New 150 gallon SA setup

[D-Smeezy7]

Looking for opinions on how it looks and also ive never cycled a tank of this size before. Could anyone give me a crash course on it or maybe a link to a good source? Thank you!

 

[Dan Thefishman]

Looks cool, do you have fish in it yet?

 

[D-Smeezy7]

Not yet I gotta cycle it first

 

[Dan Thefishman]

How are you cycling it? Fishless or fish?

 

[D-Smeezy7]

Well that's the problem... Im not an expert with cycling. It's fishless right now and I used old water from a 55gal and am planning on using the emperor 400 from it as well. I just dont really know how to cycle that great yet.

 

[D-Smeezy7]

The emperor 400 is still on the up and running 55 so I'll prolly move it with the fish. It has been well established with my 55gal so do u think it could handle the ammonia from the new tank? Also does carbon neutralize the effect of ph chemicals? I'm trying to lower and it's not really budging. I have the carbon bags in my canister filter on the 150 now

 

[Dan Thefishman]

So you took some water from your establish tank, and put it into your 150. But there is no fish in the tank right? Are you going to keep the 55 up?

 

[Dan Thefishman]

How many fish do you have in the 55? Are you moving the fish to the 150?

 

[D-Smeezy7]

Yes I took the water from the established tank and put it in the 150. I wont keep the 55 up so thats why I was gonna use the emperor on the 150 along with a canister filter

 

[D-Smeezy7]

And I have 4 fish in the 55 and they will be moved into the 150

 

[Dan Thefishman]

So how long has it been since you took water from your 55?

 

[D-Smeezy7]

It's only been two days

 

[Dan Thefishman]

Have you tested the water in the 150?

 

[D-Smeezy7]

Ya ph is high at about 7.5-8
Water is very hard
Ammonia is at zero at the moment

 

[Dan Thefishman]

O.k what fish are you putting in and what size?

 

[garcia2185]

Nice! all I did was get substrate that was ready with bacteria and would neutralize ammonia, I cycled it for a week and added fish and they seem healthy.

 

[D-Smeezy7]

Dempsey 4in, Midas convict and blood parrot all around 3in, and 2 African featherfin cats. Another reason I got a larger tank is cuz some of these fish were dumped on me by a buddy going away to college so I'm very overstocked at the moment.

 

[Dan Thefishman]

So if I were you this is what I would do. Take out 55 gallons of water from your 150. Take all the water( if the gravel matches add it to) from the 55. Add that to you 150, with your fish( stir up the water in your 55, so that it looks dirty use that water). All the muck and gunk, contains nitrifying bacteria, which is the building block. That will keep ammonia, nitrite and nitrate in check. Make sure your temps are with in 3-6 degrees of each other. So basically it will be as if you did a major water change. If you have cycle, stress zyme or bacteria supplement. Add that for the next 4 days.

 

[D-Smeezy7]

Sounds good thanks

 

[Dan Thefishman]

So how did it go?