2nd hand 4ft tank

[Beefsteaks]

Iv managed to get a secondhand 4ft tank for my cichlids an would like to know if I can put water from my smaller 70 litre tank straight into the new one once iv cleaned it an top up with safe water an move my cichlids in once the temp is right??

 

[Cichlid-dude]

If you use the same filter it will help with cycling the new tank. The water hold pretty much nothing so is not needed. All of the bb will be in the filter you have running on your tank now. Decor from the tank you have now would help as well.

 

[Beefsteaks]

This new tank has a built in filter system which uses these black balls that the good Bactria sticks to, iv soaked them for 25 mins in boiling water because he had goldfish in the tank before, an iv scrubbed the tank with hot water to the best I could an iv put new sponges I had which iv cut to shape, iv got seachem prime to use to clean my fresh water with an will use all the water out of my existing tank to top up my tank once I done this would I be able to introduce my fish after?

 

[garfy]

Your new tank won't be cycled and ready for fish with just the water.Only your old filter media or cycling of your new tank will make it 100% safe for the addition of your fish.

 

[Shane87]

Another thing you should be careful of is adding to many fish at once, could you run the old filter in the tank for a while? That would make things a lot easier

 

[Mouth-Brooder-Fanatic]

basically, what you need to do is get your old filter media in your new filter, so the bacteria can live. however, that leaves no bb for the current tank. so what i did, i took half of the old media and put it in my new filter, and took half the new media and put it in the old filter. that way, both tanks were running, the new tank had a faster cycle and my fish were happy

 

[Beefsteaks]

Ok yea that makes sense, couple people have said about doing exactly that but using all my water out of my current 18g tank into my new 40g tank also obviously using all the same decor but also using my two internal U2 fluval filters for couple months while the cycle becomes sound and doing regular water changes, but introducing the fish straight away and looking at it like a Hugh water change? If that makes sense?

 

[DoubleA]

Seed the filter with media from the old filter (or use the old filter on the new tank also for a a few weeks).

Use the old tank's sand/gravel or seed with the old if you are getting new stuff.

You can add the fish straightaway (fish-in cycle), just make sure you monitor and test the water daily to every other day for ammonia/nitrites/nitrates until everything evens out.

If you seed with the old media/gravel, it will significantly speed up the cycle. No need to use the old water, use it to water any plants you may have (super good for the plants)

So yeah, it will basically be like a big water change.