[AquaticLife] HELP! cycle an aquarium
The overwhelming majority of your good nitrifying bacteria live in the filter media (which would include the gravel if you have a UGF). That is the main thing you want to preserve… the filter media. Of course, the N-bacteria also live on all other surface areas of a tank so the plants, decorations, etc., also have some growing on them. The N-bacteria do not really live in the water column except during a possible bloom during a new tank cycle.
The main reason for using the “old” water is to maintain similar water parameters so you do not shock the fish with a drastic change in their water.
If you do not have a UGF filter system and do not want to keep the old gravel, then you would not have to as long as you preserve the filter media in your currently fully cycled filter system.
Do a search in the group for ‘cloning a tank’ and you’ll likely find several of my and others previous posts for more details.
After doing the cloning, you should still check your water parameters daily to make sure nothing went wrong.
Lenny Vasbinder Fish Blog - http://GoldLenny.blogspot.com
Category: Philippines Internet Koi Society
