Help! Where do i put them all??

Well, I had a major fishtank meltdown, and this weekend I'll be putting down 9 neons and 4 longfin danios. (NTD or TB, I'm not sure which. See this thread if you're curious)

Anyways, this leaves me with 5 healthy-looking zebra danios, 1 betta, and a bunch of bottom feeders (2 3in plecos, 3 queen loaches and 2 cories).

I have 3 tanks right now. 1 ten gallon, 1 20 gallon and 1 55 gallon. I will be getting a used 5 gallon this weekend.

I need to tear down the 55, where the danios and NTs originally lived, sterilize it, and restart.

My problem rests in that I need to put the bottom feeders (who are healthy) in the 20 during this process, which means the danios will be moving to the 10, and the betta to the new 5. As soon as the betta heals up some fin deterioration, I'm going to *try* to put him in with the bottom feeders. He may allow it. (he's tempermental.) Then, when all is said and done, the bottom feeders (and betta?) will move back into the 55. This leaves me with 2 tanks set up, and 2 empty for quarantine purposes.

This is all well and good, except that I have to throw away my filter media from the 55, leaving the bottom feeders with NO bio filtration when i move them to the 20. I don't have time to cycle it first- I want them out of the contaminated tank ASAP.

The sponge filter currently in the 20 will go into the 10 with the danios.
The betta will take his sponge filter with him.

OR, i can put the betta's sponge filter in the 20, (possibly with some of his gravel). This will give the bacteria a boost. But I know it won't be enough, the betta is just one lil fish. If i try to fishless-cycle, with the sponge filter boost, will it go relatively quickly, so that I can get the bottom feeders out of the 55 soon?

This leaves the betta w/o bacteria, but with daily water changes he should be OK for a bit.

Is this the best option? Can you think of alternatives? I'm rather at a loss for what to do with the poor guys.


PS.. the remaining zebras will NOT be going back in the 55 in teh forseeable future. I won't put them down, just cuz they are still healthy, but I refuse to risk contamination of my babies by possibly infected danios.

Yes, I've read that too. Thanks so much for the input. Now if the weekend will just get here i can go get that 5gallon n start moving stuff around...

How long should the 20 take to cycle using the betta's filter? days? weeks?

Darn fish. I thought they were simple, relatively inexpensive pets they're going to rival my horses on upkeep costs soon...

LeeAnna

Alym- on the 5 gallon? When I put the betta in the 5 gallon, I will either run it without a filter, or i will put in a new sponge filter.

If i use no filter, then the tank will NOT cycle. This is a common betta technique with small tanks (usually 3 gallons or less). Check for ammonia everyday, and when you see ammonia (a very small amount that I'm not sure of off hand. I want to guess .15ppm) you do a 100% water change and start over. In a 5 gallon, with only one betta, this is going to take a few days. After doing this a few times, I'll have determined the frequency I need to do water changes. (in a cup, this maybe everyday, in a 5 gallon it maybe 4 days or even a week).

If i use a new filter, then the tank will cycle. However, the bacteria grow clinging to the gravel, the decor or the tank or in the sponge/filter media. Very little bacteria actually floats free in the water. Thus, water changes take out very little, if any, bacteria. So a large water change everytime ammonia rises (again, there is a number I'm not sure of off hand...) will reduce the toxic ammonia levels but will not take out the bacteria. And from there it would just be standard fishey tank cycling (see the sticky)

Thus, water changes would be important for the betta's health, and shouldn't harm the cycle.

LeeAnna

Alym- Ah. Sorry about that -sheepish grin-


In that case, I'm not sure where water changes are coming into play?

The ten gallon with danios shouldnt need cycling- it has bacteria PLUS the danios get to keep their filter.

The betta is going without, as explained above.

The 20 does need to be cycled, but i plan to *try* to fishless cycle, using the betta's sponge filter to seed the tank. No water changes until the cycle is complete.

I am not doing anything new to the 55 until the 20 is cycled, at which time the 55 will be emptied of fish (into the 20), torn down, and sterilized. At some point, I will add extra filter media to the 20, that way I can use this to seed the 55, fishless cycle it, (or possibly just transfer everything over at once, bacteria n all) and then they can move back into their revamped, sanitized home. Thus, no water changes on the 55 until it is re-cycled.

Did i answer your question, or are we still talking around one another?


Leigha-

Yes! I forgot to mention that. I'm researching nitrate hungry kinds of plants (water sprite, green hygro, hornwort etc). I'm going to pick up some, and at the very least, float them in the 20. I love plants, so am actually excited to plant the 55 properly. So that will help.

As far as borrowing... i thought about it but I trust no one. My gram n mom don't believe in proper water changes. And the LFS is where I probably picked up the disease. That's not their fault, but I can qt bacteria..

Thanks for reading and helping. I can't wait to get this process completed.