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when i set up my 55g could i just use the water i take out of my 75g from water changes and fill it up that way. or would it do anything

It won't do anything except add nitrates from your old tank; if you are thinking about cycling, its the filter media and tank decor which will help rather than the old water. Whats left in the water is the result of the good bacteria's work, not any of the bacteria.

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If you have your filter for the new tank already the best thing you could do is to set up the new filter on the old tank, with the old one still running of course , and run if for 3-4 weeks prior to running it on the new tank. As well, any substrate or decor that can be moved will help as well as was mentioned.

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I have used this method quite a few times when setting up new tanks. My tapwater already has high nitrates so i am actually putting fewer nitrates into the new tank by taking water from my heavily planted tanks. One caution is to make sure that the tank you are taking from does not have any illness or algae outbreaks (as you will just be adding that to the tank), The other caution is to not vacuum the gravel when doing this as it will add all the debris to the new tank. Bacteria resides in just more than the decorations, gravel and filters, it also resides in the water column and on the glass or acrylic of your tank. While it would be alot more helpful to add those things as well using established water is not detrimental.

One thing that i also do is have extra gravel in a few of my tanks that i can scoop out and add to a new tank. Since i keep alot of gravel on hand i can then replace the gravel in the tanks i scoop from. Any amount of beneficial bacteria you can add to a new tank (except for that fake stuff from a bottle) will help your tank to cycle faster.

Bdadawg