Hi all I'm new to the forum so Hello everyone,

I have a bit of an Issue and I was wondering if you could help. I have recently purched a second hand tank from my bother in law it's a rena Aqualife tank about 400 litres and all the kit to go with it. I have set the tank up with new water and some from my old tank and have let it run with a few fish in. all seems fine but he has told me that there is ammonia remover in the filter (Zeolite). My question is should i remove it to let the bactirea to build up?

My other tank is holding all the other fish an is over crowded at the moment and i need to try and get the fish out of there.

I was thinking that I could squeeze out the sponges from my old tank to give the new tank a head start

what do you all think?

Thanks in advance!

If your filter has ammonia remover the bacteria will not be able to feed on it and will stall your cycle.

What i would do is put your fish that you have in the new one into the overcrowded one. This will be temporary of course. I would then wash out your filter media that your going to use on your new tank in old tank water and then place it in your canister filter if you have one. Leave it there for a week and it will be seeded with beneficial bacteria and cheat the cycle a little.

Once you put the filter media back in you can place the fish back in. At this point you need to monitour every day your stats, NitrIte, Ammonia and Ntrate levels just to be sure that the bacteria is in such numbers as to process the bio load. If there is too much ammonia or nitrate i would take a couple of fish out and see how it goes. It should be a little easyer cos the tank capacity is quite large.

Regards

Gary.

Thanks for the reply!

So what i should do is remove the zeolite then and replace it with some biomax or something?

The only issue I have with this is that the over crowded tank is starting to rise with ammonia should I just keep doing waterchanges every few days with it? I'm a little worried as I have a mbu puffer that looks unhappy and I need him out ASAP

I would definatley get some bio max. I have 3 segments in my tank filled with it. It is a good medium for the bacteria to colonise. Unfortunatley yes i would do large water changes in your tank to keep ammonia and NitrIte levels as low as you can untill the filter media has chance to seed. If there is any space in your canister filter i would give the new bio max a wash and put it in your old canister to seed that too. the more media that you can get into it without overcrowding the canister the better. This will give your new tank the best chance to be colonised and process the ammonia and NitrIte that will exist when you put the fish in.

Just make sure that you keep an eye on your stats to prevent gill damage on your fish.

Regards

Gary

This post has been edited by Gazpug: Jan 7 2008, 12:57 PM

Thanks again your a life saver!

I think im going to replace all the media in the new filter can you recommend anything its a Rena XP3

thanks

what are your stats at this moment in time

I assume by stats you mean water stats in the new or old tank?

Old tank i dont know at the moment but the Mbu puffer has started to lose his colour so the ammonia levels are rising with the extra stock in the tank.

The new tank has 0 everything apart from nitrate from some of the water in the old tank.
PH levels are at 7 in both

I dont know what media is in the filter for the new tank just that it has got zeolite in it. The old tank has got a fluval 205 with biomax carbon and some medium sized stone that a mechanial filter.

I am going to contradict my fellow posters, and recomend you all all the fish from your old tank to your new, and scrap the zeolite in the new tanks filters. In its place, place all the media from your old tanks filters into the new canister. This means that all your bactiria and fish move home at the same time, thus there is no need to run a cycle as such on the new tank.

All the best
Rabbut

The only issue with this is the overstocked tank is alot smaller its only 2 1/2' X15 X 15 and the bactieria cant cope as it is. they are also different pumps so the sponges will not go in the new pump but it does have alot of bio max in it which might make it work. if i haddent of inherited 20 more fish i wouldnt of had an issue

Any one else think this is a good idea?

good advice try not to take to much of the old water but that is sound advice


good luck biff

If the fliter in your current filter isn't large enough to handle the waste, they are best moved, bactiria and all to a larger tank with a larger filter. The filter media does not need to sit tight in the trays of the new filter, and if they are too tight, I would just cut it into smaller pices. The main thing is to ensure most of the water flows through it. If there are large gaps arround your existing media, hows about packing out arround it with more of the same media, or sponge, to ensure the correct flow?

HTH
Rabbut

This post has been edited by rabbut: Jan 7 2008, 03:36 PM

if your all sure then i'll have to do it. I cant keep going on with this cos both tanks are going to go belly up if im not careful!

Thanks for all your help if anyone else thinks of anything else please let me know

Hi,

I agree with Rabbut. If you move all the established media into the new filter and the fish into the new tank, the filter should cope with most of the waste. Test for ammonia and nitrite daily and keep both below 0.25ppm with water changes.

Cheers

BTT

Thanks for everyone's help yesterday on this.

I have moved all the fish in to the new tank with the old media and everything looks ok so far. The Mbu puffer looks a bit stressed but i think its just due to the move. I will keep an eye on the ammonia and nitrite as has been suggested.

Thanks again!

Giroevolver