Tank upgrade advice

[flatty]

I have a 36g bowfront community tank and a 56 gallon tall cichlid tank currently.

On black Friday I picked up a new 75 gallon tank set for a good price.

I would like to move the cichlids from my 56G tank into this one and then upgrade my community tank to the 56 gallon to give them some more room as well.

My cichlid tank currently has a snail issue than cropped up out of nowhere so i would like to somehow eradicate those during the move if possible. I would like to do this as quick as possible as I don't have room in my house to store the extra tank without taking up people space. My current tanks are both over filtered with one HOB and one canister each so I would think I can just move the filters over to the upgraded tanks the only problem being the snails in the one tank, I do not want any of those left as the community tank is planted.

Any advice as to the best method?

 

[Ashenwelt]

I would pull the plants, bleach them, rinse them well and not move the substrate. You may do some damage to the plants, but do a web search on bleaching aquarium plants.

And yes, move the filters.

Congrats on the new tank.

So what are your plans for the 36? Going to do something interesting? A walstad maybe?

 

[Barliman]

Any advice as to the best method?

A bleach or permanganate dip for the plants will take care of snails and their eggs. There are several good videos on YouTube on the topic.

Moving the filters is a good idea, since this will give you good odds of avoiding a cycle. When you do, though, I'd remove the media and give it a good rinsing in the old tank water and pick off any snails you find. (Snails seem to love my filters.. ) Also scrub out the inside of the filter bodies to clean them out. Just use tank water -- nothing with chlorine in it.

Finally, I'd buy a bottle of Seachem Stability and use it to rebuild your beneficial bacteria, just in case some was lost during the transfer.

 

[henningc]

Barliman on all points. You could also pick up a few assassin snails and let them do their thing in the bowfront. Aquabid, Bob's Tropical Plants or The Aquatic Arts have them available. I'd also toss a few in the tank where stuff relocates. FYI they eat regular snail stuff and snails.

 

[flatty]

Thanks for the advice. For the record though the 36g planted tank has no snails. The cichlid tank got them somehow and they are all over the filter media. When I migrate the tanks I will try to eliminate all the snails i can see in the filter but the chances of getting it 100% are slim with me reusing the filter media. I will not move the substrate at all because of the snail issues as well but I know this will reduce some of my biological filtration capacity. I have no plans for the 36g bowfront after this as I really don't have the room.

On a side note about how much sand or aragonite would i need for the 75g tank.

 

[Barliman]

Barliman on all points.

Woot!

I agree about the Assassin snails.

 

[flchamp89]

If you want to try to always be snail free that can be near impossible if you ever add any plants or fish.

Why do you have to be snail free? Snails are beneficial.

 

[flatty]

Done

Finally made the switch and got the cichlids into the bigger aquarium. I moved none of the substrate so only bacteria that made the move would be in both of my filters. I have tested the water and ammonia is 0 but nitrites are around .25-.50 and I am having difficulty getting them down as the tap water has roughly the same level here. I have added stress zyme to try to give the bacteria a boost but it hasn't changed anything. I did immediately add salt to the water to make the nitrites less toxic. Any advice?