I'm getting a 100 gallon tank next week.
I was just wondering how i go about changing my stock from my 55.Do i use the established tank water i already have,and the same substrate?
I would like to make the transititon go as smoothly as possible for my fish(stress wise)
Any input would be greatly appreciated.
you could use the water from the 55gallon (cycled im assuming) and the gravel/substrate. it would speed up the cycle tremendously and i think the fish would then be ok if you put them in there, IMO
I completed this exercise last Easter, with good planning its easy.
The fish, plants and old filter media were transfered to a prepared holding tank at the start of the process. The old tank was dismantelled, the rocks, gravel and bog wood were stored in buckets in the main room. After the old tank was moved out of the way the new tank took its place and was set up using all the gravel, bog wood and rocks from the old tank + a lot of new stuff. Virtually all the water was thrown away in the tranfer process.
Once the new tank was up and running, it took about 6 hours to heat the water, the fish were transfered into the new tank most of the old filter media was placed in side the new filter and a few of the old sponges were left in the bottom of the new tank.
The only problem resulted when next doors cat got into the garage where the temporary holding tank was resting on the floor. This resulted in a panic stricken fish managing to wedge its self under the filter plate at the bottom of the tank. By the time I came to the rescue the poor thing had breathed its last.
Gradually over the next 3 weeks all the old filter media was removed from the new filter and replaced by new sponges. The remaining old sponges were removed from the tank from week 3 to 6.
Following this process there was NO cycle in the new tank.
When I emptied my 270g tank last month I kept as much water as I could. I bought a new canister filter and ran it on my tank for a while using some old filter material. I then filled a 10 gallon bin with tank water and let the filter circulate that water while I cleaned, resealed, redecorated, etc. I rinsed my tank, added the old water, and new water treated with aqua guard, added new substrate and hooked up my filter. It ran for a while and I never really saw a true "cycle". The water did cloud for a day or two like something was going on but I added all the fish in my sig a few days later and everyone is doing great!
I did use a little "live" bacteria stuff, not sure if it did anything though.
I would use all the old water you can as well as the substrate unless you wanted to change it. You could probably have the fish in the tank that night!
