Switching from a 20g to a 50g

[Shannon72]

Hi, I am brand new to this site. I have a 20g aquarium. I will upgrading to a 50g aquarium. I have had the 20g going for 3 1/2 yrs. There a few questions I have. First off, my tap water pH is very high. So I have been getting water from the fish store (with the proper pH), I use to keep my fish healthy. But, after reading here, I see I don't have to go that route. I also, bought a beautiful peace of dirftwood (thinking that would help my pH). I know now that's not true. But, I would still like to use it in my 50g. So my question is what is the best way to set up the new tank? Meaning which water should I put in the tank. The 20g has 11 fish in the tank. 3 neons, 1 black skirt tetra, 1 fancy guppy, 2 Harlequin Rasbora, 1 Gold Pristella Tetra, 1 Buenos Aires, 1 white cloud, 1 tetra (not sure of the variety of this one, but the body style looks like a tetra), 1 albino alage fish. The other question I have is what is the best treatment to do for this very large piece of driftwood, aprox size is 15" x 14" x 13". Thank in advance for all of the advice.

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[ScotJudd]

Hi Shannon. You didn't say what Ph your tap water is and what you've got you're tank currently at. That would help in giving advice. As for the drift wood, boiling is normally a good option. It sterilises it, removes quite a lot of loose tannin and also helps it sink as it'll be water logged. But difficult with such a large piece but maybe a big pot and do half at a time?get back with your Ph values.


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[Shannon72]

Hi Scot, The water I get from the fish store is at 7.0, i just tested the water in the 20g and it is at 7.2, my tap water is at 7.6. Actually I thought it was much higher then that. I have also herad that keeping a bubbler going lowers the Ph, is this true? Thank you for the info on the driftwood. I will work on that.

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[ScotJudd]

Hi. Ph 7.6 is not that high and most fish would adapt. I would take all the water from your old tank into your new and top up slowly with de chlorinated tap water. The tannins from the bog wood will help to keep Ph slightly more acidic but I've not heard of a bubbler reducing Ph. They just help circulate the water and look good, if that's your thing.
Increasing Ph by increasing Kh is easy enough and I raise mine from 6.5 to about 7, but lowering Ph is more difficult. I would acclimatise your fish to your tap Ph, include the bog wood and settle at that. Stability is much more important than the actual Ph figure.


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[Shannon72]

Hi, thank you for the information. I will keep this in mind when I begin to set up my new tank. You have been very helpful.

 

[Shannon72]

Hi, I had a few more questions that I forgot about. My son will b taking over my 20g when I upgrade ro my 50g. About how much water should I leave in the the 20g for him to not to have to cycle the tank. Also, I am thinking ahead about what fish I would lkke to add to my 50g. I plan to add new fish gradually. I would like to add to 1 or 2 angel fish (I have they can be hard to care for, is this true?). I would also like to add 1 or two sharks (what would the best kind given what I already have going in the tank), I am putting the list above from my 20g to my 50g.) Also, I thought about some version of Gouramis (what would b the best version?) That said would all this fish get along?

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[fish wrangler]

You don't have to leave him any water. What you can do instead is give him the rinsings from some of your filter media, or just some of the media. This should give him a big jump in his cycle.
I can't help you with the stocking questions, but you should check out AquaAdvisor. Really good stocking tool for beginners and others.

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[Shannon72]

Ok, thank you again for all you help! Take care.

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[claudio1]

hi,as scotjudd mention before a 7.6 ph is not that high,i have a 25 gallon tank for over 6 months now with a 7.8 ph and had no problems with my fish,now if you want to cycle the 50 gallon tank a bit quicker,you can take a quarter of the 20 gallon filter media and replace it with a quarter of new media,and the quarter that you take from the 20 gallon tank place it in the 50 gallon tank filter to help seeding the bacteria colony...hope this helps.


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