Transferring From Old To New

[cwa]

Instead of waiting months to save up for a new tank to upgrade my 16g to a 55g, we tried to make a used tank work. After researching it we decided not to chance it. So, my husband let me juggle some money and we went and got a brand new 55g starter kit tank that has hoods, lights, filter, heater, the whole nine yards for $160 (this will be my mother's day gift). Question is about how to transfer over to the new tank.

I read on here that taking the old gravel and the foam filter from the old tank and run the new tank for a few days will cycle the tank. The guy at LFS kept trying to tell me that was a bad idea. He said that using the old gravel would introduce bad things into the new tank and that I should simply use the water from the old tank. And the new filter doesn't have slots for both charcoal replaceable filter AND foam filter. I can make the foam go in there, but there is no spot for it. LFS guy was trying to get me to buy some bottled product that would cycle the tank in hours. I passed. So, setting up the tank tomorrow. How should I go about this and how long should I wait to put the fish in?

 

[Tolak]

The filter you have running now has a large enough colony of nitrifying bacteria to support the stock in the tank associated with it. The filter doesn't know what tank it is running on. As far as the gravel goes, the majority of the nitrifying bacteria reside in the filter media. I've never heard of used substrate transferring anything bad as long as the tank it has been in houses healthy fish. The water from the old tank will do next to nothing for cycling.

These things being what they are, don't feed the stock in the old tank for 24 hours. Remove the fish, keep them in a bucket or other suitable container in a warmish place for the duration of the transfer. Use a large fish net to remove the old gravel, this will rinse most of the accumulated waste out, I have yet to see used substrate that does not have some buildup of waste material. Put the gravel in the new tank if you wish to reuse it.

If you want to go with new substrate in the new tank, set up the new tank, remember to rinse the substrate before adding it, as there will be some dust. Fill it with fresh water the same temperature as the smaller tank & add dechlorinator. If you want to play it safe you can run the new filter & heater for a day to make sure they function properly, if not just add the fish & the old filter along with them.

Feed lightly for the next week, about 1/3 normal, keep an eye on ammonia & nitrite. Usually this sort of upgrade goes along smoothly, the light feeding & water tests are more of an assurance that things will & are going as they should. After a month or so slow the flow to the old filter, after another week take out the media, rinse it in dechlorinated water, float it in the tank for a week where there is some current.

 

[cwa]

OK, so I plan on using new and old gravel, the filter media from the old as well as new. Was planning on setting up the new tank and letting it run at least a day or two before adding fish. I can keep the fish in the old tank for now. Clarification on the filter: the bacteria collects on the foam filter that is never replaced, right? And the charcoal filter is what is replaced regularly. Trying to figure out why a filter system wouldn't have both. This new one only has the charcoal but there is room for me to cram the foam in there too.

 

[Tolak]

The only reason to run charcoal is to remove meds, or tannins from wood which tint the water. The foam is what you need, charcoal becomes full of whatever it may have removed in a few to several days, then basically becoming more bio media if it runs long enough.

 

[KISSfn]

Instead of waiting months to save up for a new tank to upgrade my 16g to a 55g, we tried to make a used tank work. After researching it we decided not to chance it. So, my husband let me juggle some money and we went and got a brand new 55g starter kit tank that has hoods, lights, filter, heater, the whole nine yards for $160 (this will be my mother's day gift). Question is about how to transfer over to the new tank.

I read on here that taking the old gravel and the foam filter from the old tank and run the new tank for a few days will cycle the tank. The guy at LFS kept trying to tell me that was a bad idea. He said that using the old gravel would introduce bad things into the new tank and that I should simply use the water from the old tank. And the new filter doesn't have slots for both charcoal replaceable filter AND foam filter. I can make the foam go in there, but there is no spot for it. LFS guy was trying to get me to buy some bottled product that would cycle the tank in hours. I passed. So, setting up the tank tomorrow. How should I go about this and how long should I wait to put the fish in?

Happy early Mother's Day! Typical ignorant LFS advice. Glad you didn't listen, especially on the bottled product that won't do anything.
Agree with Tolak's expert advice.

 

[OldMan47]

CWA, Tolak has given you very good advice IMO. A filter contains everything that you really need for a new tank. Since we all do large weekly water changes, at least we should, the water itself is really immaterial for a new tank. Whenever I have any chemical problem with an established tank, I drain water until my fish have just enough water left to flop around and stay wet, then I refill with new dechlorinated tap water. After even that large a water change, the fish always look better than they did before the change. I have long ago decided that old water's benefits are a total myth. Water is water and the fish appreciate that.
Do not give in and simply use a new filter medium. It will have none of the truly essential bacteria colonies. Your LFS has it backwards. I make no profit by selling you anything at all, including things to restore you to a functional filter arrangement, but I will say with a great deal of confidence that transferring your media is a good idea and moving water is meaningless. If your existing tank is healthy, your media transfer is one of the best ways to move from one tank to another. Just be sure to monitor your new tank for a few days in case you failed to get a truly perfect transfer. Sometimes things like filter shape differences can make a difference in performance so it is better safe than sorry.

 

[cwa]

I got the tank set up tonight and took a few pictures to show the progress. I have the old and new gravel in the new tank, fresh water with Prime, new filter and heater running for a full 24 hours at least before I will move the fish and old filter over to the new tank. Right now, I don't think the fish are happy with me as I disturbed their home by removing the gravel and displacing the plants. Oh well. I will post pictures of the new tank tomorrow.