# would this work for cycling??



## lo4life (Aug 12, 2008)

Just thought id run this by everyone before i tryed it and had problems.. We have a Koi pond and i was wondering if i took the water out of the Koi pond and put it in my tank if it would cycle faster?? Well and of course put some fish in there to..


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## Tensa (Jul 28, 2008)

Based on what I have read there isn't much beneficial bacteria in the water you need some media from a established aquarium not just the water.


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## lo4life (Aug 12, 2008)

Sorry i forgot to say that i was going to cut some of the filter of the Koi pond off and put it in my tank along with a decnet amount of gravel. And its a 75 gallon tank.


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## Tensa (Jul 28, 2008)

In that case yes it would help speedup the cycle just keep monitoring your parameters and you will see when the cycle is done. Also don't let the filter dry out when you transfer it and don't clean it right away so you dont lose any beneficial bacteria. Also keep the number and size of fish close to the number and size of fish you ultimately want in the tank.


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## lo4life (Aug 12, 2008)

I just want to get a Elong.


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## Tensa (Jul 28, 2008)

Sorry I wasn't sure how many fish you wanted but for a elong it should cycle pretty fast a decent size koi should be equal to a elong im sure someone else will comment a little better then me I was just trying to help with a fast reply.


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## lo4life (Aug 12, 2008)

Im not in a hurry I want to take my time and do this right just want to help it along a little so i can get my fish... I'm going to try to get the smallest Elong that i can like under 4 inches hopefully just so i can get him use to me for when he gets bigger. Thanks for the fast reply usually dont get that on to many boards.


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## Tensa (Jul 28, 2008)

Honestly I say just put the filter media from the pond and use the water if the nitrates are lower then 40 and add the elong if he is going to be that small and you should be ok. Other people on the board may say other wise but I suggest you search the board and get a little better feel of how successful people are with different cycling methods.


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## lo4life (Aug 12, 2008)

Yea I have been lookin at different cycling methods and thats really the only way for me to get the bacteria going without starting from scratch. Most people have other fish tanks to take media out of and my only option is the Koi pond. I thought it would work just wanted to make sure thats all.


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

It will ahve a minimal impact if the pond has a filter you can use some of its media or media from another tank. This will help speed up the cycle while just the water will have a minimal impact. If you do this i would just wait another week just to be sure its ok for the fish anyways. Make sure you dechlorinate the water before adding any media or else it will kill the bacteria


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## lo4life (Aug 12, 2008)

I'm prolly wrong on my thinking but here it goes.. I just thought since we have about 100+ Koi in this pond that it would help the bacteria get going in my tank. Just from what i read that if you put bacteria in the tank and dont have any food for it then it will die. So Im sure that when I get the water from the pond it will have some food for the bacteria to grow on plus the feeder fish I throw in there. Again this is just what i gathered from numerous posts and replies so I'm prolly wrong. If I am just tell me like I said before i just want to do this right before i get my fish so i can give him a good start.


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## Tensa (Jul 28, 2008)

Your right but stay away from feeder fish just use one or two of the koi from the pond until you get your new P.


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

You are right that the water will have bacteria, but just not that much. Best bet is to use media from another tank if you have one or bio spira or something along those lines.


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## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

The water from the pond will not have any food for the bacteria since your pond is already established and the filter is handling the ammonia produced by the koi immediately on contact of the filter. After putting the elong in the tank i would wait about a week before adding the piece of filter media from the pond because it will take about a week before a small single elong will produce enough ammonia to even be detected by a test kit.


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## lo4life (Aug 12, 2008)

So just put the water from the pond in my tank wait a week put some filter media in there and Im set.... Again thanks for all the help

So just put the water from the pond in my tank wait a week put some filter media in there and Im set.... Again thanks for all the help


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## Tensa (Jul 28, 2008)

I think he means just fill up the tank with regular dechlorinated water add the fish and wait a week to add the media.


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## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

AS fan said:


> I think he means just fill up the tank with regular dechlorinated water add the fish and wait a week to add the media.


Exactly.


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## lo4life (Aug 12, 2008)

Cool.. Thanks again guys...


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