How To Re-Arrange A Tank?

[Dubfellas]

What i am doing is exchanging all my ornaments, castles etc for a 3d background, extra gravel and a large piece of bogwood and plants. To fix the background into place im going to need to empty the tank ideally. I have a small tank that i can transfer the fish in to while i do the exchange. But what i need to know is if i do a virtual 90-95% water change will that be ok bacteria wise? Sorry if this is a ridiculous question but iv never done anything like this before

 

[leighton_87]

Yes - the bacteria lives on the filter media and not in the water.

Make sure you keep the filter media wet while you are doing the change or the bacteria will (or may depending on what you read) die off during the change. Ideally you would hook the filter up to the smaller tank and keep it running - if this is not possible then float the media in the old tank water (or dechlorinated tap water) ideally with an air stone under it to provide aeration.

 

[Dubfellas]

Cheers mate

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Since you have a second tank, just empty your current tank water into the "holding tank" and transfer the filter over and keep it running WITH THE HEATER and you won't have to worry about acclimating the fish to the new tank... The temp will match, and all the water chemistry will be the same - the filter media will remain cycled since it will be dealing with the fish waste while they are in the "holding tank".
 
 
This method will give you as much time as you want (well, within reason) to do your work on the old tank, without having to worry about the fish.  Do the tank the way you want, then refill with 50% of the water from the holding tank and refill the holding tank - bringing the water chemistry of the holding tank to a much more similar level to the tank they are going back into.  Fill the new tank with freshwater, and you won't need to acclimate the fish to the tank again.  The water will be the same, so that you don't have to worry about that.

 

[Dubfellas]

Only problem is my other tank i only 28L n my other tank is 125L, maybe i could get a baby bath or something similar to use so i can save a lot more of the original tank water

 

[eaglesaquarium]

The amount of water isn't the issue... its about keeping the chemistry the same, not so much saving the water.  Since the other is so much smaller, just do a few massive water changes (50%+) over a few days before the change over to get the main tank's water as close to your tap water as possible.  Then you won't really have to worry as much about it...  

 

[Dubfellas]

Thanks for the advice