New tank on the way!

[Vicksmad]

Hi everyone!

So, we’re pretty new to all this fish keeping. 6 weeks ago we bought a 40l tank, went on the advice of the pet shop people and lost three of our fish.

We went off and got some advice from our local garden centre, whose aquarium guy has 40 years of experience. We’ve now got the 40l under control and have 6 neons, 3 black phantoms, 2 corys and an Armani shrimp who are all happy and healthy. We know all our tests.

Because we are grown ups and have control of our own money, we decided it’s was a fantastic idea to order a new tank this morning…we have on the way a 125l Fluval Roma!

This time we will do a fishless cycle. I’ve got a couple of questions though. At the moment we have plants in our existing tank. Should we move one straight into the new tank?Should we use the water change water in the new tank - would that help with the process. I’ve read the amazing guide you guys did but is there *anything* else I could do with knowing?

photos - how we started, real plants added! George & Lando the Corys. Shrimp!

 

[GaryE]

You can use the current tank to help seed the new tank. The water is just dirty water - there is nothing to be gained there. The bacteria you want adhere to solid surfaces.
I cycle by putting the new filter on the old tank for a few weeks, then switching over before I get fish. The roma seems to include a canister, right? You could add media from your running filter to that, which would accelerate your process. I've never bought a system like the Roma - I always buy or make the filter, then after, get the tank.

Go slowly. I know that's hard, but it pays off. The new tank, dechlorinated or treated for chloramines depending on local water treatment procedures can have live plants right away, and with a seeded filter should be up to speed in about 3 weeks. I am a long time hobbyist with experience in different aspects of the fish business, and have started several hundred tanks over the years. I've never done a fishless cycle, and never will. I seed filters, use live plants and build my population slowly and steadily.

We have a bad tendency to get tanks looking good, and to dump full populations of fish into them. Sad things happen when you're impatient.

In the long run, you should get more Corys. They are intensely social beasts who will do better in groups of 5, even better in groups of 10 and fantastically in groups bigger than that. You gain, as they are so much more fun to watch in large groups than when you just have two.

 

[10 Tanks]

Hello Vicksmad. Actually, 33 gallons is a pretty small tank and will require lots of large water changes to keep the water livable for your fish. You could set it up and transfer some of the bottom material from the older tank to your new one. This way, you could introduce a few, small fish to the new tank right away. Just make sure to change half the tank water twice weekly for the life of the tank. Over time, you could add a few more fish, but you couldn't ever keep more than 10 small fish. There isn't enough water in this new tank to make up for a missed water change. This is why much larger tanks are so much easier to maintain than small ones.

10 Tanks (Now 11)

 

[Vicksmad]

Hello Vicksmad. Actually, 33 gallons is a pretty small tank and will require lots of large water change to keep the water livable for your fish. You could set it up and transfer some of the bottom material from the older tank to your new one. This way, you could introduce a few, small fish to the new tank right away. Just make sure to change half the tank water twice weekly for the life of the tank. Over time, you could add a few more fish, but you couldn't ever keep more than 10 small fish. There isn't enough water in this new tank to make up for a missed water change. This is why much larger tanks are so much easier to maintain than small ones.

10 Tanks (Now 11)

We’re limited by space, that’s the biggest we can go in our house.

It’s proving to be an interesting hobby. We’ve got so many different pieces of advice from people and they literally all contradict each other. We were told by several people that 10 fish was the limit for our 40l tank!

 

[kiko]

my last water change was today...and the previous one around 2 months ago
I keep live plants and have a tds monitor and do my water changes based on that....
top offs are perfectly fine for a live planted tank and water changes based on tds which require more equipment
if not...20% every 2 weeks should be more than fine for a planted tank
anything as natural as fish keeping to me should start with at least a little of a fish environment
thats soil...water chemistry...live plants...
as for stocking you can find a decent calculator for tank stocking at: https://aqadvisor.com/

went on the advice of the pet shop people and lost three of our fish.
We went off and got some advice from our local garden centre, whose aquarium guy has 40 years of experience.

I don't know how many times I've said this...but then again...."Never trust the advice of someone that has something to gain from it."
getting better help from a local garden center VS from a fish pet shop proves this again and again
as for cycling faster....as @GaryE mentioned...nothing like an old filter either having one in the old tank or dumping the old filter in the new one....
moving some soil or objects from the old tank helps too
little tips...
more flow/lighting = algae
more water changes = more nutrients = more food for plants...including algae
longer water changes in a properly cycled tank also means poop = plant food
most fish health problems can be solved with garlic/salt/temperature changes and water changes
and the final thing...everyone has their own take on fish keeping....
some people love bubbles...some like it bare...some like a natural ecosystem...some like lots of flow as if its the rapids...
some want to mimic the source of habitat of the fish as close as possible...some like the tank spotless clean with near drinking water chemistry...
you'll always find different takes from different people...the best thing is to take all advice with a grain of salt...
do your own research...ask around...then take all the advice and your own research and apply only the common stuff out of it all and you'll do fine

 

[sharkweek178]

In the long run, you should get more Corys. They are intensely social beasts who will do better in groups of 5, even better in groups of 10 and fantastically in groups bigger than that. You gain, as they are so much more fun to watch in large groups than when you just have two.

The neons and black phantoms are also shoaling fish that should be in groups of 10 or more.

 

[sharkweek178]

Hi everyone!

So, we’re pretty new to all this fish keeping. 6 weeks ago we bought a 40l tank, went on the advice of the pet shop people and lost three of our fish.

We went off and got some advice from our local garden centre, whose aquarium guy has 40 years of experience. We’ve now got the 40l under control and have 6 neons, 3 black phantoms, 2 corys and an Armani shrimp who are all happy and healthy. We know all our tests.

Because we are grown ups and have control of our own money, we decided it’s was a fantastic idea to order a new tank this morning…we have on the way a 125l Fluval Roma!

This time we will do a fishless cycle. I’ve got a couple of questions though. At the moment we have plants in our existing tank. Should we move one straight into the new tank?Should we use the water change water in the new tank - would that help with the process. I’ve read the amazing guide you guys did but is there *anything* else I could do with knowing?

photos - how we started, real plants added! George & Lando the Corys. Shrimp!

Congrats on the upgrade. That's always exciting.
Plants can do just fine in an uncycled tank. In fact, you can circumvent the cycling process with sufficient number of fast growing column feeders, especially floating plants. That still takes time though. You have to make sure the plants are growing before adding fish.
Filter change water won't do anything for a new tank. If you want to seed the tank for a cycle, then adding some substrate from the old tank, or even better, some filter media, would help that process along. The beneficial bacteria grow on surfaces, not in the water itself. Old water won't help the plants either. I had the same idea once. But the nutrients and trace minerals have already been depleted from it.