Establishing a bacterial colony in a new filter

[pittipuppylove]

Hi everybody!

To start this out - I never intended to get into bettas. Really. I thought that my little ten gallon would be enough. But while cruising the fish section for supplies at the local Petco, I stopped to admire the bettas, and this little red/blue/metallic copper halfmoon doubletail plakat cought my eye... And I fell in love.

I feel bad, because I partially broke my own rule of researching care and having everything set up before bringing an animal home, but I had done a good amount of research on bettas when first getting started on my ten gallon and knew pretty well what I would be getting into. I'm waiting on the local Petsmart to get in a 5.5gal aquarium kit in (which they say should be any day now) - they're the only ones in the area that have something that has a hood for a 5.5. Until then, he's in a large Critter Keeper for observation and because I couldn't stand to leave him in that little cup any longer than need be.

But here's the question: I got a Marina Slim s10 for the tank when it gets here - can I set it up to run in addition to the filter in my 10gal to get a head start on the bacteria? Maybe put some of the gravel in the filter chamber with it to plant a bit of bacteria? I'm looking for any way to make things go more smoothly when a tank comes in.

Thanks so much in advance for any help!
Leah

[MSG]

Yes, I would recommend using both filters.

I had 4 filters running when I was cycling the 10 gallon. What type of filter do you have for your guppy tank?

Also I would jam some filter floss in that guppy filter now. The more bacteria you can get into the floss the faster you can speed up the cycle in your new filters.

[pittipuppylove]

Thanks for the fast reply!

My ten gallon is currently running an AquaClear 20 in addition to being fully planted. I plan on the new 5.5gal to also be planted from some of the plants from the guppy tank, as many of the plants are now starting to reproduce and I'd have to remove some of the plantlets as is.

But I will get that set up tonight so that I can have some bacteria established within the filter when it comes time to transfer it to the new tank!

[LionCalie]

Go ahead and run the slim filter on your established 10 gallon. After about 1 week enough bacteria should have colonized on the additional filter. Then it is just a matter of safely and quickly moving it to the 5.5 gallon without losing the bacteria. So try not to expose the filter media to air, water that is not conditioned, major pH swings and temperature changes. Hope this helps!

[pittipuppylove]

Anything helps, really! I just put the slim into the ten gallon with the bioballs I've had in the other filter since I got it around six months ago - so it should have a pretty good supply of bacteria.

And on a side note, when the reviews I saw online said this thing was quiet, I didn't think they ment that quiet. This thing is practically silent - I had to look to see that the resevoir was filling to see that it was actually working! If everything else about this filter is as nice as the noise output, I will be a very happy camper!