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fastest and easiest way to cycle a 10 gallon

2K views 12 replies 7 participants last post by  iamntbatman 
#1 ·
hi, just as the title says, i have a 10 and am going to set it up. what is the fastest and easiest way to cycle a 10 gallon? thanks :)
 
#2 ·
Do you intend having live plants? And what fish are planned?

Byron.
 
#5 ·
actually it's not... i'm more asking because i am still.... young( still in my teens haha but very into this hobby) haha i also have 30 gallon thats been up and running for like almost 5 going on six years i think. as for plants i want some if not a some what heavily planted tank. i am still working out what fish i am getting but from here i am for surely getting a pair of German blue rams, and most likely a nice should (6-8) harlequin rasboras, and maybe a small shoal of tetras. but rams for sure and harlequins are highly likely. I've heard of using another tanks filter media... i just never really got how to do that.... sorry for such a long post
 
#9 ·
This is not a long post, pumh...I write long posts.:lol:

As someone mentioned, if you intend plants, that's the quickest. As long as there are sufficient plants to balance the fish, the tank can be set up and will "cycle itself" when the first fish are added. Plant all the plants you can get and want, and the day after add a few small fish that you want. You can have quite a few, but to be safe as this is your first time doing this I would play it safe.

The reason this works is because plants use the ammonia/ammonium as their nitrogen which is a macro-nutrient. They are so good at this, they outcompete the nitrosomonas bacteria. The nitrifying bacteria in a well-planted tank are fewer than in the same tank without plants for this reason. I have never had ammonia or nitrite above zero in any of my tanks when I set them up, and I've been doing this for 15 years.

Of the fish you mention, don't use the rams, they are very susceptible to fluctuating water and should only be added to an established tank (2-3 months). The rasbora would work, or the tetras probably but not ones like cardinals or rummynose, they are also sensitive like the rams. Anyway, I would only have one group of either in with a pair of rams, and perhaps a trio of corys or a single catfish for the bottom. I would not overload a 10g with the rams and two groups of shoaling fish. Either the rasbora or a suitable tetra, 6 of whichever, once it is planted. Then after 2 months, the pair of rams.

Byron.
 
#10 ·
Bacteria wont move with water, they only grow on surfaces in the water, I'm sure a few are in the water but not nearly as many as live on the surfaces, you could also try to move decorations over from the main tank but that won't contain as much as the filter media as they are designed to have as much surface area as possible.
 
#12 ·
okay so i have put some of the carbon stuff that usually is in the white thing that goes into the filter (sorry unsure of what the correct term is)in to the white thing that goes into the ten gallon filter....... is that what i was supposed to do?
 
#13 ·
If you're trying to seed the new tank with filter media from the established tank, you'll want to move stuff like filter floss, sponges, cartridges, etc. rather than something like carbon. Do you only have the one filter on the 30g with one cartridge? Is the 30g well decorated? If it's got a lot of decor and/or live plants, or you have multiple filters or multiple cartridges, you're probably safe moving an entire cartridge from the established tank to the new one.
 
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