I am planning on transferring my african cichlid from the existing 55g to a new 90g. The new 90g will be at a different location. What would be the best way to do this? Do I need to wait for the tank to cycle? I will also be using a different wet/dry filter and aragonite sand instead of crushed coral on the new aquarium.
Transferring from 55g to 90g
- Thread starter rahimsach
- Start date
You will need to run the new filter on the old tank for a couple of weeks or put filter media from the old filter into the new filter to establish your bacteria in the new tank faster.
Some decor swapping could also help.
Some decor swapping could also help.
AquariumFish
still playing with wet spots
When you say - "The new 90g will be at a different location"
is it possible to transfer some of the gravel and water to the new tank?
If you are putting a new substrate in ... it should be able to cover some of the old stuff which will help establish the new layers.
Let me clarify - I am NOT an African cichlid person.
is it possible to transfer some of the gravel and water to the new tank?
If you are putting a new substrate in ... it should be able to cover some of the old stuff which will help establish the new layers.
Let me clarify - I am NOT an African cichlid person.
I do have lava rocks in my old aquarium which I will be transferring over. I currently have two filters on the old one (xp3 and Aquaclear 70), I was thinking of running the xp3 on the new system for couple of weeks. I can't run the wet/dry filter on the old aquarium as it doesn't have a overflow kit.
This is what my plan is please let me know if it makes sense. Transfer the rocks in the new system,move half of the crushed coral on one side of the new aquarium. Transfer 60 percent of the water from the old aquarium to the new aquarium. Use the old xp3 filter along the new one in the new filter. Trasnfer the bio-media from the Aquaclear in the wet/dry filter. Will this work, or should I wait for the system to cycle before moving the fishes? Thanks!!
This is what my plan is please let me know if it makes sense. Transfer the rocks in the new system,move half of the crushed coral on one side of the new aquarium. Transfer 60 percent of the water from the old aquarium to the new aquarium. Use the old xp3 filter along the new one in the new filter. Trasnfer the bio-media from the Aquaclear in the wet/dry filter. Will this work, or should I wait for the system to cycle before moving the fishes? Thanks!!
In my experience it helps to use as much of what you already have as you can. Transferring water and moving a bio wheel or something to help accelerate the cycling of the new tank helps. My old 55g took forever to cycle when I started it back up last spring. When I got my second 55 a few months later it took almost no time since I transferred a lot of water.
Take as much water, rocks, filters, gravel as you can from the old tank to the new. If you were able to take all the water to the new tank and all the gravel and such and fill with treated tap water it would be akin to doing a 50% water change on the 90 gallon tank.
Go to Home Depot/Lowes/True Value/Etc and by a bunch of 5 gallon gas cans. Fill those with water. Easy to transport and easy to pour. Start by draining some water from the top of the tank to a cooler or plastic bags or whatever you are putting your fish into for transport. Take it from the top as you don't want to stir up the crap that is in the substrate.
Then start filling the 5 gallon gas cans. Again from the top. You don't want to transport all the much that is in the crevices and crannies of the old tank.
Once you get all the water out you can without having to pull rocks and mess with the gravel then go ahead and just pull those ornaments/rocks/wood out and get them ready to go. You should still have an inch or two of water in the tank. Leave it. Don't syphon it off. If you syphon it off, all the muck that is stuck in the places you couldn't put the syphon hose is coming with you.
Then I would get the biggest sieve you can find. Have two buckets waiting. One bucket is for the nasty water. The other is for the gravel. Scoop out gravel with a half gallon plastic water pitcher and dump the gravel into the sieve and let the water run down into the bucket. Then dump the gravel into a different bucket. Repeat till you have as much of the gravel as you intend to take with you in buckets. You are still going to bring some muck with you, but it will settle and/or be filtered out in an hour or so after setting up the new tank.
Load everything in the car and head to the new tank. This includes all of the filters even the ones from the old tank. Drop in the gravel and the water. Add more treated water to get it up to a close to the top. Kick on the filters. Check the temp. Once the temp is good, put the fish in.
Even though I doubt you will be keeping the other filters on the tank long term, they will greatly help the tank to stabilize.
You may lose a fish or two just because the process is so traumatic, but the more you bring from the old tank, the better.
Go to Home Depot/Lowes/True Value/Etc and by a bunch of 5 gallon gas cans. Fill those with water. Easy to transport and easy to pour. Start by draining some water from the top of the tank to a cooler or plastic bags or whatever you are putting your fish into for transport. Take it from the top as you don't want to stir up the crap that is in the substrate.
Then start filling the 5 gallon gas cans. Again from the top. You don't want to transport all the much that is in the crevices and crannies of the old tank.
Once you get all the water out you can without having to pull rocks and mess with the gravel then go ahead and just pull those ornaments/rocks/wood out and get them ready to go. You should still have an inch or two of water in the tank. Leave it. Don't syphon it off. If you syphon it off, all the muck that is stuck in the places you couldn't put the syphon hose is coming with you.
Then I would get the biggest sieve you can find. Have two buckets waiting. One bucket is for the nasty water. The other is for the gravel. Scoop out gravel with a half gallon plastic water pitcher and dump the gravel into the sieve and let the water run down into the bucket. Then dump the gravel into a different bucket. Repeat till you have as much of the gravel as you intend to take with you in buckets. You are still going to bring some muck with you, but it will settle and/or be filtered out in an hour or so after setting up the new tank.
Load everything in the car and head to the new tank. This includes all of the filters even the ones from the old tank. Drop in the gravel and the water. Add more treated water to get it up to a close to the top. Kick on the filters. Check the temp. Once the temp is good, put the fish in.
Even though I doubt you will be keeping the other filters on the tank long term, they will greatly help the tank to stabilize.
You may lose a fish or two just because the process is so traumatic, but the more you bring from the old tank, the better.
Thanks a lot for posting such a detailed procedure, it will certainly come in handy.
You're correct. I will also be moving 70lbs of lava rocks, and will be running my old filter for couple of week, and I will also be using some of my old crushed coral. Hopefully this will expedite the cycling.
dont waste your time on reusing the same water
as long as you bring over as much decor, substrate and your XP3 for a few weeks you should be fine. you may experience a mini cycle but i doubt that.
i just upgraded from a 55 to a 125 and i experienced no cycle whatsoever, and i used a completely new substrate and all new water
as long as you bring over as much decor, substrate and your XP3 for a few weeks you should be fine. you may experience a mini cycle but i doubt that.
i just upgraded from a 55 to a 125 and i experienced no cycle whatsoever, and i used a completely new substrate and all new water