New Set Up, Sort Of.......

[Cupster]

Ok, so I am upgrading from a Vision 180l to 260l this weekend. I have been running the same 180l for at least 10 years now and its all going well.

I plan on transferring the contents as soon as possible due to space/running two setups etc.

I had a read through the new setup guides, excellent by the way, so would I be right in thinking that using as much of the 180's water, stones and then washing the old media into the new 260 will help speed up the cycle process through the brand new filter media? Or would I just be contaminating the new set up for no gain?

I have a very small goldfish tank that I can house the fish in for a few days, hence I want to speed up the transition dramatically as I don't want my babies stressed out.

I will keep testing the water for Ammonia/Nitrites as instructed in the guides.

Any comments or suggestions are very welcome.

Lee

 

[Lufbramatt]

Just put all the old established media into the new filter in place of teh new media, then fill any remaining space with new media. Rocks etc from the old tank will help too, but don't worry about saving the water. So all you'd need to do is run the the new tank for a few days to let it get up to temperature, then empty your old filter into the new one, then move the fish. Keep an eye on ammonia and nitrite levels for a couple of weeks but if your stocking stays the same the biomedia will be able to cope with the amount of waste produced no problem.

Done this a couple of times never had any issues.

 

[Dieses Madchen]

Just put all the old established media into the new filter in place of teh new media, then fill any remaining space with new media. Rocks etc from the old tank will help too, but don't worry about saving the water. So all you'd need to do is run the the new tank for a few days to let it get up to temperature, then empty your old filter into the new one, then move the fish. Keep an eye on ammonia and nitrite levels for a couple of weeks but if your stocking stays the same the biomedia will be able to cope with the amount of waste produced no problem.

Done this a couple of times never had any issues.

+1

And congrats on the new tank. Would love to see pics when its setup!

 

[Cupster]

Just put all the old established media into the new filter in place of teh new media, then fill any remaining space with new media.

Was thinking that, but I will be using the standard internal Juwel filters and the 260 has a much bigger sponge size than the 180's. I guess I could cut some new260 sponges to fit around the old 180 size. Hmmmmm.

I could also use the 180's heater to help get the temp up quicker too.

Thanks for the advice.

+1
And congrats on the new tank. Would love to see pics when its setup!

Camera at the ready, lol

 

[KittyKat]

Since you are getting rid of the old tank, just transfer the old media into the new filter at the same time as moving the fish. The bacteria are mostly in the filter, not the water or decor. Do transfer the water though as your tap water is likely to have different parameters to the old tank water, so you do not want to shock the fish to death.

If you do what you propose above, you will be keeping your fish in an uncycled bowl while cycling the new filter and throwing away most of the bacteria that your old filter has already built up…

Edit: I'm being slow today