Starting second tank

[meloyelo]

Right now I have a 26 gal tank that is cycled and running along very nicely. My lovely wife has gotten me a 55 gal that I will be starting up right after Christmas. I plan to relocate the 26 and put the 55 in its place. The 26 has two filters running on it now. One is a Marineland 150 with the biowheel and the other is an Aqueon 20. The Aqueon has been on the tank from the beginning and has awesome bacteria growth on the media. I put the biowheel filter on the tank a couple of weeks later so not quite as much, but still looks good. So now to my question. What will be the best way to get the 55 up and running using some of my existing media to get the filter cycling while not upsetting the balance of the 26. I'd like to transfer all the fish from the 26 to the 55 and up the stock also. Thinking to go a little different direction on the 26, but not 100% sure what I want to do yet. I will need to decide what to do very soon so something goes in that tank to keep the bacteria from dying off due to nothing to munch on after the transition. Any advice on all this will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Meloyelo

 

[akagochi]

What type of filter will you be using on the 55?
You could seed the 55 with water from your 26 during a PWC. In other words drain 25% of the water from your 26 in a bucket, pour it in the 55.
If you are comfortable you could just run the Marineland 150 on the 26, and run your new filter AND the old aqueon on the 55. That way you have the bacteria from the aqueon and the seeded water from the 26 gal in the new 55.