"Cycle" ext. canister before use?

[Cayambe]

Is there any way to cycle my external filter before I connect it to the tank? I mean could I let it stand with water for a month (full or half full), or would that have no effect at all?

Cheers
Thomas

 

[zozo]

Bacteria colonizes filtermedia when there is sufficient food for them to eat and than also need oxygene to live. The flow in the filter, provides the nutrients and oxygene, next to the water movement (surface gass exchange) plants respiration in the aquarium helps to provide extra oxygene and also food for the bacteria.

Leaving a canister with water stagnant for a while to a certain extend will colonize some bacteria till all the resources are depleted then they will die. The end effect since you do not provide anything and because all will finaly die, it will turn into a slimey toxic stinky substance. So it definitevely will have an effect but only the opposite of what you want.

Never ever leave a filter stagnant for longer than a few hours.

Just setup an aquarium with substrate and plants and install a filter and leave it running for 6 or 8 weeks without any fish. It will colonize bacteria (cycle) on it's own. Keep track of the amonnia and nitrite levels during those first weeks, if these levels after 6 weeks turn out to be correct you can think of adding fish etc..

There are some tricks and products claiming to speed up this process.. Personaly i have no idea why anyone would do that other than beeing only very impatient and want to throw fish in as soon as possible. These tricks and products only stimulate peoples impatience even more and makes people forget or just not realize that impatience actualy is the mother of every unsuccesfull aqaurium.. And learn this the hard way like that..

 

[ian_m]

Never ever leave a filter stagnant for longer than a few hours.

I disagree.

I had a power cut that tripped the RCD's in our house (and all the neighbours), neutral fault at substation, when we were away one Xmas. Came back and found that power had been off for 3 days (according to our house alarm). House was f'ing cold, fish tank was about 18C. Turned all back on, tank warmed up, filter filtered nothing interesting fish tank wise at all.

 

[zozo]

We'll take your chances.. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.. If it would have happened to me, at least i would have cleaned the filter before starting it up again. Just because i believe in preventing is beter than curing..

You bring it a bit like - Today i didn't look left and right to check when crossing the street, because yesterday i did and saw nothing comming.

 

[roadmaster]

I too would plant the tank with more than a few plant's and let it run for three or four week's, and then maybe introduce a few fish and wait another couple week's and add a few more.
Gives you time to observe plant's while they adapt to new environment and growth as a result of only the nutrient's that you or I add or that may be present in substrates.

 

[Adam Chambers]

If you have a friends tank that you know is healthy can always set it up on theirs whilst you are working on your tank. It should speed things up and even half the media between their filter and yours.

After that and once you are ready just disconnect it and move it to the new tank when your ready to add your first fish load and you should be good. I would suggest not stocking it fully but maybe 50% to allow any loss of bacteria to recolonise but within a week you could have your full stocking in there.

It would also depend on time of course and if you can use someone else media (half of anyways). I am lucky that I will be in a position where I have only plants for about 3 weeks so should give it time to cycle through to a point and then load up with my little aquatic friends but I will still at that time see if anyone is local to share some media with as well.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

I too would plant the tank with more than a few plant's and let it run for three or four week's, and then maybe introduce a few fish and wait another couple week's and add a few more.

I'm a "plant, and leave to establish" person as well.

Came back and found that power had been off for 3 days (according to our house alarm). House was f'ing cold, fish tank was about 18C. Turned all back on, tank warmed up, filter filtered nothing interesting fish tank wise at all.

I've done this as well, I think the reason is that we have relatively little bacterial activity in our filters and a lot of it in the tank substrate etc, even if the water in the filter becomes de-oxygenated it isn't disastrous. Also because the plants are still taking up ammonia (even in the dark), you don't get the ammonia spike you would get if you were reliant on biological filtration by the filter. Anecdotally (on other forums) I've heard that even relatively short filter outages in non-planted tanks have led to mass tank-death.

I mean could I let it stand with water for a month (full or half full), or would that have no effect at all?

I wouldn't do this. As the other have pointed out you, need at least a trickle of ammonia, but oxygen is the key.

Could you start to cycle the filter media by placing it in some-one else's already running tank?

It doesn't need to be in the filter, it can just sit in a mesh bag in the tank. I always have a spare sponge loose in one of the tanks, it just sits there until I need it.

cheers Darrel

 

[Cayambe]

Thanks for the replies!

I could drop the filter media in the bins where I'm currently soaking the driftwood (huge pieces). Would that be of any help?

Surely, I'll let the filter run for weeks+ when the aquarium is flooded. For now though, its just standing there with wet filter media.. and was wondering if I could do better than that

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

I could drop the filter media in the bins where I'm currently soaking the driftwood (huge pieces). Would that be of any help?

It won't do any harm, although it probably won't help a lot.

I'll assume that you can't run the filter on the drift-wood bin? Could you put an air stone, or power-head in with the drift wood?

cheers Darrel