New Tank....Conflicting Info

[SSFishy]

I have kept fish on and off for 15 years. When I first started I did everything wrong. I lost 90% of my fish. I have had a small tank with 1 big ole' Yellow Lab for about 3 years. I just bought a 40 gallon tank (the largest I have the budget/room for) My Yellow will be the only fish in the tank.
I have been reading for weeks about cycling the tank. I have read many different options/opinions as to how it should be done. My head was spinning!
I have set everything up...filter, heater, decor and run it for a day to make sure everything worked. I used water conditioner. All tests were zero.
Yesterday I took a big handful of gravel (put it in a net bag) from my established tank along with the filter cartridge (which I put into the new tank filter) and added a pinch of flake food. Today I added another pinch of flake food. There is ammonia starting to show up also nitrites.
Am I on the right track?

 

[reefdiver]

From my understandin you have a 3 year old cycled tank. I would just move every thing over to the new tank including fish. Thats how i have done my upgrades.

 

[phishfriend]

Yes you are!! The fact that you added you old filter cartridge and some gravel will help things along much quicker. The one thing I would suggest would be to go to ace hardware and get a bottle of ammonia. I think it is a 10% ammonia the rest is water. use this as your ammonia source. It's much more accurate than fish food. just make sure its only ammonia and water. No detergents!

Yes, moving your old filter over and running it with the new for a few weeks would also work.

Also, Here is a link to a write up most of us on AA suggest.
Guide to Starting a Freshwater Aquarium

 

[SSFishy]

Sorry...I left out that I am moving him to a larger tank...he has been in a 20g. So I can't just move everything over. Wish I could!

 

[SSFishy]

The closest Ace Hardware to me is 36 miles! Anywhere else I could get the ammonia?

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Yes you can just move everything over. It will instantly cycle the new tank.

 

[SSFishy]

Wow! Thanks for the advice!

 

[reefdiver]

The way i see it is when you get a bigger tank you move every thing over and it simulates a water change.

 

[Fishperson]

I got my ammonia from lowes foods, in NC we have lots of them, but you may not have them in Ohio. Just make sure it is just some kind of water (it might say soft water, that is ok) and ammonium hydoxide

 

[Deftpunk79]

You should be good if you moved the filter cartridge over. It's just like you did a major water change. As far as the fish and bacteria are concerned anyway. The more stuff you move from the old tank, the stronger your new one will be.

 

[SSFishy]

Can I use "ammonia hydroxide" to cycle my tank? That's the only ingredient on the label.

 

[Scottyhorse]

Yes, it should be safe.

 

[Ilminded]

Can I use "ammonia hydroxide" to cycle my tank? That's the only ingredient on the label.

Ammonia is NH3, ammonia hydroxide is NH4OH. It's a salt when added to water will give you H2O and NH3. If that's all that's in it, you're fine.