Could I put my betta in her 10 gallon without cycling?

[SamJustice]

There's a whole thread on ADF care here, actually. A lot of people do.

I've never heard of anyone just sitting filter media in the tank so it gains bacteria, pretty sure it has to go through the cycle, or sit right up against the cycled media..

[Leopardfire]

Do you think that if I squeeze my filter sponges from the cycled tank over the uncycled filter that it might cycle faster? Would this hurt the cycled bacteria?

[Bombalurina]

Originally Posted by SamJustice

There's a whole thread on ADF care here, actually. A lot of people do.

I've never heard of anyone just sitting filter media in the tank so it gains bacteria, pretty sure it has to go through the cycle, or sit right up against the cycled media..

I do it. :) It doesn't make it cycled, as there is no real water flow over it, but, like the substrate, it still ends up housing some good bacteria. It won't make for an instant cycle, but it will help speed it up or kickstart it.

Originally Posted by Leopardfire

Do you think that if I squeeze my filter sponges from the cycled tank over the uncycled filter that it might cycle faster? Would this hurt the cycled bacteria?

It does help. You might see a mini-cycle in your established tank, but I doubt it. After all, it's not really any different to giving your filter sponge a rinse, which we all do now and again to get any excess gunk off. :)