How long does it take to seed biomedia in an established tank?

[BigJohnny]

Hey Reefers!

I just bought a new house and am about to set up a simple temporary tank at the new crib. I will use this to house my fish and coral until my new build is ready to go. I only have a month of overlap with my rental and i want to take my time building my stand/canopy/aquascaping/plumbing my new system.

My question is, how long does it take to seed biomedia in an established tank?

I have some marine pure balls (i know about the aluminum thing) and want to seed those in my established tank, drive them to my new house (2.5 hrs away), and add them to a rubbermaid stock tank full of dry rock (ill throw in some biospira for good measure). After the temporary tank is able to process some basic waste, I will gradually drive my corals/fish over in a few trips.

I may also bring a piece of live rock from my current system, but would like to avoid chiseling off my colonies until i have to move the corals anyway. Seems like marine pure balls are the way to go.

Good news is i only have 1 clownfish and 2 cleaner shrimp (plus an assortment of snails and hermit crabs), so the bioload will be low.

Thoughts?

Thanks!

-Big J

 

[brandon429]

It's important to know that if you add items that are not colonized with bacteria it will take longer than you have available for them to become colonized. If you add the live rock component that alone will accomplish your ends, but adding the media from a dry start will not help you in time.

Unassisted, they take months to become active.

 

[cloak]

As soon as you drop those Marine Pure Balls into your established tank the beneficial bacteria will start to colonize them. After three or four days you'll have a healthy population growing on them, but you might want to wait at least a week for good measure. GL.

 

[BigJohnny]

It's important to know that if you add items that are not colonized with bacteria it will take longer than you have available for them to become colonized. If you add the live rock component that alone will accomplish your ends, but adding the media from a dry start will not help you in time.

Unassisted, they take months to become active.

I think you may have misunderstood me. I am colonizing the marine pure balls in an established system, then once they are seeded, added them to dry rock to speed up their colonization. I am asking how long it takes to seed the marine pure balls once they are added to an established system. Also, it doesn't even take months to cycle a tank with nothing but dry rock, so I am not quite sure what you are talking about in that regard.

Thanks for your input though!

 

[BigJohnny]

As soon as you drop those Marine Pure Balls into your established tank the beneficial bacteria will start to colonize them. After three or four days you'll have a healthy population growing on them, but you might want to wait at least a week for good measure. GL.

Okay, cool. Is this based on experience or research (just curious). Thanks, I appreciate your input!

 

[cloak]

Experience...

I used to manipulate the filters all the time this way when I was keeping Cichlids a long time ago. It's no different in salt water.

 

[BigJohnny]

Experience...

I used to manipulate the filters all the time this way when I was keeping Cichlids a long time ago. It's no different in salt water.

thanks boss, really appreciate it.

 

[brandon429]

I had used the important term unassisted... Thought you were adding dry balls and waiting for them to catch up.




If we add dry rock dry sand to water, nothing else cycle wise, and wait for it to be able to oxidize the benchmark test of 2 ppm ammonia, months is how long it takes

Dr Tim's, weeks, but that's assisted. Wasnt clear on how you were pre seeding the balls, thought they were going to sit in the holding tank until use.

 

[brandon429]

http://reef2reef.com/threads/new-ta...d-cocktail-shrimp-live-rock-no-shrimp.214618/

it seems verifying colonization is the most important part, it's anyone's guess as to how long they take to reach full nitrification potential without the test mentioned in the thread.

 

[BigJohnny]

http://reef2reef.com/threads/new-ta...d-cocktail-shrimp-live-rock-no-shrimp.214618/

I always check/reference any form of cycling questions against that thread to see if edits would be required for it to answer all cycling questions, it would apply here as well.

For your needs, it seems verifying colonization is the most important part, it's anyone's guess as to how long they take to reach full nitrification potential without the test mentioned in the thread.

