If it wasn't for bad luck I'd have none. While cleaning my tank I bumped a peice of granite I had leaning on another to make a cave and wouldn't you know it hit the side and chipped the glass. It's a 29 gallon planted with 12 small fish. It's filtered with a bio wheel and was fishless cycled. The gravel is cheap and needs to be swapped for new. I'm going with black sand if I do it. I need to know the best way to do this with minimal stress on the fish. I'm going to use everything including plants on the new tank. I basically will be replacing tank and substrate on my existing tank. Is this possible to do without causing a full recycle or will the bacteria in the filter be able to cope. I pretty much need step by step instructions on this. The tank is not leaking but I'm concerned. Your advise is appreciated. I feel like an idiot.
Chipped Tank!
- Thread starter GoGators
- Start date
Sean W.
Fishaholic
just do one thing at a time, dont do it all at once, do it over a course of a week or so and you will be fine
Ive got an idea of what to do. Buy a big enough container to hold the plants, driftwood and granite. Net the fish and put them in a bucket. ( I don't want to but I think I have to). I'll have the new tank with black sand rinsed and ready to go before messing with the existing one. Empty out the old tank and move it out of the way. Put the new tank in place and put all the plants, driftwood, and granite in the new tank. Put my existing filter on the new tank and refill with 25% of the old water and use new for the rest. Will this work? The chip is pretty bad.
Is there any way I can get some bacteria built up in the new tank and substrate with out buying a seperate filter or will it be ok not to do since I'm using a mature filter. I figure if I've got to swap tanks I should swap the substrate then. I don't want to take the old gravel out put it in the new tank then take it back out to replace it but if I have to for the fish I will.
Is there any way I can get some bacteria built up in the new tank and substrate with out buying a seperate filter or will it be ok not to do since I'm using a mature filter. I figure if I've got to swap tanks I should swap the substrate then. I don't want to take the old gravel out put it in the new tank then take it back out to replace it but if I have to for the fish I will.
Is it the new tank that has the chip on, or the old one? I can't quite work that out. I assume it's the one you currently have. If it's the one you currently have, and it hasn't gone ping yet, then it's probably not going to.
If it's the new one, and if you're worried about the chip affecting the integrity of the tank, I'd set the tank down outside on some polystyrene or grass, then test-fill it with water. That way it doesn't matter (as much) if it goes ping as it would do if it did that in the house! If it holds water ok for say 24h, drain it down, and then proceed pretty much exactly as you have described:
-Wash sand
-Remove old ornaments
-Remove fish to large bucket filled with tank water
-Insert existing filter into bucket to keep it ticking over while you do everything else that needs doing (switch it on, obviously!)
-Drain old tank
-Remove substrate and plants
-Save plants
-Remove old tank
-Put new tank in place
-Add sand
-Replant
-Add ornaments
-Add dechlor sufficient for 1.5x volume of new tank
-Fill with tap water (don't worry about bringing over the 25% from your current tank, it won't make any difference)
-Move filter over to new tank, switch on filter, heater etc.
-Transfer fish
-Clean up!
99% of your bacteria live in the filter media anyway, and only a negligible amount in the gravel substrate. As long as you're not adding any more fish when you do the tank-change, your filter will handle the new tank just fine. Give it a week or so for everything to settle down and be a bit more regular with your water tests than you might normally do (maybe daily for the first couple of days, just to be paranoid
) It'll all be fine.
Enjoy your new tank, and good luck!
If it's the new one, and if you're worried about the chip affecting the integrity of the tank, I'd set the tank down outside on some polystyrene or grass, then test-fill it with water. That way it doesn't matter (as much) if it goes ping as it would do if it did that in the house! If it holds water ok for say 24h, drain it down, and then proceed pretty much exactly as you have described:
-Wash sand
-Remove old ornaments
-Remove fish to large bucket filled with tank water
-Insert existing filter into bucket to keep it ticking over while you do everything else that needs doing (switch it on, obviously!)
-Drain old tank
-Remove substrate and plants
-Save plants
-Remove old tank
-Put new tank in place
-Add sand
-Replant
-Add ornaments
-Add dechlor sufficient for 1.5x volume of new tank
-Fill with tap water (don't worry about bringing over the 25% from your current tank, it won't make any difference)
-Move filter over to new tank, switch on filter, heater etc.
-Transfer fish
-Clean up!
99% of your bacteria live in the filter media anyway, and only a negligible amount in the gravel substrate. As long as you're not adding any more fish when you do the tank-change, your filter will handle the new tank just fine. Give it a week or so for everything to settle down and be a bit more regular with your water tests than you might normally do (maybe daily for the first couple of days, just to be paranoid
) It'll all be fine.Enjoy your new tank, and good luck!
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