Changing To A New Tank

[bleepy]

I am changing over from my current tank (Juwel Rekord 120) to a brand new AquaStyle 980 from AquaOne (Picture) from my LFS in a couple of weeks, and I am making a few major modifications to the set up of my tank. However, I do have a couple of questions that I hope someone can help me with.

Question 1.
I am going to be changing to a sand substrate. I bought this from my LFS, so does it need to be washed first, and if so, what is the easiest way?

Question 2.
What is the best method to migrate from the old tank to the new one? I have plenty of live/mature filter media, so maybe this will help somehow with the new external filter?

Question 3.
I don't know if anyone has a tank in the same range as my new one, but if so, you'll know that it comes with a filter "block" built-in to the entire legth of the hood with a spray bar and such. I want to either change this completely to an external filter, or connect it up to use both. If anyone has done this, please let me know!

Thanks for any responses!

Craig

 

[adamgreen240]

I am changing over from my current tank (Juwel Rekord 120) to a brand new AquaStyle 980 from AquaOne (Picture) from my LFS in a couple of weeks, and I am making a few major modifications to the set up of my tank. However, I do have a couple of questions that I hope someone can help me with.

Question 1.
I am going to be changing to a sand substrate. I bought this from my LFS, so does it need to be washed first, and if so, what is the easiest way?

Question 2.
What is the best method to migrate from the old tank to the new one? I have plenty of live/mature filter media, so maybe this will help somehow with the new external filter?

Question 3.
I don't know if anyone has a tank in the same range as my new one, but if so, you'll know that it comes with a filter "block" built-in to the entire legth of the hood with a spray bar and such. I want to either change this completely to an external filter, or connect it up to use both. If anyone has done this, please let me know!

Thanks for any responses!

Craig

Hi craig

Regarding the sand , it needs to definatly be washed thouroughly. I find the best way is to do it in the garden in a bucket with the hosepipe. Just spray it in the bucket and swirl it with your hand, let it settle , and pour the dirty water out. repeate numerous timesd untill water comes out clean.

Definatly use the mature media , just throw loads of it in the external as you mentioned. i also find that adding some mature water from your setup also helps as this is also full of beneficial bacteria. Then i would just leave it for a week and check the stats and add the fish if everthing is ok.

Hope this helps a bit, Adam

 

[rabbut]

Most answered above, but I would mention that the Block filters in the hood regularly caurse customers to return their tanks to the shop at which I work, due to leaks. The main planted display got set-up as a result of one such incident. I would advise using the exturnal instead of this unit

To transfur over, I would add all your media and fish to the new tank in one go. this will make it instantly cycled for your existing fish load

All the best
Rabbut

 

[rmanpf]

wow, beautiful tank!

 

[bleepy]

Yeah, it doesn't look that big in the picture unfortunately (probably because of the awkward angle..). It's actually a meter wide. I'll post some pics of what it looks like when I have it all set up. It's a shame no one's replied about replacing the internal filtration system with my external one. Thanks for the advice so far, appreciate it!

Please though, if anyone knows how to do it easily and without too many "modifications" to the tank, let me know!

Craig

 

[Shrimper]

I don't have this tank but can say what you would need to do to fit an external filter.

You will need to get an 2 pipes into the tank (1 in and 1 out). My tank has two slight lower parts along the back to let the power cables out for the filter, heater and lights. If yours has the same you can just run the pipe through this. If not you will probably need to cut a hole in the hood to feed them through. If there is space either end of the filter for the pipes you can feed them through there and run both filters if you want for extra filtration. If you can't get the pipes in you will need to remove the external filter. Hopefully it will just click into place and be easy to remove but will probably be glued or screwed in place. If you don't want to or can't remove the filter you could have the pipes going in/out at the sides but it won't be as tidy.

As for the external filter itself you will need to do is take pipes down the back of the tank from either end and feed them inside the cabinet where the filter will go. If there is a hole then you're ok otherwise you will need to drill one. The hole will also need to be big enough to fit the power plug through for the filter (unless you want to take the plug off and refit it once its in place). You don't need to put the filter inside the cabinet and can leave it outside if you want but it will be tidier with it inside.

You will probably want a background for the tank to hide all the pipes as well.

Edit: Just been thinking about the sand as well... Is is generic sand or is it branded? I used Roman Gravel brand sand in my tank and although its not as black as it looked when it was dry it didn't really need cleaning. I rinsed it with water but it came out clear almost straight away. I would still rinse it just in case, but it might not be much as much effort as you thought!