Moving From Mature Tank To New [Help]

[JHR]

hey everyone here's the scoop...

i currently have a biOrb 30 with some tetra a shrimp and a gorgeous red betta called frank!

theyre all living happily (as far as i can see) and healthily (as far as i can tell)

however, i wish to buy a ordinary shaped tank (rectangular) as the spherical shape of my biOrb is so annoying as it magnifies fish and hides others, making it impractical for real fishkeeping.... plus i want to have more fish and also have bottom dwellers!

so... i have decided i wish to buy a new tank which is around the 100 litres or 30 gallon mark.

so i was wondering how i would move all of my loved ones into the new tank without a hitch?

do i run a fishless cycle of the new tank and wait a century? or could i siphon the water across and move some substrate into the new tank and add more water to fill it up and keep testing the water?

please help me out as i wish to buy my fish a new bunch of friends and keep everyone healthy

cheers

 

[pablothebetta]

What I did when I transferred my betta from his biorb to his new tank last year was simply put the sponge media from the biorb into the new filter as best I could (just cut it up) - the filter is small so it was pretty much filled up by the sponge. Vuala, I had a nice 'cycled' tank

I'm not sure if it would affect it if the filter wasn't completely full of cycled media as I would presume the filter for the 100L would be significantly bigger than the one in my 28L. All I can think though is that if the fish have survived so far with that bacteria, they should continue to do so - I'm not the best when it comes to the 'area' of cycling.

When it comes to actually adding the fish, I'm not sure if it' be best to do it all at once or over a few days. I'd add the betta last though - it'd make him feel he's going into a new territory which isn't his (the tetras) and should technically help prevent aggression

What's your current stock list?

 

[cwa]

This is a problem I will be facing soon. Upgrading from a 16 gallon to a 55 gallon. I was prepared to fully cycle the new tank before moving them, but if I can just use the filter media from the old tank as well as the gravel and not have to wait 6 weeks, that would be awesome! Though the bigger tank would have new gravel as well.

 

[Termato]

What I did when I transferred my betta from his biorb to his new tank last year was simply put the sponge media from the biorb into the new filter as best I could (just cut it up) - the filter is small so it was pretty much filled up by the sponge. Vuala, I had a nice 'cycled' tank

I'm not sure if it would affect it if the filter wasn't completely full of cycled media as I would presume the filter for the 100L would be significantly bigger than the one in my 28L. All I can think though is that if the fish have survived so far with that bacteria, they should continue to do so - I'm not the best when it comes to the 'area' of cycling.

When it comes to actually adding the fish, I'm not sure if it' be best to do it all at once or over a few days. I'd add the betta last though - it'd make him feel he's going into a new territory which isn't his (the tetras) and should technically help prevent aggression

What's your current stock list?

Once you seed the new tank as pablo mentioned here it should take about 1-2 days to cycle the tank. Mine took 3 days to settle after I moved the entire filter over. I would just test the water every day until you see it go to normal. Once you see it 0 ammonia and nitrite just do a water change and you can add the fishies .

If you take gravel or any of the substrate from the old take, a hand full will do, it will also help to seed this new tank.

Once you seed the tank, you just follow the directions for a fishless cycle. The only difference being everything will happen 300x faster which is awesome.

As Pablo says, add betta last. Get the substrate guys in there and tall the rest of the fish. You can leave the fish you have in the biorb in there until they are ready to go in the new tank. Just get a new sponge for that filter while you are seeding the new one.

You want to add lower fish first, then the passive fish and then the top more aggressive fish last. This will increase the chances of cooperation within the community.

Good luck!

 

[JHR]

hey guys (and possibly girls)

thanks for replying to my post.

@pablothebetta - i have 1 betta, 6 ember tetra, 6 cardinal tetra and 1 red cherry shrimp

so you guys reckon i should....

fill up new tank with ordinary water and add a handful of substrate and the mature filter (and replace with new one in biorb)
then wait until ammonia and nitrite is 0, do water change and add all my tetra at same time? as well as shrimp.

then wait (how long?) and add my betta last.

is this correct?

 

[cwa]

Sorry to piggyback on your thread JHR and I hope you are successful in your transfer. I have one more question. Say I would like the new tank to be sand instead of gravel. Could the handful of gravel from the old tank be in a mesh bag of some sort so it doesn't mingle with the sand?

 

[JHR]

Thanks cwa and no worries about piggybacking that's a great question of which I would like to know the answer to!
I would assume it would be okay to do that... However, what do I know?!

 

[JHR]

Guys, can I get some clarity please?

you guys reckon i should....

fill up new tank with ordinary water and add a handful of substrate and the mature filter (and replace with new one in biorb)
then wait until ammonia and nitrite is 0, do water change and add all my tetra at same time? as well as shrimp.

then wait (how long?) and add my betta last.

is this correct?

 

[JHR]

Right guys,

I've got myself a new tank but it turns out the guy who I bought it off had marine fish in it..

Does that mean I have to give everything a good scrubbing such as filter, heater and any ornaments that were in there before I start moving the water over etc. etc?

 

[OldMan47]

You will need to deal with the salt that is caked on everything and the substrate is likely to be nothing but waste material to you. It will be full of salt and will likely be made of calcium carbonate which would drive your pH through the roof. Salt water environments run at well over 8.0 pH at values depending on where in the ocean it is measured.
My favorite way to start a new tank is to get it all set up with heater, filter, etc., then clean one of my old filters in it to seed the new filter and finally treat that new tank to a week long fishless cycle. A week is all it usually takes that way.

 

[JHR]

Sweet. Thanks for the tip I'll throw away the substrate and give the crust a
Good old scrub.

Cheers, I'll keep you all posted

 

[JHR]

Just a little update:

I have rinsed the sand and put that in the new tank an have cleaned the stuff off to go in it.

I will seed the new tank with my mature media and some of the water tonight after work and will have my fish in there hopefully after a week if the levels look good!

 

[JHR]

New update:

Water tested passed on all but pH. Too high. Therefore have to sort this issue out before moving in my babies.

Also a quick question. I intend on buying some clown loaches if possible but atleast get some other bottom feeder. Will they be suitable to have in a tank with a bunch of shrimp in?

 

[OldMan47]

Sorry to need to tell you this but a 100 litre tank is just too small for a clown loach, even one of them. They grow to several inches long and do best in tanks of 100 gallons or more.

 

[JHR]

That's annoying.. I had a feeling they grew to like 20cm in aquariums and I know it's best to have 3 or more together so I basically already knew I couldn't have one lol. But I still wanted to make sure

pH is balancing out which is nice. Might move my tetra in soon.

Don't you wish there were like smaller versions of a fish you love. Such as clown loach!