fixing up the tank

[BettaBoyz]

when i started my tank i wanted it to be simple; twelve Neons, a Betta, and four Kuhlii Loaches with some plants and gravel. decoration, that's it. nothing more. nope, not me, i didn't like fish.

well, i've noticed now how odd my tank looks compared to everyone's. it's something you'd expect to find in a kindergarten class, i suspect. so, i'm changing some stuff around ^^

first, all the plants are being torn up. the young, healthy, not algae-covered Vallisnera buds will be nipped and replanted. a ton of silk plants and a few red rosette live plants will take their place. the gravel will be replaced with 2-4" of black gravel as opposed to white, less space to see fish poop. i'll take out both caves, and replace them with a buried piece of PVC pipe for the Kuhliis. perhaps an elbow joint pipe, so they can really hide. the filter, which is old and ugly and falling apart, has done it's job and done it well. i'll buy a newer Aquaclear model and some replacement intake tubes (i've heard they break easy, true?) as well as a proper heater, so replacing 250W with 50w of heat. the lighting will be two halogen bulbs or one compact flourescent and a halogen, i can't get better. two pieces of fake driftwood will adorn the center, and hopefully my fish will like their new digs.

the thing is, how do i go about doing this? i'd like to do it all at once, and had the clever idea of siphoning all the tank water out into a bin with the gravel and adding the fish (nine-to-be Platties & fry, and six Kuhliis) and the old heater until the tank is getting better. i'll be using Cycle to help me, seeding the new filter with the old carbon and squeezing the sponge out over the new gravel, and i'll see if i can get some pantyhose to bundle up about a pound of old gravel in the tank. how long would it take to establish the tank this way?

dankse =)

 

[Inchworm]

Hi BettaBoyz

Is this your 10 gallon tank that you are talking about?

 

[Tolak]

If you can run both filters on the tank at once until the new one has a chance to run in you should be able to set up the new gravel & all your goodies, fill it with as much of the old water as you are able to save, hook up both filters, heater, etc. you should have for all practical purposes a cycled tank. If you run them both for 4-6 weeks you can then pull the old one & run the tank with just the new one. I've got a beat up cascade hob filter still running on my 55 along with a newer canister. If I ever need a filter to set up a sick tank, or if another of my filters breaks down it will work in a pinch.

If you siphon out the gravel I wouldn't use that water to put the fish in temporarily or put it back in the tank. I replaced my gravel a couple of weeks back and I had no idea of all the nasty crud that had built up in it. Yuck!

You've got the right idea with putting the fish in another container with the filter & heater running, along with putting gravel in the nylon. Squeezing some of the goop from the old filter into the new filter will help get it going quicker.

Hope this helps!

Tolak

 

[BettaBoyz]

yep InchWorm, this is my ten ^^ i don't think all that would fit into a teeny, tiny Betta tank, my gallon wedge or glass bowl

oh, how i wish it would though

 

[Inchworm]

Hi BettaBoyz

I thought so.

The thing to remember is that you will want to preserve as much of the beneficial bacteria as you can. Because of this it is always better to make gradual changes rather than complete ones whenever possible.

This bacteria is in the filter, gravel, on the glass, plants, decorations, water, etc. The more you can keep undisturbed, the better. Also, when you expose it to the air it will die.

Keeping this in mind, if you put new plants into the water for a few days before you remove the old ones, they will collect bacteria and when you remove the old ones it will be no great loss. The same with the gravel. It is better to change 1/4 of it at a time. If you pull the water out to put it somewhere else and the bacteria on the glass dries, you will lose it.

The filter is the same. You can run 2 for awhile then remove the old one, or just move the media from the old to the new. If you do this, you will lose the bacteria that is all over the filter itself, but if you do not do all these changes at once, it will be no problem.

The trouble comes when you reduce the amount of bacteria too greatly and have more fish in the tank than they can handle. That's when the tank recycles and you lose fish.

It's always a judgement call but going slowly is usually pretty safe. It might not be as satisfying as a total instant renovation, but IMHO, it is safer for the fish.

Of course, if you had another tank to set up, you could divide the existing bacteria as you go along, (moving gravel, etc.) and wind up with a clone of the original tank. Of course, doing this is a symptom of MTS..... (Petland Discounts---$7.99 for a 10 gallon )