Question: Seeding cycling

[ladygodiva35]

Decided to upgrade to a 20 gallon tank and now is the time for the dreaded cycling. I'm thinking of doing the seeding cycling but what other things will I need to do for that? Do I still need the ammonia? Cycling makes me feel so overwhelmed but things need to be perfect for my beloved Saskia.

 

[auntiejude]

Are you going to be using your smaller tank for anything else? If it's 'spare' you can use the filter to kick start your new tank - either the whole filter or just transfer the filter medium to the new one.
Even if you're putting something else in the old tank you can still take some of the old filter medium to seed the new one.

 

[ladygodiva35]

Old tank is going to storage. Things I was planning on using to stick into the new tank is the filter, the three large river rocks and two of the live plants.

I wanted to leave the cave and one plant in the old tank so Saskia has a place to hide until the new tank is ready. I'll probably have to get another bag of sand for the new tank since the old tank won't have enough to cover the 20 gal.

I read to stick a worm in the new tank to get ammonia and to place a heater. Do I really need to do any of that? I do have some red wiggler worms that Saskia decided she hated. Not sure what to do with them!

This is my first time cycling a tank on my own. Dads can't help daughters forever

 

[auntiejude]

If you are using the old filter from the old tank in the new tank you will not need to completely re-cycle your new tank. The bacteria the work the ammonia->nitrate magic live in the filter, so if your filter is still running in the old tank you should be able to transfer it without issue.
Is your old filter big enough for your new tank? If so you just need to take it out of the the old and into the new. The bacteria won't survive for long out of water, so it should literally be a few minutes in transfer. If you're not adding any extra axies it should adjust within days, rather than weeks to settle in a new filter.

No need for worms, ammonia or a heater if you do it that way - literally just set new tank up, then transfer filter, ornaments and axie.

 

[ladygodiva35]

My old tank is a 10 gallon and the new tank is a 20. The filter I have for the old tank is for a 10 gal. I'm awaiting the arrival of my 2nd axolotl. They are small juvies and will share the 10 gal for awhile until the 20 is fully running. Any other advice before I start cycling the new tank? When should I do the first test result?

 

[ladygodiva35]

Re: New tank set up with old stuff

Okay so everything from the old 10 gal is in the new 20 gal tank. Sand, rocks, live plants, cave and filter. Saskia is sitting in her old tank with just her cave. I usually have two filters ready to go but one decided to finally die today. I'm going to the store to pick up some more testing supplies later tonight. How long should I wait to put Saskia inside the new tank.

 

[Kaini]

Re: New tank set up with old stuff

Okay so everything from the old 10 gal is in the new 20 gal tank. Sand, rocks, live plants, cave and filter. Saskia is sitting in her old tank with just her cave. I usually have two filters ready to go but one decided to finally die today. I'm going to the store to pick up some more testing supplies later tonight. How long should I wait to put Saskia inside the new tank.

You can go ahead and put the Axolotl in the new tank if you just moved the entire filter over. Since the beneficial bacteria live in the filter (and the substrate), it's pretty much instantly cycled. (As long as you never let the filter get dry)

I would still keep an eye on your levels, though, just in case. I'll stress again if you let anything get dry (substrate too - the bacteria live there) and then put it in the new tank, there could be an ammonia spike from the dead bacteria.

 

[ladygodiva35]

Re: New tank set up with old stuff

I made sure all decorations, plants and filter were covered in water during the move. Only thing new is the water of course.