The Puffer Forum

used filter media or bio spira.....

As per our Fishless Cycling article, with pure ammonia & a bacteria source, your tank should be fully cycled in 7-10 days.

Is FW Bio-spira still on the market?

Well I squeezed out some water from my established 10gal FW tank into the filter. Will this be enough to jump start the cycle?

water doesnt hold the beneficial bacteria you need, you would need to put the filter media over. what size tank are you switching to? if its much bigger i dont know that the filter media from a 10 would hold enough bacteria either. do the fishless cycle and wait the 7-10 days, its worth it and not dangerous to the fish.

Dont use the water itself. If you can cut some of the filter off the 10gal(if its a songe filter) do that and place it in your new filter. If you cant snip some filter off the 10 just take the filter off the 10 and give a good rinse in your new tank shakeing it and squeezing it roughly. This will knock off some of the backteria and give you a good starter. Just feed your tank ammonia and it will be cycled b4 you know it. Make sure you read the thread on fishless cycle though.

As for the FW bio-spira its now called tetra safestart i beleive. You can use this to jump start a cycle but i wouldnt recomend trusting this enough to add fish the same day you treat with safestart. (i only use these products to jump start a cycle or for a emergency cycle)

Well I went to my LFS and had him squeeze out his huge canister filter and the water was positively green, then dumped that into my filter at home. Things are picking up quickly now.

Are you adding ammonia?