Help!!

[dudeofrude]

This morning my darling daughter (2yo) decided to hit my 25g fish tank with one of her toys and smashed it!. Aswell as saving her from nearly drowning in the ensuing wave of water ive also ended up with a whole range of crockery filled with fish!
ive not long got back from the lfs where ive purchased a 36g bowfront (very nice) and ive just filled it up. what i need help with is any possible way i can add my fish into it today without killing them??
ive obviously used the same filter, decorations etc but new sand (figured now would be the best time to change) and its filled and warming as we speak.
i did a dip test on it earlier and its showing no ammonia and a slight amount of nitrate and the water is rather cloudy so im assuming there is going to be a nitrate spike some time soon.
the fish i have to put in are
3 corys
1 pitbull plec
12 neons
2 dwarf gouramis
1 male betta
2 bumblebee gobies

i know the betta is going to be at the most risk but its a desperate situation.
any advice would be great, thanks

 

[LyndaB]

You really have no choice but to place your fish into the tank. Since you're using the existing filter, you should be good. Just be sure that the temp is close to what they're in now.

Was the original tank cycled? You mentioned dip testing. Are you using strips? If so, do yourself (and your fish) a big favor and pick up an API master kit (liquid). This will give accurate test results, versus the strips, which have a really bad reputation for giving inaccurate results.

If you didn't rinse your sand prior to placing it in the tank, you're going to have a huge issue with cloudiness. As your filter works to clean the water, it could get clogged very badly.

If you have not rinsed it, you can do in the tank itself. Swirl the sand around and do a 50% water change. Add water. Rinse again. Keep doing so until the water is relatively clear.

 

[dudeofrude]

hey thanks for the reply, yeah i rinsed the sand through a few times so that should be ok. the cloudiness looks the same as a bacteria bloom but the tank has only been up and running a matter of hours so surely that cant be the case?

yeah im using test strips as my api kit is empty and the pet store didnt have any in stock. i still have some of the liquid for the nitrate test left so i can do that accuratley at least.

im waiting for the temp to rise at the min but since ive come from a 25g to a 36g my heater is a little under powered but its all i have for now.

is there anything in particular i can do to help aide the speed of the cycle?

 

[LyndaB]

Were you cycled before?

If so, it shouldn't be much of an issue as you have the same bioload and the same filter media.

I highly suggest you get yourself a heater that will do the job on this tank (congrats on the larger tank, by the way!).

Also, the cloudiness is definitely due to sand at this point.

See if you can get a complete API kit on line. I wouldn't trust a lfs that didn't carry them.

 

[librarygirl]

Ouch, sorry about the accident! If the tank was cycled before and you're using the same filter media then it shouldn't be a problem. You could test the tank daily for a week or so just to make sure there aren't any spikes, but if everything else is the same (minus the substrate) it shouldn't cause too much of a toxin spike if any. Good luck!

 

[dudeofrude]

thanks for the encouraging words guys, im glad to hear my poor fish may stand a chance. my previous tank was cycled for well over a year now so the filter media etc is nice and mature.
i shall be popping out later in the week to pick up a new heater but seeing as todays events have put a rather sizeable hole in my wallet i will have to wait till after pay day.

 

[LyndaB]

That 2 year old is going to have a very tough time working off all that allowance when she's older.

 

[librarygirl]

Maybe she and the fish conspired; after all, now they have a larger tank!

 

[dudeofrude]

haha well she is a little devil at times but its hard to stay mad