I plan to rely on first hand experience like cloaks. thanks for your input

 

[BigJohnny]

I had used the important term unassisted... Thought you were adding dry balls and waiting for them to catch up

If we add dry rock dry sand to water, nothing else cycle wise, and wait for it to be able to oxidize the benchmark test of 2 ppm ammonia, months is how long it takes. (As a side note that likely causes now a whole different derail, the masses assume no cycle can take place without human additions to make one happen, microbes disagree)

Dr Tim's, weeks, but that's assisted. Wasnt clear on how you were pre seeding the balls.

While it's true anything you lower into an active tank immediately begins to take on bacteria, I'm not sure how the guess time will help you unless you digest test the media you hope to handle the waste from the temporary container.

If adding live rock to any degree, what happens on/ in the balls won't matter. If they were the only source of support, the only way to know when ready is to digest test them against the amount of waste your holding tank will present.

Most won't do that, they just guess or rely on the known live component, the rock you mentioned. Certainly having extra surface area added by the balls won't hurt.

I am asking how long it takes to seed marine pure balls once added to an established tank, thats it. thanks

 

[BigJohnny]

anyone else have experience like cloaks? I know a lot of people seed sponge filters in their sump to set up qt or emergency qt tanks. Would love to hear about those experiences. thanks!

 

[brandon429]

You are right, the linked thread has no experience posted clearly you factored that in your response




do not be offended, this is bacteria talk to maintain the perspective. No real harm comes from disagreeing on a tank cycle.

Seems friendly, I'm sure tons of responses will flow. Will await a different take on the matter.

 

[BigJohnny]

You are right, the linked thread has no experience posted clearly you factored that in your response.

do not be offended, this is bacteria talk to maintain the perspective. No real harm comes from disagreeing on a tank cycle.

We covered the live rock portion will accomplish your full ends regardless of the time it takes for bac to seed the incidental material, by the way your original question was phrased I didn't think that had been factored. I bet tons of responses flow in now.

You misunderstood me, I was talking about you not having experience in seeding biomedia in established tank, not the thread. Haven't read the thread yet. my question was:

"how long does it take to seed biomedia in an established tank?"

thats all i want to talk about. I only want to hear from people who have experience in seeding biomedia in an established tank. No biggie though, i know you were trying to help and i do appreciate it.

Thanks!

 

[brandon429]

I was confused since the thread has biomedia seeding in established tanks.

What you wrote below def seemed like you were wanting friendly discussion/ detail:

'Also, it doesn't even take months to cycle a tank with nothing but dry rock, so I am not quite sure what you are talking about in that regard'

I didn't find any harm in any of the discourse, will await a different take on media seeding as your thread unfolds.

 

[BigJohnny]

I was confused since the thread has biomedia seeding in established tanks.

What you wrote below def seemed like you were wanting friendly discussion/ detail:

'Also, it doesn't even take months to cycle a tank with nothing but dry rock, so I am not quite sure what you are talking about in that regard'

I didn't find any harm in any of the discourse, even addressing the quick drop and dismiss question seemed fitting.

No problem bud, id like to move on please. Again, I havent read that thread but plan on taking a look. I do appreciate your input but I'd like to hear from other people who have had experience seeding biomedia in established tanks and using that to setup qts or temporary tanks/new tanks.

 

[t5Nitro]

Bumping an old thread as I'm looking at doing something similar. Share your thoughts if you've done anything similar!

Planning to add some Poly-fil stuffed into a media bag and soak that in the established system, waiting 1 week, then moving that over to a new system as added biofiltration. Quick turn around, but maybe something is better than nothing.

 

[Spicy Reef]

It takes
One
two
Three

Three to get to the center of a, I mean to seed bio media...
sorry couldn't resist.

I've never done bio balls, but I have done sponge filter, the air stone type.
I did it in a saltwater sump with a water pump rather than air stone. So water was constantly being moved through the sponge. I ran it for two weeks, added it to the new tank and never had to look back. the only "proof" I had for myself that it worked was when I added fish there was no ammonia spike.

I'm sure it takes much long than that to reach "full maturity" - populate with complete set of everything in the main tank... If I was to do it again, I would use 2 more sponges, adding the 2nd one at 2 month and the third at 3rd month so... one each month, then remove them when rock looks good, or not

cheers, have fun