Giving A Tank To A Friend

[flippajh]

Quick question. I broke my old 65 litre tank down about 4 weeks ago, and have had the filter running in my big tank, as I am passing the 65 litre on to a friend in the next week or so, I will set it up for him, with his choice of substrate etc. Once set up and with the filter carried over, should this be ok to put fish straight into?

Or should I leave it a while? I've seen on some answers about dropping a prawn or fish food in with it to keep the bacteria fed?

Another question - the tank is about 18 months old, but has been broken down for the past month. When re-stocking it, should it be treated as a new tank? I want to give him a list of fish he can get, but need to make sure I don't pick ones that need an established tank.

Thanks

 

[aly_starh]

Yes, it should be fine as long as they filter is not out of the water for too long. 1 hour max.
You can give him some of your old tank water also, so bacteria is in it, and also tell the new tank owner to make sure any water he adds is dechlorinated, as the chlorine will kill all the good bacteria.

~betta_246

 

[flippajh]

Thanks for that, I didn't think there was any bacteria in the water though, I thought only filter and substrate were where bacteria lives. But am going to set it all up for him, I will take the filter round in a bucket of water so he can have that! He's already bought the Api test kit and de-chlor as have given him a list of things he needs before he gets the tank.

 

[Brian085]

From what I have learned on what and where bacteria lives and grows, it is not in the water. The bacteria is mainly on the filter but also in the substrate and sides of the tank and such. I would say just the filter should be good, it might be a good idea to do some test for a little bit to make sure there is nothing harmful in the water for the fish.

 

[JustKia]

The vast majority of your bacs (Abacs and Nbacs) are in the filter media.
There is a small amount in your substrate, but not enough to keep a tank cycled.
There is a neglible amount on your surfaces, and in the water.
You're just as well off to start with a tank of fresh dechlor'ed water (bought up to temp).
If your filter has been kept cycled by being in another tank then you can put it straight onto the new setup.
Remember though that you might experience a small spike in your tank due to removing one of the filters, but your bacs should replenish pretty quick providing you have enough media.
For your friend, the filter you move over will be sufficient to cope with the waste from a proportionate amount of fish.
Forgetting other factors for now... If the filter you will move is 50% of the total amount of media in your tank then it will be OK for upto 50% the amount of fish - that's a very rough, simplistic idea as things like size of fish, tank volume, plants, etc, etc will also have an impact as will the amount of time the filter is off for as you will get some die off.

 

[ellena]

What was broken about it? I agree, if you've kept the filter in another tank, there will still be bacteria on it, so you will be able to stock some fish straight away, and add more gradually.

 

[JustKia]

What was broken about it? I agree, if you've kept the filter in another tank, there will still be bacteria on it, so you will be able to stock some fish straight away, and add more gradually.

"Broke down" or "to break down" is to take apart. It's not broken as in damaged.

 

[OldMan47]

A tank that has been empty for a month is a new tank even though it has a mature filter. There is more to a mature tank than A-bacs and N-bacs. You will have a cycled tank but until the plants and decor and substrate have all settled in for a few months it is a new tank.

 

[flippajh]

Brilliant, thanks for all the answers.

I'm giving him a list of fish choices, so he can see which ones he want's, I didn't want to suggest fish that would end up stressing and dying if the tank was considered "new".

So if we transfer everything over on one day, set it all up with de-chlored water, new gravel and plants and filter, heater etc, can I just pop some food in to keep filter bacs ticking over, or should we get down the fish shop for the first few fish. Will only introduce a few at a time and make sure we start with the hardiest.

Don't want his first experiences to be with dying fish!


Thanks

 

[yvez9]

you need to introduce fish asap

just letting food to rot will not be enough to keep a tank cycled.

what i'd do is set up the tank without the filter.

add the filter and go fish shopping immediately. stock to about 25% and add an extra 25% every week for a month, as long as all readings are fine of course!

 

[flippajh]

many thanks - will do.