Transferring aquarium

[Ratankun]

Hello all

I’m a newbie to this hobby and need some advice

I’ve got a 15g aquarium and i want to upgrade to larger tank. I want to place this larger tank where the existing one is. I’m not sure how to do this as my assumption is that I couldn’t transfer fish to this new aquarium until it’s cycled but if I cycle then I won’t be able to move the new aquarium to the space the old one was in as it’s a fully loaded heavy tank. Any ideas on how this is done?

 

[Delapool]

Hi - can you transfer filter across to new tank and/or get some filter media out of it to put in new filter to speed things along?

 

[Ratankun]

Hi. Thanks for the reply
Yes I could use filter media or some existing gravel or even one of the ornaments from old tank. My issue though is that I would for some period still need to have 2 tanks operational simultaneously. I just don’t have the room to do that.
Out of interest how much does using an existing filter speed up the process? My original tank took a month to cycle. How quickly could the process happen with using existing filter media?

Thanks

 

[Aiken Drum]

If you have to decommision 1 before setting up the other then you will need buckets or plastic tote boxes as a temporary home while you make the switch.

Make sure you have enough time to get everything done in 1 go.

Half fill your buckets/totes with tank water and top up with freshwater. Double dose with prime. If you can get an airstone to keep the water oxygenated. Move the fish to their temporary home(s).

Decommision tank 1. Anything you are moving to tank 2 to retain beneficial bacteria, keep in dechlorinated water until you are ready to put in tank 2.

Set up tank 2 including anything from tank 1 you intend to transfer. Make sure everything is running ok before adding your fish. Acclimate the fish properly to the new water before adding same as you would a new fish from the store.

Shouldnt take too long. Get what you can do done beforehand like assembling any cabinets, filters etc.

Fish in cycle.

As to how much using filter media, substrate etc will benefit cycling your new tank, impossible to say, every cycle is different. If you are able to use all your filter media and dont lose any beneficial bacteria in the cross over it may be a matter of days before your cycle properly establishes again.

 

[Ratankun]

Thank you very much!