Wookii
Member
Just trying to get a consensus on this - I'm setting up a new quarantine tank with new HOB filter. The 70 litre QT tank will only have a few slow growing plants in - so the usual approach of plants as filter won't really apply - and the sand substrate will be new and just a thin layer of sand to cover the glass base, though I will be adding some matured leaf litter (that's been sitting outside in a tub for three months) over the top, and the hardscape will be wood that has been soaking outdoors for 6 months. The first inhabitants into quarantine boot camp will be a 25 strong shoal of Hyphessobrycon elachys that will have to be added in one go, so I need to ensure the system is biologically mature enough to support them.
The tank will take a few weeks to get in place and set up properly. So whilst that happens I plan to add the sponges from the new HOB filter to a spare tray in one of my existing long term mature filters to seed them with bacteria.
How long do we think it would take for the new sponges to become sufficiently populated with nitrifying bacteria to fully support the new QT tank?
The tank will take a few weeks to get in place and set up properly. So whilst that happens I plan to add the sponges from the new HOB filter to a spare tray in one of my existing long term mature filters to seed them with bacteria.
How long do we think it would take for the new sponges to become sufficiently populated with nitrifying bacteria to fully support the new QT tank?