Starting new tank

[NoWittyName]

Well...130l tank been up and running very happily for approx 9months now and have bought another tank (92l) on ebay. It's a Juwel with a Juwel internal filter. Have bought all the relevant filter sponges and was just wondering about possibilities of speeding things along. External filter on present tank doesn't use sponges so can't do the thing of putting in part of sponges in new filter to bypass cycling.

However, if I take some of the water from present tank will that do anything to help the situation?? (Quite possibly a really stupid question )

Thanks for any help in advance.
x

The water wouldn't help as the bacteria are on surfaces.

Would there be some way of putting the sponges in the external filter for a bit?

Some stones would help too :)

Had a feeling you may say that about the water.

Never thought of popping sponges in external filter for a bit - thank you.

When you say some stones would help, do you mean gravel from present tank being moved to new one, or are you talking about stones from present filter? If so, what do I do with them? (Sorry sounding so stupid, thought I'd actually figured it all out with present tank and this new one is so different!)

The ceramic stones from the filter will be loaded with good bacteria, just bung a handful in the new filter underneath the sponges (you can cut the sponges if you need to get them to fit).

Yay!!!! Does that cut down on cycling time or actually get rid of it?? Also, I know there are different stones in the different parts of the present filter, so does it matter which I take?

Thank you both SO much.

It depends on how many bioballs you transfer over and how many fish you're planning to put in. You'll need a certain amount of bacteria for each fish so if you are planning on only putting in a few small fish then you can probably put them in right away.

Don't take more than half the bioballs out of your current filter or you'll risk a big ammonia spike in that tank. If you're moving filter media around between filters then it's a good idea to test the water more frequently so that you can spot any high levels before they cause problems.

Doesn't matter which ceramic media you take, balls and rings both have bacteria on them.

Great. That also leads me onto the next question about stocking. The plan is a shoal of corys and either a couple of gourami or cichlids (which I seem to remember is what you suggested when I was first thinking of all this a few months ago!) So...how hardy are these fish and therefore how long before things are up and running could I get them?

xx

Gourami are not so hardy. I can't seem to keep them alive. I'd go for the corys first :)

We have a juwel rekord 96litre and have julii corydoras. Final plan is 6-8 corys and something else... Possibly a betta.

Yes, I'd go for the corys first too. Do you know which species you are going to go for? Aeneus are nice and easy to care for.

Hadn't decided about species yet. There are some which are so pretty. The julii ones JollyHockeyStick mentioned look gorgeous too. When we're set up I'll prob go along to the shop and see what they've got.