Overstocked..OR..How screwed am I ?

[torstar]

heres the thing,

I recently upgraded to a 10 gal tank with a aquaclear20 filter, heater plants and was nicely cycled before i added my fish. My housemate decided he liked the fish (was not happy at first that got a 5 gal then upgraded to the 10) but hes enthusiastic about it now. SO much so that he went out and bought lke 8 more fish and put them in the tank all at once.(i was at work at the time)

Now the issue is this. I dropped my 5 gallon plastic tank...fubar so i cant remove the new fish and i am going to buy a 20 gallon to keep the fish happy BUT i dont have room for a 20 gallon AND a ten gallon. (would like a 30 but it is too much and my stand is too small to support a 30G)

I really dont want to keep an overstocked tank because the fish will die and/or become disease ridden. BUT if i put them in the 20 without cycling, the same thing can happen.


Currently in the tank:

2 Dalmation Platys
4 phantom tetra
3 other tetras..no idea whatkind
3 bleeding hearts
2 bloodfin tetras
1 beta female (emergency adoption when i had first setup my tank up)
2 orange platys..no idea what kind
1 molly
1 chinese algae eater
5 ghost shrimp

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[LyndaB]

Have your roommate return the fish that he bought. Even a 20 won't be big enough.

 

[torstar]

That was my first choice, but he didn't keep the receipt and the lfs won't take returns without it.

 

[KatieJ]

Find someone to adopt them

 

[torstar]

Not a bad idea. A friend wants a bigger tank, then i will give her my 10 gallon withsome fish. I guess thats the best option. At least then they will survive and she will be happy.

 

[FastFly67]

If you move the AC20 to the new tank, it will only go thru a mini cycle. You'll still have the bacteria living in the filter, the bacteria just needs time to grow to accommodate your new bioload

 

[torstar]

Heh decided to go with a larger tank. One that comes with a stand at petsmart one of those bow front tanks. A little pricey but then i can at least do a fishless cycle before adding the fish andpick up a larger Aqua clear filter instead of the one that cine with it. The question is now,is it safe to remove the carbon filter from my current filter(ac20) and place that in my new filter (act30) and place the new carbon filter in my existing act20 to encourage bacterial growth in my new tank while continuing the bacterial growth in my current one?

Not sure if it can be done safely which is why I am asking.

And yes I am still going to give away some Fish to reduce the population until the 26G + tank is cycled

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Move all the fish over to the new tank with all decor and the filter. Add the new filter onto the new tank as well. This way you will be doing a fish in cycle. If you rehome some fish, even better. You will only have a small mini cycle, if at all.

 

[torstar]

That's awesome. I have read so much about fishless cycles I wasn't really aware of a fish in cycle.

Thanks folks : )

 

[Mumma.of.two]

That's awesome. I have read so much about fishless cycles I wasn't really aware of a fish in cycle.

Thanks folks : )

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/artic...g-but-I-already-have-fish-What-now/Page2.html
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f12/fish-in-cycling-step-over-into-the-dark-side-176446.html
Some reading for you.

 

[absolutangel04]

Hello, I see you are relatively new to the site, so welcome!
Good job on getting the larger tank. You can take the filter media (catridge, fiter pad or whatever is in the filter) out of the filter for the 10g and put it in the filter for the 26g. That will help the cycle along.
Do you have a test kit for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate? I recommend the API master test kit for freshwater.
You will still have to re-home some fish IMO, because that is just too many even for a 26g. But, petco will take in fish adoptions, otherwise you can try craigslist or freecycle or friends. Its cool that you have a friend who would like fish.
So, I recommend you put up some pictures of the unknown tetras so we can help you identify them and then you will know what to do with them. Don't worry about the identifying the platys though. Platys are platys, basically just different colors, so thats fine.

 

[torstar]

Well i have to say, i used to have a 10 gallon with loads of guppies ( years and years ago) and they were healthy and happy so i figured i knew what i was doing. After this mess boy oh boy i have come to the conclusion that i don't know Jack schmidt about fish keeping.

After doing some reading in another part of the forum, one person posted the difference between a newbie and a noob..well i guess there is a new one to add... Newbie, noob and boob. I would be the boob.

I am going out tomorrow to buy a test kit (the person at Pet Paradise said the test kits were only for the advanced aquarium hobbiest because its very complicated) again, I am the boob for not finding this place EARLIER!

I thought i did a good thing on doing my research however this is not the case,(I'll take "whos a boob" for a thousand Alex) but thankfully my fish are still alive.

The one thing "I guess" i do right is that i take a water temp reading before I do a water change and match that up almost exactly (never off by more then .5 degrees thanks to my digital thermometer) then decholrinate the water and replace slowly and gently.

**In the end, regardless of what has happened, only I am responsible, not the LFS. One might say I made an "uneducated" mistake, but I would not agree, in MY case, i don't think I made an "uneducated" mistake, With the internet being available to me 24/7 and having a healthy amount of free time, it's just stupidity leading to a lack of PROPER research.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone for taking the time out of your day to offer up all the advice and the links to the Fish In Cycle information. I really do appreciate the help.

 

[absolutangel04]

Lol, that really made me laugh.
No worries, we all have to start somewhere. The important thing is that you care the fish.
Like I said, I recommend the API master kit. Its usually about $30 in a store, but its worth it. No matter what, just make sure to get a liquid kit because the test strips are total garbage.

 

[torstar]

well i went out and got a 36 gallon bowfront tank from petsmart
for only 199.99 saved $80 with my card. Though i HAVE to buy this python item everyone on here is talking about, took me way look long to fill it using a 6qt container lol. (re-read the boob comment on page 1 for those that missed it)
its a little sparse now but i am picking more plants up on monday as well as a better floresent bulb that provides more UV for the plants.

I picked up an adiquate heater for it and an aquaclear 50. though it's noisier then my AC20 but hey as long as it works. i am still running my Aquaclear 20 beside it as suggested.

glad i got the ensemble because i noticed my other stand had cracked along the side wall on the inside (stupid pressboard) but the stand that came with my new tank is REAL wood

I ended up giving away some fish to my friend who was very happy to get a ten gallon kit ( minus the filter for now) and some fish.

(yes i forgot the test kit but a buddy of mine is going o pick one up for me later today)

Again folks, thanks very much for being patient and helping me out.
I really appreciate it.

 

[LyndaB]

I'll take "whos a boob" for a thousand Alex

Oh man, I spit up on my monitor!

 

[absolutangel04]

No prob. The tank is looking nice so far. It will be awesome if you can get a few more plants. Yeah, filling a tank with buckets SUCKS!

 

[torstar]

Oh man, I spit up on my monitor!

Hahahaha gladad you got a laugh out of it!