switching to sand - cycling new tank

W

Wat2Go

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Feb 23, 2007
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We are going to combine a couple of tanks in a 125, and I plan to use sand in the 125 (we have gravel in all tanks right now).
If I use established filter media, and move a lot of decorations, will I have to worry about cycling problems (I plan to first move the 55gallon fish into the 125, wait a few weeks before adding the fish from the 29 gallon tanks)?

Previously I seeded any new tank with quite a bit of gravel and a filter squeeze from my established tanks and almost always ended up with an instant cycle, but this is going to be a big tank and I don't want gravel anymore...

L.
 
You could go ahead and move them all over and run the filters from the 55g and the 29g on the 125g tank for a few weeks to help establish a good bacteria colony in the new 125g filter. Also take a new pair of cheap pantyhose and put a few handfuls of gravel in the toes of them and hang them over the edge of the 125g for a few weeks too... any material you can move over from an established tank will help out.

Then just keep an eye on your water parameters and do any water changes needed if you happen to see some ammonia or nitrite spikes from a mini-cycle.
 
The 55 is currently running on two penguin 350 filters (one of them for forever, and the other I hung on the tank about 3 weeks ago) and one of the 29's is running on a penguin 200 (for forever), so I guess if I run all of those on the 125, plus the decoration, plus the pantyhose devices, I should be ok!

One other question (and maybe I should post this in a new thread): if you buy a large piece of driftwood, do you need to soak or clean that in any which way, or could I just rinse it and put it in the tank?

L.
 
If you have a pot big enough to boil it in then that is the best thing to do with it and also give it a scrubbing with some sort of nylon bristled brush to knock off any dirt or small pieces...If you cant boil it atleast get a bucket or even a trashcan and let it soak in water for awhile (1-2 weeks)...this will help it release any tannins from the wood that might turn your water a nice tea looking color and will get it waterlogged so it will sink easier.. When the water starts getting stained looking just pour it out and replace with new...keep doing this until water stays clean for a few days straight. The tannins arent harmful to your tank or fish in any way but some people freak out when their water gets a stained look to it. Even after boiling/soaking it still may release alittle but water changes and time will eventually take care of it.
 
Good question. Any advise?
I was thinking running the 2 350's and adding a third (as I am very happy with all my penguin filters...), but should I maybe look at a cannister filter?

I am slowly buying all the supplies, and I know it will take me a month or two to get it all together...

L.
 
Buy the new filter as of your first purchases and run it for a bit to break it in ......(if possible.)

Over feed when breaking it in so it can build up the extra biofiltration. (Not too much though!)
 
Would HOB filters suffer from sand getting in it?
If you have sand in your tank, what kind? (I am trying to figure out what sand to buy, and there are so many different opinions on that topic (moon sand, silica sand, playground sand...)

L.
 
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