Seeding a tank ^^

[Freezekougra]

Made a thread about cycling a few weeks ago and I people told me that I could use gravel/filter media from an old tank and add it to a new tank...

So if I add everything from an established 10 gallon tank into a new 40 gallon tank, would I be able to immediately add one 3-5in fish(hopefully it'll produce low amounts of wastes) while using the already existing bacteria to do the nitrogen cycle thing?

Btw, I was thinking of putting in a small red tiger oscar ^^

Thanks for the help im a xD

 

[colematthewmalaka]

That'd be really cool, just remember tiger oscars are carnivores and can get enormous. BEWARE HE'LL EAT YOU jkjk

 

[Freezekougra]

lolol
i hope he doesnt eat the snail currently in my 10 gallon tank, or at least not too soon

 

[joy13]

Unless you plan on up grading to a larger tank the oscar will out grow that 40 gallon pretty fast it isn't really the per inch rule you have to worry about but swimming room and bioload.

When you seed a tank from an existing tank always treat your water before adding it to your tank. I say this because I have a python that I use on my established tanks and put the dechlorinator in as I add the water. With new tanks treat the water in buckets and add it.

 

[Freezekougra]

Unless you plan on up grading to a larger tank the oscar will out grow that 40 gallon pretty fast it isn't really the per inch rule you have to worry about but swimming room and bioload.

When you seed a tank from an existing tank always treat your water before adding it to your tank. I say this because I have a python that I use on my established tanks and put the dechlorinator in as I add the water. With new tanks treat the water in buckets and add it.

how big of a tank do I need?

 

[joy13]

Most people suggest at least 55 gallon tank. I have seen oscars nearly 14 inches and live a long time. They are a great fish and so hard to resist.

 

[Freezekougra]

:O Thanks

I'm trying to look for a 55 off craigslist, they seem to be more common than a 40 o.o

 

[joy13]

Craigslist is where I get my aquariums and help someone else get his. Check on ebay for local tanks too. Have you gotten your 40 gallon yet if so is there any stocking plans?

 

[Freezekougra]

I found a 55g with a stand and canopy last night, sent a quick 2 sentence mail but no reply yet

I'm thinking of starting with a small red tiger oscar, so by the time it grows and produces more wastes, the tank will have a ton of beneficial bacteria ^^

Then with my 10...I just looked up breeding ghost shrimp, but I don't think I'll be able to raise the tiny fry. I can't find any for sale at the 2 petco's I've been to anyways ^^

Btw, can you give me some advice on decorating a tank for an oscar? I heard they move stuff around a lot :O

 

[joy13]

Most tanks I have seen is with driftwood and rocks. My friend has one that is about 6 inches long now and he tried live plants but it didn't work so he has silk plants in that tank.

If you are thinking about shrimp you might want to check out RCS they breed easy and some people use them as live food for their larger fish. I know someone on this forum had some last week very reasonable, I haven't take the plunge into shrimp yet. I keep thinking about it and researching it.

Keep trying on craigslist because the last week it took the guy several hours to get back to me. It is a 45 corner tank it was worth the wait, the worst part is the waiting. Of course I have sent several emails to other people and never got a reply, it could be something with craigslist or they already sold it and haven't taken it down.

 

[Freezekougra]

I checked Petco's site before and they were having stuff on sale for 20%+ off plus free shipping for anything over $50. The sale ends today though =[
The heater and filter I'm looking at( Marineland Stealth Visi-Therm Submersible Aquarium Heaters at PETCO and Aquarium Power Filters: Marineland Penguin BIO-Wheel Aquarium Power Filters at PETCO) both work up to a 50g tank. Would it make much of a difference or would I need to buy better ones? I'm already at $198 with the discounts and free shipping, unless I can find a stand on craigslist and save $100

Gotten 1 reply on craigslist so far, but that seller isn't including their stand

Edit: The tank on craigslist comes with a lightstrip. In the picture, it looks like a piece of glass covering the top of the tank, is there a way to attach some kind of lightning to it?

 

[joy13]

If there is glass over the tank most lightstrips will sit down on that. There is several lighting options for tanks.

I find it cheaper to get the tank and stand together is possible since the stand is usually more than the tank. If it an odd size it will cost even more. I have a thing for odd shaped tanks.

It took me several months to finally get my tank and it will be several more months before I get it up and running most likely. The planning is the best part then comes all the work.

 

[Freezekougra]

There's someone selling a tank without a light strip or stand near where I live. Everyone selling the tanks requires pickup so I think I'm going to go with that one ^^ My mom has a realllllllllllly old sewing machine that's 50in long and a 55 gal is only 48, I'll probably go to a hardware store and get some wood to cover the bottom and then buy the lights later. Hopefully it won't look too bad and it'll be enough to hold all that weight lol

 

[joy13]

A 55 gallon tank weighs nearly 600 lbs when set up. That is a lot of weight for a sewing table.

 

[Freezekougra]

How should I test the table to see if it can hold up that weight? Shoud I get some people to sit on it

 

[gzeiger]

Maybe start with weightlifting bars? You definitely don't want to test it with the tank. You might seriously hurt somebody testing it with people though, due to the tendency for them to sit on corners directly above a leg, which will be the part that does not break.

As to the first part of your question, I would really advise not starting with a single small fish. If you want to test the effectiveness of your seeding, you should do it with ammonia as if you were fishless cycling. If you're confident of your filter material, I would go ahead and add slightly more than what the 10-gallon tank held. The one fish by itself will produce such a negligible amount of ammonia that your filter bacteria may well starve and you'd have a significant setback, and it also likely wouldn't produce enough to show up reliably on your test kit, so you wouldn't have made a valid test of the filter's effectiveness. By putting in more than the 10-gallon held you would be providing enough bioload to allow your filter to grow toward the new required capacity.

 

[Freezekougra]

Now that I think about it I should just buy a stand
Too bad the Petco sale ends today

Ty for the help everyone