changing tanks

[Hebdizzle]

I need to change everything in my 10 gallon to a new tank. The silicon is wearing down and the trim along the top was chewed up by my hamster that I used to keep in the tank (of course not with water) :D

How should I go about transfering the sand and water to a new 10 gallon (i figured it would be more cost effective to just buy a new tank instead of making repairs. Here is what I am thinking :

1) Take out all fish and put in my 29 gallon (no predators)
2) siphon out 100% of water and keep filter media in it
3) use a small plastic shovel to scoop sand to new tank
4) fill new tank up with declorinated water
5) add decorations
6) let filter run for a couple hours
7) put fish in tank

This shouldn't be a problem right? The bacteria will stay in the filter media and most of it should survive in the sand still.

Comments or suggestions are appreciated!

Thanks,
Aaron

[CHINABOY1021]

why dont you just run your filter on your 29 g? keep it simple.

[Hebdizzle]

ok whatever, it will be kept wet and oxygenated

[CHINABOY1021]

yes, also make sure the temperatureof the new water is same as 29g gallon before u add.

[Hebdizzle]

just bought the tank, AGA, 6.99$ :)

I'm hoping to do the procedure tonight thanks for any info.

[PumaWard]

You can also syphon some or all of the old water into the new tank to avoid doing a cycle.

[Hebdizzle]

Keeping the filter media and the same sand will be enough to not need a cycle. Very little of the nitrifying bacteria in a fish tank is in the water column.

Aaron

[NJ Devils Fan]

Originally posted by Hebdizzle
Keeping the filter media and the same sand will be enough to not need a cycle. Very little of the nitrifying bacteria in a fish tank is in the water column.

Aaron

Absolutely correct. I would still keep as much as the water from the tank as possible just so that the difference between the water parameters from the tank and the tap aren't too different.

[Hebdizzle]

I just did the switch... most labor intensive but probably most important chore in my fishkeeping history. (6 months, so what)

Here are the steps I took (a bit different from the original idea)

1) netted fish and floated in Ziploc bags in 29 gallon
2) siphoned all the water out
3) scooped out the sand and washed, then put in second tank
4) tested tap water and old water (it was the same)
5) added water, did a couple of 90% water changes to get all floating stuff out of water
6) dechlorinated
7) put filter on, run for 10 min (I know, probably not long enough)
8) got tank to proper temperature, introduced fish 20 min
9) done!

The reason I thought this was the most important thing I did to my fishtank was realizing problems with the tank that I didn't know.

1) MAJOR - when I took out and washed the sand, it smelled slightly of sulfur. This indicated there could be small pockets of air forming under the sand. I vowed to stir up the sand deeper. I also took a bit of the sand out.

2) MINOR - I can use the glass cover to put 2 strip lights on to raise the WPG on the tank (before the black trim had been nibbled on by my hamster in his feeble attempst to excape and the glass top wouldn't fit on correctly.)

Well gotta go check back up on the fish.

Aaron

[NJ Devils Fan]

Tell us how eeverything turns out.

[Hebdizzle]

16 hours later plants and fish are thriving.

[ewok]

why does everyone keep propagating this "saving the water" myth? :confused:

sorry, i was late on this, but adding the old water to a new tank just adds the old junk in. you're more likely to get waste products than anything beneficial. if you have been doing regular water changes your fish should be acclimated to your tap water sufficiently, if not, you can do a few extras before the move to help to reacclimate them. this wouldn't always apply, but in most cases it does......

give them clean water!

[NJ Devils Fan]

Ewok, thats what I think too, but one of the more knowledgeable people said that, so, I was passing on that info. I can see if like the ph in the tank is like 8.4 and the ph from the tap is 6, then you would want to keep some of the old water. But, if you have ph that is close to the same, then completely replace the water.

[ewok]

that's about the only valid concern about going to totally new water i can think of. to avoid a drastic ph swing. i still think you'd be better served to reacclimate the fish to tap water ph, *unless* they are hard water fish like african cichlids.

the bacteria and other stuff you want to save exists on surfaces, *not* in free floating state in the water column.