My upgrade plan

[Sensei_the_dojo]

I've had a 10g running for about 18 months and have been wanting to upgrade to a 75g or 80g. This weekend I replaced my small 5-15g HOB filter with an Emperor 400 (which I know is overkill for the 10g so I'm not running it full blast). I removed the filter media from the smaller filter and placed it inside the Emperor 400 on one side, and took some gravel from the bottom of the tank and placed it in a media basket on the other side of the 400. I figure this will speed up bacteria growth on both of the 400's bio-wheels.

We also added a few fishies. We had one male mollie and three assorted corys and added two female mollies and another cory.

After we purchase the larger tank, I plan on moving everything (Emperor 400, gravel, water, fishies) from the 10g to the new tank.

I'm assuming this means the new tank will start off cycled (although not ready for a full bio load) and that if we continue to add fish at a slow enough pace we'll be ok. Any comments?

[MrGoodbytes]

It sounds like everything is in order :).

I would acclimate the fish to the new aquarium in a few bags, like you would do if you just brought fish home from the store, because they are going to be going into 65 or 70 gallons of new water.

Monitor your ammonia and nitrites too, to make sure you aren't having any problems.

Graeme

[NJ Devils Fan]

Sounds good. I wouldn't, however, use any of the old water, no reason to. Just slowly acclimate the fish in the new tank and everything should be fine.

[Prometheus]

If your worried about the ammonia and nitrate spikes, dump in some BioSpira, It turns you new tank fish ready in 24 hours... I keep getting a steady climb in my nitrites, I had fish in the tank (which I thought was done with the cycle), so I didn't want my nitrites to high... I put a 3oz pouch into the tank and by +24 hours, my Nitrites were at 0ppm... I would have put it in a week sooner (and saved myself the daily water changes to keep it non-toxic) had I known it actually worked so good...

1oz treats 30gallons, you can't overdose the tank - or so they say- www.marineland.com Well worth the 20 bucks for a 3oz pouch... and I'm a cheap sob...

[mickey]

The only thing that i would query, is the compatability
of the mollies and corys in the same tank, as mollies require salt in their water and corys don't like it.
Cheers.

[demon_surfer]

if you are only using the media from a 10gallon to seed a 70gallon I doubt the tank is going to be ready cycled because it is so much larger. just keep a close eye on your new tank. I suggest putting in as many live plants as possible to suck up the ammonia.

[Sensei_the_dojo]

Originally posted by demon_surfer
if you are only using the media from a 10gallon to seed a 70gallon I doubt the tank is going to be ready cycled because it is so much larger. just keep a close eye on your new tank. I suggest putting in as many live plants as possible to suck up the ammonia.

Tough to get live plants around here (and not get snails mixed in also). What if I start by not filling the larger tank all the way, say start with about 15 or 20 gallons and then add more water to dilute the baddies until the bacteria colony grows more?

Also, I've heard that mollies don't actually need salt, but are happiest in a brackish environment, so I am considering converting the 10g to a brackish tank once the larger tank is more established. Since mollies are brackish and cory's aren't, what's a good cleanup crew fish for a brackish tank?

[mickey]

Also, I've heard that mollies don't actually need salt, but are happiest in a brackish environment,

True, mollies do prefer a brackish enviroment which
is a mixture of freshwater and saltwater.
Cheers.

[famman]

I suggest you fishless cycle the new tank with the new filter. That way there is no ambiguity. The fish are guaranteed to be ok.

good luck
:)

[125gJoe]

A 10 gallon to an 80 gallon is 8X the water, which is quite a large step up in water volume. I would use some of the water from the 10 to help get over the 'cycle'.... I'm not sure.. Even typing that makes me want to say, 'start over on the cycle to be safe'!

Right now I'm thinking of going to an 80 to a 135. I may be able to get away with not doing a 'full cycle' since most of my 80 gallon will go into the new 135.. The existing canister filters will change over nicely.

The 80 gallon to a 135 gallon is only 1.7X the water, which is a smaller water volume.

[NJ Devils Fan]

Joe, remember, there is very very little free floating bacteria in the water, it is on the surfaces of objects. If you do get the larger tank, it would be cool if you moved everything in th 80 to it and then used the 80 to breed some of your discus to populate the bigger tank. Just an idea.