Tank Upgrade and Cycling

[Jayann]

I am upgrading from a cycled 10 gallon to a 30 gallon. The current filter on the 10 gallon is a Marineland Penguin 100B which is states its for 100 GPH and for use up to 20 gallons. The new filter is the same brand 200B it is 200 GPH and for use up to 50 gallons (according to the manufacturers standards). The tank is for a single Comet Goldfish.

My question is, can I run the new 200B filter on the 10 gallon along side the 100B to establish my media or is their such thing as "too much" filtering? Is their potential for taking away from the media from the 100B.

If the answer is yes it is ok... would I still need to just consider all of this seeded material rather than think it will be cycled for use on the 30 gallon and go through the typical fishless cycling steps? Is there an ideal amount of time that I should allow for the new media to be established before transferring it over to the new tank?

I know the obvious answer is the longer the better but, I am quite anxious to get this oversized guy into an adequate space so I guess I am looking for what would be the minimum suggested time, 3 weeks, a month, longer? My first fishless cycle took 3 weeks with using tons of seeded material but at the time the tank could not accommodate 2 filters so I never even thought it to be a viable option until now.

Any help and input is greatly appreciated. I have had to strip the 10 gallon down to bare minimums decoration wise just to give this little guy some more space these last 2 months and he is soooo ready to move

 

[Toad]

Just run both filters on the new tank and put the goldfish in. With a comet goldfish you are going to need all the filtration you can get tbh, and it's going to be outgrowing that tank eventually too

 

[Jayann]

Thanks for the reply. That was honestly my first thought of how to do things but here was my concern; This will probably sound really silly but, I know the 100B is not enough (filter size wise) for the 30 gallon and using the 2 of them on the new tank will be ideal regardless so the question is... even though the 100B is not enough in terms of GPH filtering, will there be enough bacteria to accommodate 30 gallons of bio-filtering? The 100B has been established and cycled for about 4 months now so I know its got quite a bit of good bacteria. My concern just is, does it have enough of it?

On a side note, the option of running the 200B on the 10 gallon along side the 100B does not seem to be an option. There is MAYBE enough room for them to set side by side but the tank would have to be without a hood if so (not something I am willing to do with the amount of animal hair that is floating around our house).

So ultimately, the options really are only to run both filters on the new tank to establish the 200B bio-filter OR, use half the media from the 100B as seed and go through the whole fishless cycling process again (something I dread). I know this guy is super hardy and has survived a couple fish in cycles prior to my learning of fishless cycling for the 10 gallon but, now that I know, I would like to avoid that having to happen again (plus he was a really small, brand new guy at that time which I assume means not quite the waste dispenser he is now).

Thanks again for the reply and advice!

 

[Mattyfelts]

just run em both on the new tank, it should be fine and the old filter will help establish the new one on the new tank ( as long as the water is dechlorinated and everything). The tank will need to be upgraded again for that fish probably. Goodluck on your new tank.

 

[Jayann]

Another upgrade is depressing to hear!!! I could actually exchange it out at this point since nothing has been opened yet. I must have read size guidelines for a type of goldfish other than comet. How big are we talking? 50? 100?

 

[Mattyfelts]

Another upgrade is depressing to hear!!! I could actually exchange it out at this point since nothing has been opened yet. I must have read size guidelines for a type of goldfish other than comet. How big are we talking? 50? 100?

Comet Goldfish – The Care, Feeding and Breeding of Comet Goldfish
According to this site and alot of my prior readings they should have about 75 gallons. As far as my knowledge when goldfish are left in a tank to small they stunt their growth, and their organs keep growing. Which eventually causes a painful death.

 

[Toad]

Tbh I'd just find someone with a pond. When I was a kid my friend had two he'd gotten from a carnival, they were over a foot long and lived outside in a sectioned off run in a creek.

 

[Jayann]

I kinda of thought in the back of my mind that eventually this guy would need a pond. It is unbelievable how big he has become in just a year. I would like to smack my kid for buying him and thinking he could live in a bowl in her dorm. That is actually how I acquired because I was not about to let this fish suffer like that.

I have read the same about the stunted growth and organs getting crowded. It is amazing how a 30 cent fish became a hundreds of dollars investment. That is really my only thing keeping me from sending him off to a pond. So much invested at this point and a lot of the expense has come from inexperience and buying upgrades as he grows rather than be prepared for the end result. I will def be rethinking my 30 gallon purchase and pricing some 75 tanks. I really do not want to have to go through this all over again 6 months or a year from now. Thanks so much for all the advice and information. It has been incredibly helpful!!

 

[tnfinfan]

Craigslist! I bought a used setup for less than half what it would cost new. The real wood stand needed a fresh coat of urethane but otherwise, perfect. There are always some folks who have lost interest or need to move and don't want to deal with moving their big tank out there. Just be cautious about tanks that have been empty for a while. You don't want someone else's annoying leak