moving fish

[jasperfish]

Hi all, I am up grading from a 29 gallon to a 55 gallon, my question is how do I move the fish from one tank to the other. The major problem that I have is the new tank has to go were the old one was. I am also upgrading from a penguin 350B to a XP3. Any help is greatly needed.

[Kasakato]

Its going to be a really easy move. Just set up the tank like you normally would. But take 1/2 the media from the 350B and put it into the new xP3. Then move the fish over once everything has stabilized. Also, is possible move the 350B onto the new tank. This will give it an extra boost. Leave it like this for a month. Also test during the first week, just to make sure everything is fine. You can do your normal water changes but don't add any fish. Give it this time for the bacteria to move into the new tank. After that you can do almost anything you want.

[Jericho]

Well if you are not going to be able to cycle your tank before hand you should save all the water form your 29 gal and reuse it in your 55 to introduce the good bacteria to the new tank. It would be best to get the 55 set up and running first but that sounds like it is not an option for you. So I see a lot of very clean 5 gal buckets in your near future.

[Kasakato]

Well if you are not going to be able to cycle your tank before hand you should save all the water form your 29 gal and reuse it in your 55 to introduce the good bacteria to the new tank. It would be best to get the 55 set up and running first but that sounds like it is not an option for you. So I see a lot of very clean 5 gal buckets in your near future.

I'm going to have to dis agree here. A new tank does not need to be cycled if you already have one going. Media alone is enough to cycle. Water will not do anything. All the bacteria you want is on the tank walls, gravel, filter etc. None of it is free floating. I hope this cleans up any confusion.

[jasperfish]

I have the XP3 running in the 29 right now to build some bacteria will that help? it has only been there for two days but I am doing the move on saterday so it will be a total of about a week. Another question is while I am switching the tanks what can I do with the fish while both tanks are empty?

[rich311k]

Running both filters is a good idea. The fish will be fine in buckets. Your best bet is to run both filters on the new tank for a while as well. This should help you minimize cycling. If you can move the old gravel to the new tank as well. Make sure you keep all the filter media wet as you are moving the tanks around. This will keep the bacteria alive.

[Kasakato]

-Empty the 29g
-Put fish in buckets
-Fill and set up 55g
-Add fish

Thats all you need to do with the fish. With the filter and stuff its a little harder.

[jasperfish]

Thanks for your help I will let you know how it goes.

[wataugachicken]

get a lot of buckets.
drain most of the water from the old tank into buckets, add fish. keep several buckets just for the water.
i would swish the remaining water and gravel around a bit and use a net to skim out a lot of the solid floating waste, then scoop the somewhat cleaned gravel into the water-only buckets. move old tank, put in new tank, put in rinsed new gravel if you need more, add gravel/water buckets and decorations, then start filling with dechlor water, run both filters when it gets high enough. when it looks settled, add fish and remaining water. do water tests and temp check beforehand.

But take 1/2 the media from the 350B and put it into the new xP3. Then move the fish over once everything has stabilized. Also, is possible move the 350B onto the new tank. This will give it an extra boost. Leave it like this for a month

he will need to use ammonia drops and test daily, as for a fishless cycle. won't all the bacteria die if they are starved for a month?

[Kasakato]

get a lot of buckets.
drain most of the water from the old tank into buckets, add fish. keep several buckets just for the water.
i would swish the remaining water and gravel around a bit and use a net to skim out a lot of the solid floating waste, then scoop the somewhat cleaned gravel into the water-only buckets. move old tank, put in new tank, put in rinsed new gravel if you need more, add gravel/water buckets and decorations, then start filling with dechlor water, run both filters when it gets high enough. when it looks settled, add fish and remaining water. do water tests and temp check beforehand.

Water does nothing.
I just said that:
I'm going to have to dis agree here. A new tank does not need to be cycled if you already have one going. Media alone is enough to cycle. Water will not do anything. All the bacteria you want is on the tank walls, gravel, filter etc. None of it is free floating. I hope this cleans up any confusion.


he will need to use ammonia drops and test daily, as for a fishless cycle. won't all the bacteria die if they are starved for a month?
Why? The bacteria from the old tank plus the fishload, running for a month will give time for the new bacteria to grow. Then after then month he can add more fish slowly because the bacteria needed to support them is already there.

[wataugachicken]

well, i suggest keeping the water not b/c of bacteria transfer, but to make it easier on the fish so that completely different water in completely different surroundings doesn't stress them too much.

and i missed the part about moving the current fish into the new tank since i didn't see your short post directly above mine. i originally thought you were suggesting that he move only the gravel over into an empty tank, not the fish as well. when i read "stabilized" i thought you meant cycled, not just waiting for the water to settle down, and i was confused.

mea culpa, mea culpa. . .

[Kasakato]

The water is all comming from the same place, the tap. There is no point.

[jasperfish]

This is my plan. Put fish in 5 gallon bucket with heater and O2 bubbler. Empty tank, clean plants and decorations. Put new tank in place decorate and fill with treated water . I am not using the old gravel (the wife asked for colored gravel, small price to pay for a new tank :D ). I will take some of the old gravel and put it in some type of net and put it in there for a month or so. Put the XP3 and old filter on . Let sit for a while to settle. Then put fish in. I have seven fish 3 are about 3" should I use to bockets for the fish. Am I missing anything. You all have been great I have learned so much from this site.

[Kasakato]

Sounds good! But you may not want to bother cleaning the plants until you get the tank stable. This is because they may have some bacteria on it, and since you are loosing the stuff in the gravel its better to have as much as you can. Also get the fish into the new tank as soon as possible. In a 5g bucket even with a heater and stuff, they wont be OK for too long with out a filter. I would leave the fish in the tank until the last possible second, and put them in as soon as you know the tank is safe. Good luck!

[jasperfish]

just to let you know the move went great no losses at all and the fish seem to love there new larger home, Thanks for all your help. By the way what happened to AC for the last to weeks.

[Kasakato]

Good job! Im glad to hear that it all went well.

AC went down because of bandwidth I think.