# Tank Cycling Question



## Kaitbug93 (May 8, 2012)

Hi everyone! I'm new to the forum. 
When I was a little girl I had goldfish and they were 4 and 2 years old, (I was 11), I moved across the country and a few months after moving, my first goldfish Goldein died, followed by Magikarp a few weeks later. I was heartbroken and decided I didn't want to continue the hobby after having my best friends pass away. I'm now a freshman in college and I watch the joy and success my 14 year old brother has with his aquarium. When I'm home on breaks I help him clean his tank and do partial water changes with him. Sometimes we just sit and watch his fish. 
I miss my aquarium and all the joy it brought me, so I have decided to pick up my hobby again but instead of goldfish, I'm choosing to have a betta fish. Jake, my brother, keeps his two goldfish in a beautiful 30 gallon bow front tank and let me tell you, those fish are VERY happy and healthy. I can't have a tank bigger than 8 gallons in my dorm room and keeping goldfish in there would be mean, so I've purchased a five gallon tank that I plan on keeping one male betta in. 
Now for the cycling question. My brother has a very well established and beautiful aquarium. Obviously it's a coldwater aquarium, where mine has a heater. I plan on fully cycling my tank before purchasing my betta so he can have a clean healthy tank to live in. Would I be able to take some of the top gravel from Jake's aquarium as well as filter media and put it into mine to jump start the cycling process? I've also heard of people taking clean water, squeezing a dirty filter into it to release the bacterial goodness, and just adding that right into the aquarium (this sounds sketchy to me though, just dumping waste into a home...). 
So can I use my brother's bacteria as a jump start? Or will the temperature change cause problems? Or should I just go ahead and do a full fishless cycle? 
Any input at all is more then welcome!! I want to keep my betta happy and healthy! 
Thank you!! 
-Kait :fish-in-a-bag:


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

Yes you can as long as its kept wet and just a couple of hours between transfer.


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## claygriffith01 (Apr 24, 2012)

Yes, you definitely can use the established filter media to "seed" your new tank with bacteria. Just remember to add a pinch of food every few days so that ammonia develops and keeps the bacteria fed. After a few weeks of doing that you should be fully cycled and ready for a fish. You might want to consider getting some live plants for the tank as well. Java Moss is cheap and extremely hardy. It makes a great place for more bacteria to live and also uses some of the fish waste, keeping the water healthier between water changes.


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## Kaitbug93 (May 8, 2012)

Thank you both very much!


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## prinmel (May 9, 2012)

Something that I have done many times when I needed to set up a small tank quickly, like to quarantine new fish before adding to main tank, is take filter media and water from the main tank and use it to set up the new one. Then I add fish right away. I have never had any problems doing this.


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## Orangebeard (May 12, 2012)

You can also use the API QuickStart to add him immediately. Combine that with some of your brother's substrate and you'll be good to go. I've used it a few times with great success. Both my bettas (Bob and Bill) each had their tanks cycled with it and they couldn't be happier.*w2


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