Changing Tanks

[KantGetRite]

So I recently finished cycling a 15g column tank and about a week after it was done I had a 50-55g tank given to me. I was wondering the best way to cycle the new tank, move the fish into the new tank, etc.

I currently have:

5 Neon Tetras
6 Harlequin Rasboras
4 Platys

I was considering adding to the existing schools, some dwarf frogs, and an angel. Any suggestions? Worries?

 

[librarygirl]

Is your 15 gal cycled? If you're going to move everything over, just put the filter from the 15 gal onto the new tank and let it run along with the new filter for at least a few weeks to help seed the new filter; this will also instantly cycle the new tank for the fish you have now (as you add new fish, the bacteria will need to readjust so you'll have to test for ammonia, etc and do extra water changes as needed). Or if you have room in the new filter, just move the filter media from the 15 gal into the new filter. Add new fish slowly and test the water daily and do water changes as needed. I've upgraded tanks this way without issues.

 

[flitabout]

Are you planning on running both tanks? If you are I would just take some of the filter material from the 15g and move it in to the filter you are going to run in the 55g and cycle with the ammo. I am guessing you want more and bigger fish for the 55. If that is the case the amount of bb in the filter for the 15 isn't going to be enough for an instant cycle as it is just the right amount for the stock you have in the 15. You also are going to be removing the entire bb filter from the smaller tank if you move the entire filter over.
Instant cycles are kind of a misnomer. While it can be done it is a very rare thing to totally and instantly cycle a tank. With the entire filter it can be done and the same stock it will essentially be instantly cycled. But when you are still trying to maintain the bb filter in what I will call the "mother tank". It will take a bit longer to get a full and proper bb filter going. But still much faster than starting from scratch.
Now if you are just going to run 1 tank and move the stock from one to the other yes you will have an instant cycle.

 

[KantGetRite]

well my plan is to put the new filter (I'll get it Wed) in the existing tank and let it run along side the existing one and once that it has run for a while I'll move the stock and filter over to the new tank. Itll be a while before I can add additional fish so from what you both said I should be fine and from there I can add fish occasionally as the filter adjusts to the new bioload.

Any suggestions on a few centerpiece fish? I am going to increase the schools of the already existing fish to at least 10 and maybe add a third schooling fish but I'd like to add 1-2 centerpiece fish that are larger like angels or something...thoughts?

 

[flitabout]

I love the koi angels or german blue rams or maybe do both! I am going to start another tank when I get the money and do GBRs angels cardinals and a blue/black eyed long fin bristol nose pleco. So basically an entire tank full of centerpiece fish!

 

[KantGetRite]

Here is the new aquarium set up and the fish moved over. After a few week i'll remove the old filter and there wont be the cord in the front.

 

[KantGetRite]

and here are the same pictures just not upside down

 

[KantGetRite]

So sad news, I lost 2 of my Harlequin Rasboras. Water parameters are okay (Ammonia was not at 0. It spiked to .25ppm) Everything else is okay. I think the water might have been a degree too cold but I'm not sure if that was enough stress to kill them. The others all seem fine. My platys seem odd though. They are all hiding by the filter or in corners. Otherwise they seem fine.

 

[Coyne]

I doubt water temp was the issue. There usually need to be drastic swings in temperature to stress out a fish enough to kill it.
This said, I dont know what may have killed it. Did you cycle the 15 gallon with the Harlequins in? Even if they made it through the cycling process alive, they may have been exposed to enough ammonia and/or nitrites to cause long term health problems. Sort of like a guy that smokes a pack a day for 15 years, quits, but still develops lung cancer 5 years later.

 

[Fishperson]

Yeah, Coyne's right, but it might also have been a ph swing. Did you do anything new with the tank lately?

 

[KantGetRite]

No, I cycled it with 2 of the platys and a neon tetra that had survived from a previous tank. The Rasboras were introduced after the cycling had finished and had been in that tank for a few weeks before I moved them over. Maybe so many moves caused their deaths. Again, the water in the new tank is not testing at zero ammonia but hasn't been over .25ppm and the other readings were normal except for the pH

 

[Coyne]

No, I cycled it with 2 of the platys and a neon tetra that had survived from a previous tank. The Rasboras were introduced after the cycling had finished and had been in that tank for a few weeks before I moved them over. Maybe so many moves caused their deaths. Again, the water in the new tank is not testing at zero ammonia but hasn't been over .25ppm and the other readings were normal except for the pH

I just re-scanned this thread really quick and couldnt find any other referrences to the pH. What wasnt normal about the pH?

 

[KantGetRite]

The tank I originally had the fish in had a pH of 7.8. When I checked the pH of the new tank I thought it was 7.6 but when things started happening I rechecked with high range pH and it was between 8.0 and 8.2

 

[Coyne]

Ahh.. so that could be the cause. When you transferred the fish from the old tank to the new, did you acclimate them to the new tank? Thats a significant enough difference in pH that it could be an issue unless they were slowly acclimated to the new water chemistry.
Whats done is done though. We live and learn.