Should I upgrade tank before vacation?

[laurieb]

Hey folks!
I just scored a 55 gallon at the petco $ per gallon sale to replace my 20 long. Yippeee!!

My dilemma is that I am leaving for vacation in 3 weeks and I'm afraid to make the change before I for fear of spiking or breaking my cycle. Obviously I want things to be stable before I go.

I have 2 fancy goldfish in the 20 with an aquaclear 50, a marineland 100 biowheel, a 200 gph pond pump all of which I'll be moving over to the 55 and I just ordered an aquaclear 110. I'll probably get another 110 when I get the cash.

So do you think it would be safe to do the move now or should I wait till I get back? I have someone coming to feed and do weekly water changes on both of my tanks (I also have a tropical community) but I can't ask them to do daily changes if the cycle gets broken.

Thanks!

 

[Mebbid]

I don't see why it would be an issue to upgrade your tank now as long as you aren't adding any new stock before you move. If you switch over to the 55 and are going to use the same filter then it shouldn't make any difference. Just think of it like a big water change

 

[laurieb]

Lol, a huuuuge water change!!!
Thanks, I hadn't thought of it like that. I just get so paranoid about my cycle because it took me a looong time to get it stable.

 

[Mebbid]

At the very most you might get a mini cycle from losing the bacteria in the substrate as long as you don't change your filter on a regular basis, but that should easily be cleared up within a week.

 

[laurieb]

Well I never change my filters..just rinse them and I'm moving my substrate and plants over to the new tank. I'm also going to use as much of the water from the 20 as I can when I make the move. So hopefully I won't have a spike.

 

[Mebbid]

Yep! nothing to worry about then since you're taking your entire bacteria load with you