Tank Upgrade Questions

[fergalthefish]

i'm hoping to upgrade from a 25g to about 50g in the next week and was wondering how to go about transferring over. obviously i dont want to cycle a new tank so is it ok to put all my existing water in the new tank and then top up with new? as for filters i currently have internal filter with sponge media and will be adding another internal to new tank so will the bacteria in the old filter be enough to cycle new tank??? my fish need more swimming space so i'd hate to kill them all off by doing the transfer wrong!! any help greatly appreciated for a stress-free changeover!

 

[raptorrex]

i'm hoping to upgrade from a 25g to about 50g in the next week and was wondering how to go about transferring over. obviously i dont want to cycle a new tank so is it ok to put all my existing water in the new tank and then top up with new? as for filters i currently have internal filter with sponge media and will be adding another internal to new tank so will the bacteria in the old filter be enough to cycle new tank??? my fish need more swimming space so i'd hate to kill them all off by doing the transfer wrong!! any help greatly appreciated for a stress-free changeover!

this is how i did it!

i moved the fish into a holding tank or a big bucket will do. i then added the new filter to the original tank and stirred up the water and substrate, this creates a right mess, but allows as much of the avaliable filter food to be picked up quick time. after the water has cleared, i then drew off 90% (ish) of the water and threw it away. i then rinsed the substrate in the remaining water and transferred some of it to an old stocking, the rest goes into the new tank. i then transferred the remaining water to the new tank and topped it up till it was full. then i moved the two filters to the new tank, brought it up to temp and added my fish, and dropped in the stocking full of substrate job done. the filter from the original tank was left in for a few weeks, two i think, and then i rinsed the media from it in the new tank and placed the media in the stockings for another few weeks. doing it this way does mean you need to be careful when adding new fish, the bacterial colony will only be big enough for your original stock, so take it easy and all should be well.

 

[Camad727]

This is an issue I am having to deal with as well, I am moving from a 150 to a 300, and have many expensive fish that I dont want dying when moved to the new tank.

 

[Colin_T]

Set up the new tank and let it run for a day. This will allow the temperature to stablise and the chlorine to come out. If you want to use your old gravel then gravel clean it and move it into the new tank. Don't keep any of the dirty water, it isn't necessary.

After the new tank has been running for 24 hours and the temp and PH are the same as the old tank, move the plants and ornaments across and scoop the fish out and put them in the new tank. Turn the filter off and move it across to the new tank. If you can clean the filter out a week before you move it then it will recover fully before it gets moved. Make sure you wash the filter sponge out in a bucket of tank water.
That's it.

 

[fergalthefish]

i was going to take the opportunity to get new gravel for the new tank as my current lot has loads (and i mean LOADS!!!!!) of those cone snails in it which i hate. would this be ok too?

 

[raptorrex]

Don't keep any of the dirty water, it isn't necessary.

not necessary, but worth while, especially with a mature tank

 

[raptorrex]

i was going to take the opportunity to get new gravel for the new tank as my current lot has loads (and i mean LOADS!!!!!) of those cone snails in it which i hate. would this be ok too?

i see no reason why not, i only put a layer of the old substrate down as a base, the vast majority was new for me too.

 

[Colin_T]

If you have the malaysian livebearing snail it will be in the water and gravel. Use new gravel and clean water and rinse the plants before moving them across. Use some of the new tank water that is free of chlorine to clean the filter before you put it in the new tank. The snails will be in and on everything in the old tank. If you don't rinse things when you move them they will get into the new tank as well.