Tank upgrade - need advice

[Chris83]

Hi all,

This is the first time i've used a forum so please bear with me. I recently bought a new tank 145L (UK) which is set to replace my current 70L one. After hours spent on the internet and research I set the new tank up and it has been running/cycling for about 3 weeks now. All the water parameters readings are looking good. In my existing tank I have 3 plecos and a ram, stupidly however, and on a complete whim I bought two more ram and some shrimp the other day which I placed in the pre-existing tank, mistake number 1. I'm now in a bind, the nitrate and nitrite levels of the preexisting tank are creeping up, Ammonia isn't for some reason, and the research suggests to leave moving for a few weeks after a major event like stock addition. My question is, is it safe to move my stock over to the new tank given the rising nitrite and nitrate levels, or is it best to continue doing water changes on the preexisting tank and wait out the few weeks as the research suggests?

Cheers in advance

 

[raylove]

Without knowing the sizes of your fish I can't say for sure but it looks like you increased the biological load by quite a large percentage. The existing nitrifying bacteria will have been in equilibrium, so now need to catch up which is why you have seen a temporary spike. If your tank was healthy before, this will happen quickly without incident, however, feed sparingly and do some small water changes if you suspect a problem.
I don't really understand the advice to hold fire on the move to be honest. What does that achieve if you are going to move them anyway and the new tank us ready? If you have the option to move a few at a time, you could try that - the old tank would immediately be back in balance and you guard against introducing to much load to the new tank if it's not ready for it. If you can, make sure you transfer some if the filter media from the old tank to the new one.
Not sure what sexes the Rams are, but these would normally be kept in pairs. They are somewhat terratorial, and aggressive at breeding time so a trio could spell trouble.

 

[Essjay]

I set the new tank up and it has been running/cycling for about 3 weeks now.

What have you been doing during these three weeks to cycle the tank?

Even if the new tank is not cycled, if you move the filter (or just the media into a new filter), decor and fish to the bigger tank all at the same time, there will be double the water volume so the nitrite will be halved instantly. Then just do a water change whenever nitrite (or ammonia) are above zero.

 

[Chris83]

Without knowing the sizes of your fish I can't say for sure but it looks like you increased the biological load by quite a large percentage. The existing nitrifying bacteria will have been in equilibrium, so now need to catch up which is why you have seen a temporary spike. If your tank was healthy before, this will happen quickly without incident, however, feed sparingly and do some small water changes if you suspect a problem.
I don't really understand the advice to hold fire on the move to be honest. What does that achieve if you are going to move them anyway and the new tank us ready? If you have the option to move a few at a time, you could try that - the old tank would immediately be back in balance and you guard against introducing to much load to the new tank if it's not ready for it. If you can, make sure you transfer some if the filter media from the old tank to the new one.
Not sure what sexes the Rams are, but these would normally be kept in pairs. They are somewhat terratorial, and aggressive at breeding time so a trio could spell trouble.

Thank you. Moved my old stock with some of the media to the new tank leaving the new ones on the old tank. All seems to be settling well.