Noob needing to transfer tanks. advice please TIA!

[IndigoTJo]

Hello everyone,

My name is Tawnya, I am about 2 months in to freshwater tropical fish. Currently I only have a 20 gallon tank. I bought a 55g tank that i would like to use. I admit this would be a lot easier if i started with the 55, but i had no idea i would love the whole process so much.

Anyway, my current tank consistently tests normal with no signs of disease. I have varied community fish in the tank. It is also currently well planted. I do weekly 50% water changes. I currently don't have space for both tanks so all fish/ plants need to move at the same time.

My problem is that the new tank has to go in the same spot as my current one. I am stressing out trying to figure out how to do this with minimum loss and stress to my dear fishies. I appreciate your time, and thank you in advance for any advice.

 

[rsanz]

I think that you need to consider and find a way to have both tanks set up for a week, preferably at least 2 weeks. Your first move is to put some biological media (from the filter that you will be using on your 55g) into your current 20g tank to "seed" the media with beneficial bacteria.

Will you be getting new substrate, or transfering the existing substrate from your 20g over to your 55g? If transferring, be careful about water parameters after you move it. Disturbing the substrate so extensively will release a lot of crud, and may cause an ammonia spike. Otherwise, switching tanks isn't TOO huge of a deal. As long as you are able to transfer over the beneficial bacteria by reusing substrate/filter media/decorations, the worst you may get is a mini cycle which can be handled with Prime and frequent water changes for the week or two that it will last.

 

[fishorama]

Rob has said it well, plan on reusing your filter & media in the new tank. IF you transfer the old filter it "should" be ok with the same fish load...but you'll need to test daily at first & be ready to change water &/or use Prime to lessen any effects. Do you have live plants? They can help with some ammonia spikes...Test!! & transfer fish as gently as you can. Don't chase them around too much trying catch them. Slow & gentle is best...so is some help to move tanks & fish efficiently...without panic.

Congrats on catching the "tank bug", you've caught it early, You may want to hang onto your 20g as a future quarantine tank or...otherwise, this is an addictive hobby as you found out. Good luck! Let us know how it works out!

 

[IndigoTJo]

Thank you for both of your input, i really appreciate it. I need to find out what filter i bought, i am worried it won't be able to handle the larger tank. i seem to remember buying one for up to 40g. if i am able to set up both tanks, how would i use the current filter? I did buy a bio filter i was going to put in 20g to transfer to 55g, but how long should it be in the tank before it would be ready for the 55g?

I'll look up prime. I'm still new to this and DH thinks I've gone mad haha. the lfs had only told me i needed water conditioner and a bacteria additive. Ugh.

Also, someone recommended using some of the water from the 20g from a water change to add top the 55g. is this a good or bad idea?

Oh and yes, i only use live plants in my tank. I have a well planted 20g and will definitely do the same with the new tank. I find the plastic stuff so ridged and pokey, the fish never use it any way haha.

Sorry for all the questions. thank you so very much for the advice.

 

[IndigoTJo]

Oh i also forgot to mention. Right now my 20g has bright green gravel. My son picked it out, but it really takes a way from the fish. I find myself focusing and seeing it first. I was going to do black marbles in the new tank. it won't be distracting from the beauty of the fish and might give some eggs a chance to hatch. i also thought it would help make the tank easiest to clean.

 

[Tifftastic]

Also, someone recommended using some of the water from the 20g from a water change to add top the 55g. is this a good or bad idea?

Using old water is essentially a waste of time, a lot of people seem to think that it cycles the tank. It doesn't. You're bacteria that will cycle the tank live in the filter media and the substrate. If you add either of those you'll be doing some good, but adding water is pointless at best. Additionally, by using old tank water you are adding unwanted nitrates.


What kind of plants do you have? The black marble substrate may not be suitable for the roots of many types of plants.

 

[tanker]

Can you show us a picture of the Black Marble? Or do you mean "Marbles" the ones kids play with (small round, glass things).

 

[Kannan Fodder]

You can tone down the bright green gravel with some black gravel. I'd be careful with deco marbles because I've had some break while in the tank and while I was cleaning them. My sis went with colored gravel in her 25g, but it is a mix of 3 colors. Looks nice with the decor she chose, but it's essentially her tank. I usually go with black sand now because it brings out the colors of my fish and plants. Sand is a bit harder to clean tho.

Old tank water is best for house and garden plants. I'd avoid using it in the new tank for the reason mentioned above - nitrate. I'm currently trying to cycle a 180g, and I added some plants to grow them out before transferring my fish. While I'm getting minimal (under .25) ammonia and have yet to see nitrite, I am getting nitrate because of plant debris - which gives some people the idea my tank has cycled. It hasn't due to the size of the tank and relatively light stocking of minnows, but places that use dip strips tell me "it's fine."

 

[Kaliska]

Marbles are hard to clean and tend to fade the fish. If you want to completely change out the substrate I suggest placing as much of the old gravel as possible in a filter bag or similar in the new tank to help transfer the bacteria. If you need to rinse the gravel just swish it in some used tank water or treated tapwater so you don't kill the bacteria. I would do the swap at once. I see no reason to run both tanks if you just essentially put one tank in the other tank by moving EVERYTHING to the bigger tank. It's not that hard, I do it all the time. I just moved a 20 and a 10 to combine in a 40. Buy a bottle of prime if you haven't because it's one of the best for detoxifying a mini cycle and get a sturdy plastic storage container. Colored ones seem better and less brittle than clear ones. If you have a bubble stone/wand/sponge and air pump it is a good idea or you need to run the filter on the storage container.

Move everything to the container. The water, the fish, the substrate (move after water or you'll cloud the water and rinsed lightly with safe water if needed), the filter undisturbed to run on the container, or the media and a method of oxygenating the water, and plants floated in the container or bagged separately. Stagnant filter media turns toxic. Move the old water not for the bacteria but because the fish are used to it.

Now we do it again. The old substrate can be put under the new substrate since it will take far more to cover the bigger tank or contain it in a filter or a bag in the tank like mentioned. If you want to include the old water move half to the tank, fill the container back up with new water that is prime treated and the correct temp, and repeat until the tank is full. It is possible to just fill the new tank, heat it to the same temp, and then adjust the fish to it like when you first bought them without the old tank water step. Depends what water parameters you can match, if you can keep the new tank, container, and new water all at a similar temp. Using all new water is faster. When the tank is full move the old filter or put the old filter media that has been oxygenated in tank water all this time into the new filter. Add plants and add fish. Test daily for ammonia and nitrite for about a week. Add prime if it tests positive and do water changes when needed but especially with plants there should not be much of a spike, if any, provided you handled all materials correctly.

I did a 55g to a 90g heavily planted with 4" of eco complete in about an hour. That's the biggest tank I have moved a complete setup to. It did cloud for a day because of the amount of eco complete all at once.