When can I start seeding?

kuklachica

eI am currently fishlessly cycling my 6.6 gallon tank (divided for 2 bettas). It has been almost two weeks and my current readings are .5, ~3, ~5. I am adding 3 drops NH3 per day.

I am wondering two things:

1. Any guesses how much longer til it is cycled?

2. When can I start seeding my other tanks? I put a filter sponge in the tank and am planning on putting that in the filter of my 20 gallon. Do I have to wait until the tank is 100% cycled to do this? Or can I start doing this now since all of the bacteria are present?

Thank you!

edit: the filter sponge in the 6.6 has nothing to do with the actual filter. It is just sitting on the bottom waiting to be used to seed my other tank.

iamntbatman

I would wait until it's 100% cycled, especially since the sponge isn't actually in the filter so doesn't have as much water flowing through it. In other words, you do have nitrite and nitrate readings which means both types of beneficial bacteria are living in your tank, but I'd be willing to bet that the number living in the tank's filter far outweighs the number living in the sponge that's just laying in the tank. If you wait until the cycle is complete the sponge will have more bacteria living in it and will work better for seeding purposes.

kuklachica

ok, thanks! That's what I figured. I'll probably just take one of the filter cartridges out and put in the filter in my 20 gallon (since they have the same ones). That'll probably work better anyway.