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Northernforest
03-03-2008, 12:42 PM
Well I am starting to get really excited now. I picked up my Eco complete substrate today and my new coralife 260w PC light is coming in latter this week .I plan on setting up the 100gallon tank next weekend. At this time I have 10 full size angels that I am going to have to store away so I can drain and scrub down the tank.

At this time the tank does have quite a bit of algae both hair, brown and regular green algae. What my plans are is to drain the tank. Take ever thing out. Scrub off the algae. Run semi hot water over the sides of the tank where the algae was and then start up the setup. To fight off new tank syndrome I plan on not changing the filter media in my Rena Filstar XP3 canister filter. It was changed out 3 weeks ago. I also have my Discus tank which is a very clean and healthy thank that I do 75% water changes on 3 times a week directly above what will be my plant tank. I am going to drain about 35 gallons into the new-planted tank from my discus tank. If my discus tank is healthy I don’t see it causing any problems.

The only questions I have is since my tank is overloaded with algae now will not cleaning the filter in attempts to carry over the old bio load going to cause algae in the new tank. I did not think so because there is no algae in the filter but I wanted to see what you guys think. The reason why I am trying to carry over the bio load and fight off the new tank syndrome is I don’t have any other tanks big enough to house my full size angel fish for a long time. I would like to set it up let it run for 6-10 hours and then put the fish back in it. My water will be coming out of my aging barrels.


Also I don’t have allot of plants to add in at this time. But the few that I do have algae on them. Will the algae carry over from the old plants into the new tank? If so what can I do to get rid of it? It is mostly Anubias, Java fern and a few sward plants.

Galaxie
03-03-2008, 12:55 PM
Algae shouldn't carry over with your new filter, but most definitely on your old plants.

I don't see a reason to run the tank 6-10 hours. If the water is dechlorinated, the right temperature, and the filter is cycled, you should be able to put fish in right away.

Bleach can be used to clean out the old tank. Algae doesn't stand a chance.

To clean the plants, a very mild bleach solution can be used. However, I've never had any luck with this..... except with Java fern, which are very hardy.

By the way, how often do you change the cannister filter media? I've had cannisters running for years on the same media..... just rinse it out every so often.

dudley
03-03-2008, 6:36 PM
I don't think you will have enough good bacteria built up before you add ten Full size angels.
1. New gravel
2. Filter cleaned 3 weeks ago

I'd hate for you to lose the new members of your family to new tank syndrome. Is there anyone that can hold them for you til your 'new' old tank cycles?

Northernforest
03-03-2008, 10:00 PM
Algae shouldn't carry over with your new filter, but most definitely on your old plants.

I don't see a reason to run the tank 6-10 hours. If the water is dechlorinated, the right temperature, and the filter is cycled, you should be able to put fish in right away.

Bleach can be used to clean out the old tank. Algae doesn't stand a chance.

To clean the plants, a very mild bleach solution can be used. However, I've never had any luck with this..... except with Java fern, which are very hardy.

By the way, how often do you change the cannister filter media? I've had cannisters running for years on the same media..... just rinse it out every so often.

Thanks for the info. I do know about the beach method of cleaning a tank as I have 150 guppy tanks. I am a bit new to the plant world but not to the hobby of fish keeping. I often clean my tanks with bleach. The reason why I am not going to be able to do that this time is I don’t have sufficient tank space to keep the angels overnight for the tank to soak and then another day for it to dry. I am in need to get the fish back in the tank ASAP. I also have some driftwood that I will dip in boiling water to kill the algae. I was thinking with the age water and the filter bio load that things should be ok to put the fish back. I may rinse out my filter once every 6 months or so. The only media I change is my fine filter pads, carbon and ammonia carb. I also have Ceramic bio Rings that I only lightly rinse. The filter has a number of foam filter pads that I never clean fully so they cary over some bio load.