Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eddie Salita Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 The presence of nitrate is what you are really after. Seeing as you have nitrite, you should have nitrate, but its worth making sure. Seeing as he has a small fish load its possible that there is enough nitrifying bacteria already present to deal with that small amount of waste. The mature matrix has no doubt been responsible. Whether there is enough to take a bigger load is the question. That you can not know for sure without loading the tank and testing it. The other way to be sure is wait a couple of weeks. I have many times used pre-seeded media in a new filter. I usually make sure I have it in the bottom tray in a cannister.... Dont know if that really matters though, it just seemed to have a bit of logic. As Yipp-e says, stock slowly and test if you want to be sure. But yes, you can shorten the full cycle process by using media from another already cycled filter. Its not something that will 'run out'... in answer to your question of will it last. Its more a question of how much bacteria is present and how much waste load it can support. Best stick to the steady way if you aren't confident through experience. cheers, Jason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curviceps Posted February 13, 2009 Author Share Posted February 13, 2009 Thanks guys. Looks like there was a spike for a day or so before the ammonia and nitrites went down to zero with a trace of nitrate (I guess 6 small fish in a big tank and little feeding wasn't going to result in too much nitrate) ... wasn't a waste of my matrix after all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.