Old Filter??

[Peoplepc3]

Good day all...So, my 150 gallon tank has been cycling for almost 7 weeks now. For reasons unknown, my ammonia is still at about .75 (down from about 1.5), nitrite is at .50, and nitrate is at 50. It has been this way for about 3 weeks now. I slowly brought the water temp up to about 88F to hopefully bring it along but NOTHING. I have no algae growth of any kind and the RO/DI water is clear as glass.

PH and SG are fine...

As stated before, the tank has about 125lbs of base rock and about 20 or so lbs of live rock that was well cured before I introduced it to the tank.

I have a friend with the same sump setup, and the same 150 gallon tank. His tank has been running very healthy for over two years. Coraline algae everywhere and he has not lost a fish in over 18 months.

He said he has not changed his filter for about 7 months and is willing to give me said filter to use in my cycling tank.

If I do this, what are the advantages/disadvantages?
Just add it to my sump?

What will this do for my tank?

Will this speed up my S L O W cylce?

Chime in...please.

You all have been a great help...I really appreciate it!!

 

[wontonflip]

Are you planning on keeping the filter in the tank, or just to seed your tank? I'd also either get another ammonia test kit, or have your lfs test it. My 125g took maybe 5 or 6 weeks to finish cycling. I just tossed in a bit of frozen mysis in there every day to cycle it. But maybe yours is just taking a while.

What kind of filter is he going to give you?

Also, are you using test strips, or dropper test kits?

 

[Peoplepc3]

Wonton, I have the standard API test kit. I took a sample to the LFS yesterday and they received the same results. I dosed the tank with pure ammonia to about 1.5ppm almost 7 weeks ago. The above listed values have been the same for about 3 weeks now.

The friends filter is the standard "synthetic fiber" filter that would fit in the top of an acrylic sump. For some reason, my bacteria colonies are not forming as they should. Some have formed or I would not be getting any nitrite or nitrate readings. The ammonia HAS decreased from 1.5 to .75 but my tank has somewhat "stalled" now for about 3 weeks.

I thought the old filter of a friend may just help it along. Is this a rational way to think or would I be taking a step backward?

 

[wontonflip]

It might help seed more nitrifying bacteria in there. I remember my ammonia stuck at around 1.0 for a while....then one day, it just went down.

 

[Peoplepc3]

And the filter would do this wonton?

 

[Peoplepc3]

OK, well I guess I will give it a try....