Transition from 5 gallon to a 20 gallon

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

Fish24907

Aquarium Advice Regular
Joined
Dec 19, 2011
Messages
86
I'll be transitioning from a 5 gallon to a 20 gallon tank.

My Zebra Danios will love for this transition to happen as fast as possible, since they are way too active for my 5 gallon tank right now.

Is there a way to speed up the cycling process in the 20 gallon tank by using stuff from my 5 gallon? A lot of the good bacteria is in the gravel right? So would it be a good idea to take some of the gravel from the 5 gallon and put it into the 20 gallon to help the 20 gallon cycle?

Any other tips? I'm sure a lot of you have upgraded from a smaller to a bigger tank.

Thanks.
 
This is what I would do:
Move fish to a bucket with some water.
Move ALL filter media from the 5g filter to the 20g filter.
Move all water over, decor, substrate or whatever else is going into the new tank.
Top tank off with fresh dechlorinated water.
Bring it up to temperature.
Acclimatize fish and add to new tank.
Test every day or two for a couple of weeks to watch for mini cycling. Do a PWC if needed.
No need to pre cycle the tank if you are moving filter media and fish over.
 
Your best option would be to move everything from your 5g to your new 20g (filter, gravel, etc). Unless, of course, you plan on using the 5g immediately for something else & want to keep it cycled. Just keep an eye on the water parameters in the 20g for 2wks or so if moving everything to make sure everything stays stable & do pwcs if you see any levels of ammonia/nitrite. If you dont want to permanently keep the 5g gravel in the 20g, add by placing it in a mesh bag or a piece of panythose so you can remove it easily in a few wks. Hope this helps!
 
^^^ +1. it also might help things if the tank has a few low light live plants to help absorb ammonia/nitrites. congrats on the big tank though! any idea as to what else you'd like to put in with your danios?
 
^^^ +1. it also might help things if the tank has a few low light live plants to help absorb ammonia/nitrites. congrats on the big tank though! any idea as to what else you'd like to put in with your danios?

Cool. I guess I'll do what mumma and jlk said to do, thanks guys.

Hmm..what are some good low light live plants to get that are easy to take care of (I've never kept live plants in any fish tank of mine)?

And I'm thinking of getting Neon Tetras to put in there with the Danios.
 
Anubias seem to be indestructible & alot of the big chain stores have them. Mosses would work as well. Im sure there are some others (such as some swords, wisteria, hornwort) would probably work too but im not a plant expert here! Still learning! :)
 
Cool. I guess I'll do what mumma and jlk said to do, thanks guys.

Hmm..what are some good low light live plants to get that are easy to take care of (I've never kept live plants in any fish tank of mine)?

And I'm thinking of getting Neon Tetras to put in there with the Danios.
lets see... java fern and moss are good, anarchis, anubias, i've found hygro to be very tolerant (not to mention it grows like a weed), hornwort is especially good for absorbing them, and a less desirable but effective one is duckweed. neons would go great with them!
 
Nice guys... I just looked up Anubias, and they might work me.

My fish are going to love some real plants and a bigger tank to swim around in! I can't wait!
 
I forgot to mention this guys, my tank is going to have actinic lights (I love the look).

I've read threads on here that say this is fine for hardy plants like anubias, but then some people say actinics promote algae growth?

There's too many opinions out there...Does anyone have another opinion on this?

I guess I will just try it out for myself for a little bit.
 
Alright guys, so i have my new tank filled and just put in my old fish, water, decorations and filter (from the 5 gallon tank).

Now should i use just this old filter (from my 5 gallon tank) alone in my new 20 gallon tank for a while? This small filter probably is too weak for a 20 gallon tank.

Or should I use both this small filter and use another one (a 20 Gallon Tank Filter)?

I think it'd be best to use both.
 
Yes, use both filters. The old filter has your good bacteria which will help seed the new one. Good luck with the new tank!
 
well... i'd go with their advice. i'm no light expert though...

True.

Well I put an anubias plant in my 20 gallon with only actinics (420 nm). It's been 5 days and it doesn't look too bad. One leaf is slightly wrinkled, but I can't even remember if it was like that to begin with.

I'll keep you guys updated on the health of the anubias in case anyone out there is like me and wants to use actinics in a freshwater planted tank.
 
Back
Top Bottom