Upgrading 10g to 50g?

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

captotterboy

Aquarium Advice Regular
Joined
Jan 9, 2016
Messages
61
Hey everyone
I am putting together a 10g tank now. But, looking to the future, I may wish to upgrade to a 50g (I already have the tank and stand, just not the space)

For my 10g I already have a 13w 18-24" LED, a 50w heater, and an Aquaclear 20 filter. These are obviously not enough for a 50g.

Is it worth it to move them over to the 50 when I am ready and add more filter, heat, and light or would I need to start over with all new 50g stuff?

Just for future reference.

Thanks
Jeff
 
Just so I am clear, I am essentially asking if an Aquaclear 20 AND a 30 is as effective as a 50
 
Personally, I would buy all new equipment for the 50g. That way you still have everything for the 10g in case you need a quarantine tank. That's what I did anyways. It's a good idea to QT any new fish for a few weeks to prevent the spread of any possible diseases. I feed my QT with medicated food too just in case they have any internal parasites. That's not necessary, just what I do to make sure my community tank is safe :)

Good luck!
 
As jessipanda said, its a great idea to save the equipment for your 10 gal which makes for a great quarantine tank as well as a breeder tank if you ever have the desire to step to that aspect of the hobby. Now, a good thing to do, even if you buy all new equipment, is to get 2 heaters at half the wattage instead of 1 at the desired wattage in order to more evenly and efficiently heat your tank and in case one ever breaks (heaters are not fail-proof) you have another one going to at least keep the temperature where it is and from dropping while you may be at work or away for a weekend.
Best of luck!
 
Would that, in theory, work for filters as well; two for up to 30g tank is better than one for up to 60?
 
I really don't think so, i mean for the fact that if one filter goes out the other one still works, yes, but overall one filter should be fine and work best since it should cycle the water evenly. Remember that for cleaning you should do water changes with vacuuming the gravel at least once a month, I personally prefer to do a vacuum of my tanks once a week or bi-weekly depending on the visual and measured situation of the water. By vacuuming you automatically drain out water (obviously) and so allows for fresh clean water to be added. I suggest you get a decent amount of live plants which really help in keeping your tank clean, clear, and healthy by getting rid of your fish waste.
These three components (water changes, plants, and filter) to the job very well.

Be sure to check your filter pad every time you do a water change, just to get in the habit of it, its very easy to forget about and you don't want to do a water change and leave a dirty filter pad in your filter.
Additionally, I suggest you go for a filter that is made to suit a larger tank than the one you are going to put it on, just so you get enough filter power going. This does not apply if you have an expensive canister filter. They are expensive enough already but are considered some of the best filters for someone who is willing to spend a bunch of dollars on filters.

A downside to doing multiple filters instead of one is that you will need twice the filter materials and the filter pads will likely go bad simultaneously and so your cost to replace filter pads (aka running cost) is twice as high.

additionally, the way most filters work, they suck in water from the bottom and spit it out from the top, creating a flow cycle in your aquarium as you may be able to tell with how fishfood or poop moves in the water current made by your filter. You will likely have some fish in your larger tank later on that want rather still water so two filters would make twice the current and water cycle, thus creating more flow throughout the tank, something that often isn't favorable for some bottom and middle dwellers as well as long background plants as this can uproot them
 
also, when you are getting all your new stuff for your 50G, I suggest you buy it online at places such as petmountain. they offer large varieties and much cheaper than in store, and once you get to a certain shopping value, even shipping is free: this value should be reachable with two heaters, a new filter, lighting fixture, and perhaps conditioner, plants, food, and anything else that you can find on that website that you may sooner or later want. If you have the money to buy 100-150$ worth of materials at once, go for it and take the free shipping offer. you can save a boatload on quality stuff that you usually pay at least 20% more for in pet stores.

and please, when you buy the light fixture, don't utilize the wattage per gallon rule. Its a bad lie. If you haven't heard of it, don't worry about it.
 
Back
Top Bottom