Upsizing

[candrews999]

Hi all i currently have a 55 litre cube tank. I've just bought a 180 litre 2nd hand tank. I have a few questions;
1 what is the best thing to give the new tank a good clean?
2 Is a 600litre per hour filter enough for the 180 litre tank?
3 the 55 litre tank has pets at home substrate which is raising the ph. I want to use sand in the 180 tank, will I need to do anything to raise the ph as the fish have been in the 55 tank for about 2-3 months with the artificially raised ph?

Thanks in advance for any advice

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[IHaveADogToo]

1: There are several methods you can use to clean this tank. One method is to use a mixture of 1 part bleach to 19 parts water, and then rinse and dry thoroughly several times after the cleaning to get all the bleach residue off. Another method is to use vinegar. Some people will even suggest just cleaning with water only. Whatever you do, do not use windex or some other ammonia based cleaning product, or other harsh chemicals. And if you do use any kind of cleaning solution, be that vinegar or bleach or some other chemical, rinse thoroughly afterwards, dry completely, then rinse again.

2: That's probably fine, but just to be sure, what fish do you plan to stock with?

3: Fish prefer stable pH instead of a constantly changing pH. Just let the new tank settle with whatever pH it's going to wind up with, and as long as it's not too far off from the fish's ideal range, they should acclimate to it. There are some fish that are real picky about the pH, like discus and some corydoras, but for the most part, as long as you acclimate the fish, they should adapt, and they will prefer a stable pH over a situation where the pH is always changing because you, the fishkeeper, are always messing with the pH trying to get it just right. Yes, there are some things you can add to the tank to raise the pH, such as crushed coral, but it's probably healthier for your fish to adapt to the new tank's parameters than it is for you to always be messing with the parameters. If you have fish that are real picky about their pH, then we can explore pH modification, but generally that isn't necessary.

 

[candrews999]

Thank you, I currently have a dwarf gourami, 6 cardinal tetras and 6 rummynose tetra and 3 amano shrimp which will be going in the new tank, I'm not sure yet what else I'm going to stock it with. Going to lfs this weekend to get some ideas!

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[IHaveADogToo]

It sounds to me like you need a bottom dweller. You can get a solitary bottom dweller, like a pleco or a rainbow shark, or you can get a shoaling bottom dweller, like corydoras or loaches.

Also, you have 2 different schools of 6 tetras. Unfortunately, fish only school with the same species. Rummynoses and cardinals won't school together, even though they're both tetras. I get it, people like to look into their tanks and see a variety of fish, but I really want you to understand 6 is the BARE MINIUM number for a schooling fish. You're going to have plenty of room for more fish in that new tank. I do not suggest you get more schooling species, but instead I suggest you get more of the schooling species you already have. These schooling fish will be more comfortable and behave more naturally the more of them you have. In the wild they don't school in groups of 6, they school in groups of hundreds. So, although you might enjoy looking at a tank that has 6 of this and 6 of that, it really isn't ideal for the fish. I generally recommend people only have one schooling species, instead of 2 or more schooling species, so they have enough room for a larger school.

I'm sure some of the other members will have more suggestions for you as well.

 

[candrews999]

It sounds to me like you need a bottom dweller. You can get a solitary bottom dweller, like a pleco or a rainbow shark, or you can get a shoaling bottom dweller, like corydoras or loaches.

Also, you have 2 different schools of 6 tetras. Unfortunately, fish only school with the same species. Rummynoses and cardinals won't school together, even though they're both tetras. I get it, people like to look into their tanks and see a variety of fish, but I really want you to understand 6 is the BARE MINIUM number for a schooling fish. You're going to have plenty of room for more fish in that new tank. I do not suggest you get more schooling species, but instead I suggest you get more of the schooling species you already have. These schooling fish will be more comfortable and behave more naturally the more of them you have. In the wild they don't school in groups of 6, they school in groups of hundreds. So, although you might enjoy looking at a tank that has 6 of this and 6 of that, it really isn't ideal for the fish. I generally recommend people only have one schooling species, instead of 2 or more schooling species, so they have enough room for a larger school.

I'm sure some of the other members will have more suggestions for you as well.

Thank you so much for the advice I had thought of getting more of each tetra and a school of bottom dwellers, but which [emoji848] I've also thought of a couple of female dwarf gouramis?? I've also got some silica sand to use in the 180 tank is there anything I need to be aware of with it?
Thanks again

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