20 gallon long upgrade

[Tate]

I am going to get a 20 long tank and give my 10 gallon to my younger brother. Instead of cycling could I put my existing filter on the 20 and run it? If so for how long

 

[SonicsDC25]

Yep, I recently did this when I upgraded my 29g to a 55g (though I only transferred the media, not the entire filter like you are doing). However, don't add more fish than you already have. Wait a week or two to let the bacteria re-establish a bit and then afterwards just add a few fish at a time, so your bio-load doesn't overwhelm the BB.

 

[Tate]

Wait so this is what I'm going to do fill the tank with water sand and decorations then put new filter and old filter then add fish because my 10 gallon would have no filtration on it so I would have to right away

 

[SonicsDC25]

That's fine, as long as you're either having the same or less amount of fish you already have in your 10g. Still check the water for a few days to see if there's a small ammonia spike, which a PWC can help fix. Might see a bit of ammonia for 2-3 days at about .25ppm, but after that you should be good to go.

 

[Tate]

Easy as that? Good. What size filter should I get like a 30 gal rated? Don't want to blow the sand around and if I were to get plants later on what lights would be good? Any lights?

 

[Tate]

And what filter brand do you recommend

 

[rockyofhockey]

Aqueon aqua clears are good

 

[Fishperson]

Aqueon aqua clears are good

It's either aqueon or aqua clear

 

[Brookster123]

Aqueon aqua clears are good

he def left the "or " out I have 4 brands running now and they're all working fine, all depends on what you stuff then with!

 

[Soul-Man22]

I have an aqueon quiet flow and an aqua clear on my 35 both are decent but the aqua clear is definitely much quieter than the aqueon.

 

[rhsoto94]

You'd be fine with the method of upgrading you mentioned. Did the same thing from a 20 to a 40 just leave old filter on for a week. I saw a little nitrites the day after but other then that it was successful.

 

[Tate]

Anyone to weigh in on the lights?

 

[rhsoto94]

Depends on what kind of plants you want to grow. Most people go with t5ho fixtures or led's though.

 

[gilpi]

Anyone to weigh in on the lights?

are you growing plants or just viewing your fish?

 

[Tate]

I might want to add plants laterv

 

[gilpi]

May I suggest low light plants to start. There are quite a few you can choose from like Amazon swords and ferns which are the ones I use in my planted tank and for light I use a shop light with two 6500k T8's for about 6-8 hours a day which is a low budget way to light a tank. There are other plants that require more maintenance and more intense lighting like T5, T5HO and LED but they are way more pricey.

As far as using the filter from another tank, yes but make sure it's big enough to support the fish you are putting in it, you might want to make sure ammo levels don't go up too high the first few days by doing some water changes.

 

[Fishperson]

LEDs are great because they use far less watts and will save you money on your electric bill.

I recommend the finnex fugeray, it would give you medium light at least on a 20L.

 

[Tate]

I am using my old filter and new on the 20

 

[Tate]

With a hood on the tank would this affect the light power?

 

[Tate]

Got my tank setup and when I get my light fixture do I just get some plants and put them in or do I have to get soil or anything special like that