More new tank questions

[ostrow]

Ok, so I now realize a 6 gallon tank is not an aquarium. It is a toy. And I looked at the 20 long, and it just doesn't look right.

29 Gallon tank. And I found a guy unloading new Eclipse 29 combos for $107 (see aquabid.com!) Can't resist!

What I plan to do is this:

1) Take a couple of gallons water from the 6G tank and put it in a little hex bowl, and put my platies and tetras in there.

2) Take the rest of the water and transfer to a bucket.

3) Move the substrate, plants and decorations to the new tank, adding the 25 lbs of pebbles required to give the big tank a substrate of its own.

4) Move the bio-wheel to the new tank (assuming it fits) and put the clean one from the new tank in the old one [you'll see why in a sec].

5) Add 23 gallons of Prime-treated fresh water at 77deg F (or as close as I can get to that) to the new tank.

6) Add the six gallons of water from the old tank, including the fishies.

The idea is to take everything from the old tank including water and put in the new one to get as much of the bacteria etc in there. Since Rose was advocating a 90% water change before, I figure 6/29 is just over 20% so I am still leaving that much old water in the new one. The fish may be freaked a bit, but then again they'll be happy that their universe just quintupled in size. So that should make up for stress (lots of assumptions here!).

Seriously, I'm planning to immediately add the fish because I will have all the water going in, plus all the decorations and live plants, and the bio-wheel (assuming it fits ... why wouldn't it? one eclipse hood to another.)

Am I correct that my tank will not have to cycle because I already have cycled water and bits going in?

OH ... as for the old tank, I'm gonna get one (yes, one...I now understand how this works!) goldfish and plop it in there, and my 2 1/2 yr old son will finally get his own fish, and I won't have to listen to, "Daddy, that was MY birthday present, not yours!" anymore!!!!) That's why the new bio-wheel goes in there.

Any tips on where I might be forgetting something will be mucho appreciated...

Joel

 

[Great Lakes]

Ostrow. I would attempt it the way you explained it, but if you were a little more patient, you could do a few water changes out of the 6 gallon tank over the next week or so and up your chances. Congrats on the new tank.

We'll have to keep an eye out for your next bigger one now...

 

[semper fi]

one thing you could do to help with the stress and the transfering of fish is to keep the lights off for a day or two to let the fish get used to their new surroundings.

maggie

 

[ostrow]

I'd forgotten about the lights. Thanks for reminding.

GL -- why would multiple water changes in advance help. Don't I want all the goop I can get into that "virgin" tank?

 

[ostrow]

OH ... and don't jump the gun on the congratulations yet. I'm getting severe looks from the missus on this.

BUT she goes out of town for a week at the end of the month and I'm here alone with the son .... so there'll be a surprise when she gets back P ... and some rattling of mirrors and windows with shrieks of disgust

It would help if some would join me in getting that deal on the 29 Gallon Eclipse. It all falls through if the guy doesn't get 2 or 3 more people.

 

[ostrow]

Someone (not from here) just emailed me a suggestion to not use a single 150Watt heater in a 29 gallon tank, but to use two 75 watt heaters.

This seems quite ridiculous to me. ... the tanks aren't THAT big.

Am I nuts, or is he?

 

[cichlidmaster]

Actually,
IMO I would only use one heater in a tank that size. When talking about using multiple heaters I believe this to be a good idea in tanks over 4ft ie. 55 gallon and up.

I am sure some will disagree, but this is only my opinion.

 

[Andi]

I have a 3' (33 uk galls) tank with 1 heater - am considering a second, a to ease the strain on heater b heat 2 sides of tank rather than 1 & c prevent loss if one heater breaks down - I think £18 for a second heater is a good idea

 

[cichlidmaster]

Andi if I may respond to your reasons...

A. To ease the strain on heater...if the heater is of appropriate size there is no strain on it.

B. Heat two sides of the tank instead of one...If you place the heater in the middle of the tank this would not be a problem.

C. Prevent loss if heater breaks down....This one is a pretty good reason, but still if the one heater does break down, the heat loss would be so gradual IMO there would be little if any problems from it.

It is always wise to keep a spare heater on hand in the event a heater goes out late at night or any other time when it would be hard to get a replacement.

I still believe one heater in a tank of the size talked about would suffice.

Note: for those with submersible heaters, you should place the heater lenght wise just above the gravel bed and in the middle of the tank. This will ensure the most even heating of the water.

 

[ostrow]

Note: for those with submersible heaters, you should place the heater lenght wise just above the gravel bed and in the middle of the tank. This will ensure the most even heating of the water.

Cichlid I'd never heard this before. But it makes sense! This will mean a good bit of chord is in the water too ... that's ok? I've had mine vertical so that all of the chord is out of the water.

 

[ostrow]

DOGGONE IT! The guy who had these no longer can get them from the distributor, so no Eclipse 29 Combo for me. And no new tank either unless I can figger out how to do it for under $150.

 

[William]

Sorry to hear it Ostrow but its best to go from a regular dealer anyway in case say the glass was scratched or cracked A blessing in disguise?

 

[Great Lakes]

Ostrow, I forgot you were from Chicago, give me a day or two. I'll look around. B)

 

[ostrow]

So I'm up and running now, but one thing I hadn't counted on ... the Eclipse 3 biowheel is substantially larger than the one from my small Eclipse tank. So.....

I'm floating the old biowheel in where the water intake hits the carbon filter (from there it passes to the new biowheel). I was going to leave this there for a couple of days.

Is that sufficient? Or do I need to leave it there longer to get any real benefit.

I'm trying to minimize/eliminate the cycle from this tank. I did succeed in getting about 5 1/2 gallons of water, 6 lbs of substrate pepples, 3 medium sized plants and one decorative rock (large) from the other tank into the new 29 Gallon.

The old tank is now populated with 2 goldfish for my kid. I'm sure they'd like some healthy bacteria in there soon, so the sooner I get the old biowheel back in there the better.