I would have to agree. There is nothing in the water per se that you need. All the bacteria is in the filter on the decorations, in the gravel and on the glass. It colonizes on anything that does not move. It does not float freely in the water.
The actual bio load is not increasing unless you are adding fish, however the bio filter will be slightly less to begin with. If you move everything and add another filter ( or add a larger filter with the old filter media plus whatever new media it takes to fill it) and whatever gravel you will need you will probably be fine. Doing the whole thing as quickly as possible will help.
Cleaning some of the gunk out of the gravel will help. Rinse it in the old tank water and /or in dechlorinated clean water. Personally I would rinse everything off and get everything as clean as possible, the filter, the decorations, the gravel, everything. That in and of itself will reduce the ammonia etc., in the tank.
You still will have to check the chemistry to make sure nothing has gone wrong and you may have to do some extra water changes. But most likely you will be fine. You don't need any of the old tank water, just don't let anything dry out. You probably don't even need the gravel.
The actual bio load is not increasing unless you are adding fish, however the bio filter will be slightly less to begin with. If you move everything and add another filter ( or add a larger filter with the old filter media plus whatever new media it takes to fill it) and whatever gravel you will need you will probably be fine. Doing the whole thing as quickly as possible will help.
Cleaning some of the gunk out of the gravel will help. Rinse it in the old tank water and /or in dechlorinated clean water. Personally I would rinse everything off and get everything as clean as possible, the filter, the decorations, the gravel, everything. That in and of itself will reduce the ammonia etc., in the tank.
You still will have to check the chemistry to make sure nothing has gone wrong and you may have to do some extra water changes. But most likely you will be fine. You don't need any of the old tank water, just don't let anything dry out. You probably don't even need the gravel.
