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How long to seed filter sponge?

1K views 5 replies 5 participants last post by  gillmanjr 
#1 ·
I want to set up a small tank that I've had in storage for a while now. I put the sponge from the filter (an Aquaclear HOB) into the larger filter on one of my up and running tanks to get it seeded for the new tank. How long should I give it before moving to the new tank and counting on it to be ready for fish?
 
#3 ·
I seeded a 30 gallon a few months ago and added eight 1 in or less fish the next day without any spikes or problems. I stuffed as much established media as I could in to a HOB. It's hard to give a definite timeline. Really will depend on the new tank size, amount of established media used and the bio load of the new tank. If you have any decore from a well established tank that would help a lot
 
#5 ·
Lol it's just a little 5gal tank I'm going to split in half and use for a couple male bettas. I have a soft spot for them ;) The filter is an AC20, the sponge is currently sitting in one of two AC110s I have running on my 120gal tank to get it going.
 
#6 ·
This is an interesting question and I would like to know the answer. I can't give you an exact time frame but I can tell you this: when I was running my old 50 gallon tank with sump I added new bio media to it after it was fully established (it was a Marinepure ceramic media plate that I added) and I know that it was established within a week. I can't tell you if it was "fully" established or how much bacteria was actually on it but I checked it a week after adding it and there is no question that it had bacteria growing in it already. Also, I added it upstream of the existing established media (so the tank water would hit it first) so it may have taken longer than it would have had I placed it downstream.
 
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