Hey all.

Recently I decided to set my old 55g up again for Angelfish fry. However, it's been broken down & sitting in the garage for about a month, so I'd need to re-cycle it.

I've had a lot of success in the past cycling tanks by using old cycled media, substrate, and water. Along those lines, I'm using something new that you might want to try yourselves.

This tank is going to be a bare-bottom fry tank, so I didn't want to use the old substrate. It'd be too hard to scoop out after the cycle. Apart from the seeded sponge filter, I really had nothing to work with...until I thought of this. I think it'll be handy for those cycling a bare-bottom tank - or possibly a brand new tank if you're using substrate from another tank to help cycle that you don't want to mix with the new tank's substrate.

So I had this old crappy seeded gravel in the 55g...


I scooped it out and poured a big pile on an old T-shirt...


Then I tied up the corners tight...


So Now I have a Cycle Bag I can drop into the tank as it cycles - and remove it when the cycle is complete. Not a bad idea, huh?

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Good idea, but one thing that I would be worried about is water flow through the shirt. The cotton fibers from the shirt are more dense than something like women's nylon stockings--which is what I would have used. Plus, I wouldn't be sacrificing a shirt to the fish--I already have a few chosen funky shirts I wear on water change days. I'd also be worried about detergents on a used shirt. Nylons can be found at Walgreen's for about $1 a pair.

I use nylon hose also. Worked well for me as well

Good thought - but I'll let you know how the cycle goes with the cotton.

Okay! You know what they say: There are a million and one different ways to do one thing.