Moving To A Larger Tank And Have Some Questions

[MrCrash]

I've been saving up for a while now to get a larger tank to replace my inherited 10 gallon tank. Recently, the filter in my tank has decided to be less than reliable, so I figured it would be the perfect time to move into that new tank I've been dreaming of. Due to size restraints, I was only able to go up to a 20 gallon, but I'm sure my four Tetra (2 black skirt and 2 red minor), one cory cat, one random little algae eater glass sucker guy, and obnoxious snail will love the extra room. I was to make the transition as smooth as possible, and was lucky enough to find the guide linked in one of the threads above. I have the new tank setup, filled it with dechlorinated water, added some API Stress Zyme+ (some research after adding it makes this seem like it was a bad idea) and aquarium salt, and today moved some gravel from the old tank into the main area of the new tank, and put a piece of the foam filter from the old tank into the new filter. I'm thinking I can get another week out of the old filter for the old tank, so I'm shooting for next weekend if possible (fingers crossed I won't be forced into it sooner). To make it easy, I'll list my questions below.

1) Anything else to add to speed up the process?
2) Once I transition to the new tank, should I set up the old filter to run next to the new one?
3) Old gravel in a nylon sack in the new tank once transitioned?
4) transfer water from old tank?
5) Plants in now to help start the cycling process?
6) Assuming I do my part to watch the water levels once I transfer my fish, what are the odds of my Tetras, Cory, snail, and little sucker guy surviving?

I understand that ideally I would have enough time to get the cycle finished completely, but I'm not sure I'll have the time to do it properly before I'm SOL with the old filter. Since everything in the new tank but I have established filter media and gravel to work with, I'm looking at this as a mix of a tank transfer and fresh setup, but please correct me if I'm wrong.

Thanks for any and all help. I'm really hoping to make this a smooth and easy transition for everyone involved, and finally get my fish away from old used and second-rate equipment and into a nice aquarium that I will be proud to show off

Thanks,
Nick

 

[natalie265]

1) Anything else to add to speed up the process?
2) Once I transition to the new tank, should I set up the old filter to run next to the new one?
3) Old gravel in a nylon sack in the new tank once transitioned?
4) transfer water from old tank?
5) Plants in now to help start the cycling process?
6) Assuming I do my part to watch the water levels once I transfer my fish, what are the odds of my Tetras, Cory, snail, and little sucker guy surviving?

1) By using some of the old filter media in your new filter, you WILL BE speeding up the process. In fact, if you could use ALL or MOST of your old filter media in the new filter you would, effectively not have a new filter at all, eliminating the need to cycle!
2) If you can use all or most of the old filter media in your new filter, then no. Otherwise, yes. If you go this route, the critical point will be when the old filter is removed. When this happens, do daily water tests and water changes as needed until the new filter has a chance to catch up. don't add any new fish during this time.
3) I'm not sure what you mean by old gravel in a nylon sack
4) Not necessary. When i moved my 30 gallon recently, i tossed all the water, save the 3 or 4 gallons that i moved the fish in. I considered it a massive water change and the fish loved it. Just make sure ph, and temp are a close match.
5) If you are able to use your old filter media, the tank will be ready to go, however, live plants are always a great asset to a tank for many reasons.
6) There's no reason why you should loose any fish.


Best of luck and keep us updated on how it goes!

 

[MrCrash]

1) Anything else to add to speed up the process?
2) Once I transition to the new tank, should I set up the old filter to run next to the new one?
3) Old gravel in a nylon sack in the new tank once transitioned?
4) transfer water from old tank?
5) Plants in now to help start the cycling process?
6) Assuming I do my part to watch the water levels once I transfer my fish, what are the odds of my Tetras, Cory, snail, and little sucker guy surviving?

1) By using some of the old filter media in your new filter, you WILL BE speeding up the process. In fact, if you could use ALL or MOST of your old filter media in the new filter you would, effectively not have a new filter at all, eliminating the need to cycle!
2) If you can use all or most of the old filter media in your new filter, then no. Otherwise, yes. If you go this route, the critical point will be when the old filter is removed. When this happens, do daily water tests and water changes as needed until the new filter has a chance to catch up. don't add any new fish during this time.
3) I'm not sure what you mean by old gravel in a nylon sack
4) Not necessary. When i moved my 30 gallon recently, i tossed all the water, save the 3 or 4 gallons that i moved the fish in. I considered it a massive water change and the fish loved it. Just make sure ph, and temp are a close match.
5) If you are able to use your old filter media, the tank will be ready to go, however, live plants are always a great asset to a tank for many reasons.
6) There's no reason why you should loose any fish.


Best of luck and keep us updated on how it goes!

Thanks for the info. What I meant by the old gravel in a nylon sack was I read that by placing the old gravel into a water permeable sack, some of the bacteria would transition into the new tank and speed up the process. I don't want to just dump it in since the old stuff looks horrible, and I put in a fresh layer of gravel in the new tank.

If I am going to be running the old filter next to the new one, is there any reason to wait for the new tank to cycle for a few days, or can I place them in with as much of the gravel/filter media as possible and ride out any mini cycle that occurs with careful monitoring and water changes as needed? I don't want to rush it if it would be better to wait, but if it's wasted time, I'd rather just move them now instead of hoping that the original filter holds out.

For the water, I'll check it to be sure, but I believe the ph is pretty close (within .2), and the temp should be within a degree or two.

Thanks!
Nick

 

[Laura.p]

I've just changed to a bigger tank and all I did was put in new sand substrate, new dechlorinated water. Set it up to temperature then put old filter, old ornaments and fish in.

They're all happy and well so far.

I don't think that bacteria live in the gravel substrate, not the beneficial bacteria that's needed anyway.

 

[MrCrash]

I've just changed to a bigger tank and all I did was put in new sand substrate, new dechlorinated water. Set it up to temperature then put old filter, old ornaments and fish in.

They're all happy and well so far.

I don't think that bacteria live in the gravel substrate, not the beneficial bacteria that's needed anyway.

I guess you can't always believe what you read online Thanks for clearing that up for me.

 

[waterdrop]

Laura's advice is correct, it really is pretty easy to move over to a new tank just as she describes...

But her comment about the bacteria and gravel is partially incorrect. The autotrophic bacteria we desire in the filter do indeed live not just in the filter but all over the inside surfaces of the tank including in the large surface areas of the gravel. Its just that their numbers out in all these other places are pretty insignificant compared to inside the filter where they thrive in huge numbers. The reason for the difference is the steady flow of ammonia and oxygen because of the filter pump. These large colonies in the filter are all that's needed to balance the bioload of the fish they've been balanced with. The extra bacteria out in the gravel and other tank surfaces however are part of what make a tank an even better environment after it has matured beyond six months or so past initial setup.

~~waterdrop~~