Seeding Beneficial Bacteria - How long?

[kmwcane]

All,

I recently setup a couple of new quarantine tanks and plan on adding biological filtration media from one of my existing tanks to these quarantine tanks. My question: how long does the media need to be in the existing tank before it has enough beneficial bacteria for the new quarantine tanks? For example, I have a bag of filter media that has been in the existing tank for a little over two weeks now; is that a sufficient length of time to populate the necessary bacteria?

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[ReeferDog]

All,

I recently setup a couple of new quarantine tanks and plan on adding biological filtration media from one of my existing tanks to these quarantine tanks. My question: how long does the media need to be in the existing tank before it has enough beneficial bacteria for the new quarantine tanks? For example, I have a bag of filter media that has been in the existing tank for a little over two weeks now; is that a sufficient length of time to populate the necessary bacteria?

Thanks in advance for your help!

I would think 2 weeks should be plenty of time to have enough bacteria to start colonizing the filter media in the QT tank. Expect the QT tank(s) to go through their own cycle, even after you introduce beneficial bacteria.
I would test for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate every few days until you're comfortable the cycle is complete.