Switching Tanks- Logsitics

[tomm10]

I have a mature 10g tank.

I have a new (to me) 29g tank into which all the inhabitants of the 10g will eventually be moved.

Right now there is a Penguin 125 BioWheel on the 10g. My plan is to move this filter to the 29g along with the 4 zebra danios to start its cycle. The Biowheel from the filter should be enough to cycle the tank. I will also be moving the plants and the remainder of the fish from the 10 to the 29after a couple days if all seems well.

The question is, if I put another filter with a fresh cartridge on the 10 (remember the 10 still has pygny cories and shrimp in it) will there be enough bacteria in the gravel and decorations to support the bioload?

there is a store 25 minutes away that sells Bio Spira so if the sh*t hits the fan I can save the day but I'd like to avoid that.

 

[LMOUTHBASS]

hey have you made it lovely pets yet?

 

[OrionGirl]

I'd just setup the 29, bring it to temp, then move the plants, then the filter and fish. The majority of the bacteria will be in the filter, and the plants will help as well. Removing the filter from the 10 may result in a spike in there, while moving everything over reduces the odds it will happen and provides more water to dilute anything that does show up.

 

[tomm10]

Oriongirl, I was favoring my timid method only because this is a used tank. Although I cleaned the hell out of it with Oxyclean I have this nagging fear that some long ago used medication could be waiting to seap in. I guess the fresh carbon in the Fluval cannister I'll be adding on should help with any of that though. Thanks.

LMB, I haven't made it there yet although I really want to. Its a real pain in the @ss for me to get to so I sort of need another reason to be in the area or a desperate need to purchase something to go. We'll see how tomorrow goes. I think we'll be out window shopping for some dwarf cichlids so maybe the fiance won't notice when I keep driving south

 

[seastaar88]

it also helps to put a handfull of the gravel from your 10g tank in a pantyhose leg and put it on the bottom of the 29gal for a week to seed the bacteria into the gravel