Help cycling with established tank water

ConorM

I have a 2 gallon tank (no fish or plants) that I got an hour ago. I heard that it is possible to cycle a tank in a day with water from an old tank. I filled the tank halfway with water from a 35 gallon that is cycled. The rest was regular treated water. They use different media so I can't use the big tank's media. I have bacteria that you buy to cycle tanks that I added. Is this all I need to do? Am I done?

AbbeysDad

The Opry ain't over till the fat bacteria sings!

First, the beneficial bacteria is attached to [filter] media, substrate and decor, not the water column.
You might have some advantage with the bacteria in a bottle product (some are great, others not so much), but even with that, there is a process to establish nitrosomonas and nitrobacter bacteria colonies with sufficient numbers to take care of ammonia and nitrite bidness.

Geomancer

Yeah, I'm afraid using old tank water will only result in you having Nitrates in your water.

Regardless, i think you'll have a surprisingly hard time keeping a stable cycle in 2 gallons anyways.