Moving fish to a new tank

[Mitch_Wilson]

Hi there, I'm new to creating an account on the fourms, however I've been reading them all along for advice and questions i had about my tank. But now im here with a bit more specific question.
I have a 20 gallon tank that originally had 2 pictus catfish and a peacock eel in it, yes i know it is to small for any of them however it was the last of these fish my local store had and i knew i had a 30 gallon coming soon. In mid-cycle the tank crashed and i lost both catfish, however the Eel (Jetsam) did make it through. That was about a month ago and I got the 30 gallon 2.5-3 weeks ago I started the 30 gallon cycle by adding raw shrimp (which did work, it just started to smell really quickly). Regaurdless, I added a bacteria suppliment, not sure what kind it was, and the 30 gallon seems to have cycled already. I tested the water two days ago and the reading were
.25 ammonia
2-5 nitrites (almost immpossible to tell the difference on the liquid test)\
approx 80 nitrites
I tested it again early yesterday morning and it was at
0 ammonia
.25 nitrites
alot of nitrates almost 160
so i added another piece of raw shrimp and left it in there until the water tested 5 ammonia
tested again last night before bed and had no ammonia and 4-5 nitrites
this morning there are no nitrites or ammonia in the tank.

What i need to know is if its safe to transfer the Peacock eel to the tank yet or if i should wait because the 20 is still mid cycle, with nitrites spiking every morning and me having to do 25% water changes every day.

Lastly, and sorry for the huge post i figured it might be easier than creating 2-3 seperate posts, I obviously want more fish than just my eel in the 30 gallon. The fish i was thinking were
8-10 harlequin rasboras
1-2 Flame/Neon Blue dwarf Gouramis (I wanted more of them but i heard they don't get along well together)
1 Peacock Eel
and I'd like another Pictus or two but am unsure if that would over stock the tank.
Do all/any of these fish get along?
Again thank you for your answers and all the advice you had in advertently given me the past two months

 

[Convict2161]

Welcome to the forum.


You want 0 nitrites and you'll have some nitrAtes. Also a cycled tank you should find 0 ammonia. Hope this helped a little.

Also of wait for your tank to be fully cycled.

 

[Mitch_Wilson]

How quickly after adding ammonia to the tank should the nitrItes and ammonia go to 0? because right now it took approx 8 hours

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Welcome!

So the 20 and the 30 are both cycling?
If so then I would move the eel and the filter from the 20 to the 30 (after a 100% water change and leave the 30g filter) and continue the cycle on just the one tank. IMHO there is no point fishlessly cycling the 30 if the 20 contains the eel and is cycling also. By moving him to the 30 you are providing more water to dilute his waste (ammonia) between water changes.

I would suggest you follow this guide.
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/artic...g-but-I-already-have-fish-What-now/Page2.html

 

[twoodrough]

Maybe I am wrong, but if you are dosing up to 5ppm ammonia and it is gone in 24 hours to 0 ammoinia and 0 nitrite and some nitrates, then it sounds as if you are cycled. Your one fish is not going to put out enough waste to get it back up to 5ppm, so the tank should be able to handle him. Then move slowly on the other stock.

 

[librarygirl]

I agree with Mumma of two. The 30 may be cycled; if you're checking twice a day and you found nitrites in the middle but then they were gone at the 24 hour mark you could just be catching the conversion as it happens. Either way I'd still move the filter over to the 30 and move the eel over too (do a large water changes first, wait an hour or so and test everything; make sure ammonia and nitrite are 0 and try to get nitrates as low as you can get them, <20 is good, < 10 ideal. It may take more than one water change to get the nitrates down).