Advice/help Needed

[tom_os]

rite this is going to be a long one, sorry!

so i have 2 tanks, downstairs (just finished cycling) and upstairs (middle of fish in cycle)

basically i am off to tenerife a week on tuesday and im not sure what to do with the cycling tank.

background: my downstairs tank did have 10 fish in it, however the cycle was taking ages so i moved 4 fish into the empy upstairs and and started a fish in cycle.

so my downstairs tank today has for the first time readings of no ammonia and no nirtite so its looking good (will keep an eye on it for the coming week)

the internal filter for the upstairs tank has some media from the downstairs tank to help the cycling but i dont think it will be finished before i go to tenerife and i cant get anyone to do regular water changes.

so how do i keep the filter bacteria alive whilst i am away.

i think i will move the fish that are upstairs, very gradually, to the downstairs tank where they are originally from before i go away. will it then be ok to move the upstairs filter into the downstairs tank to keep the bacteria alove whilst i am away and when i come back will it be cycled, ready to add the fish when i come back.

will the plants survive without a filter and should i keep the heater on in the upstairs tank?

sorry it probably makes no sense but any advice on what i should would be appreciated

 

[Truck]

for the plants leave the filter on so they get some flow or you may get some algae

 

[rabbut]

I'd move all the fish, the filter and the plants to a cycled tank now, so that you can watch the "cycled" tank for any "blips" for a week before you go. There is no point in moving the fish to a cycled tank gradually, as all the filter bacteria will die back to support only the load in the tank. It's currently cycled for a full load, so you may as well use the filter to support all 10 fish, rather than gradually moving them over and risk mini-cycles as you increase the load. Watch to ensure the tank remains stable once the fish are in

As truck says, no flow in a plant tank can lead to problem algea, so move the plants also

All the best
Rabbut

 

[tom_os]

just so you know i did a fish in cycle on the now cycled tank and took the 4 fish out about 1 week before it finished.

so you are saying move everything into the cycled tank straight away, and keep an eye on it during the week. dont you think the 4 extra fish will start a new cycle?

 

[rabbut]

Right, just to be clear, the cycled tank had it's cycle completed with ammonia/fish food yes? If so, yes, move the fish now and all will be fine. If the cycled tank has fish in already and you have more than 4 similar sized fish in it, again, get them moved If you have left the cycled tank empty and done nothing with it, your stuffed unless the cycle completes realy In this case, I'd stop feeding mid-week, keeping the fish whre they are, and hope for the best. The lack of food will reduce the ammount of ammonia in the system and hence the likelyhood of the tank crashing. With an un-cycled filter however, it will be touch and go if they make it through the week without waterchanges

All the best
Rabbut

 

[tom_os]

i did a fish in cycle so there are currently 6 fish in there with a recently cycled filter. similar fish are in the upstairs tank which i want to move into the now cycled tank.

 

[rabbut]

I'd go for it. Move them across. A mini-cycle may occur, but the ammonia and nitrite would likely stay too low to justify an emergency waterchange most likely in the unlikely event one occured. You are not doubling your load, so at most, it's 24hrs for the cycled tank to catch up. Less if the filter in the un-cycled tank moves across also. In fact, with the un-cycled fitler moving across also, it's small contribution would likley guarrentee that you diden't see any ammonia/nitrite after transfer

All the best
Rabbut

 

[Truck]

if you move the plants over too,, they will help absorb some ammonia

 

[tom_os]

well i have moved them. im just wondering if the upstairs filter was actually filtered. i had it in the cycled tank for about 4 days when i then moved it upstairs with the 4 fish and a piece of mature filter. my readings started with nitrite and ammonia, but testing now after 24 hours of no water change i dont have any ammonia no nitrite. could it be done this fast? about a week fish in cycling and 5 days in a mature tank?

 

[rabbut]

With a seed, possibly. If it's moved to the cycled tank tough, it will remain cycled if it is, and become cycled over time if not anyway

 

[tom_os]

yeah. i will wait till i come back to add fish to the new tank.

im the mean time should i empty the tank of water that im now not using?

 

[rabbut]

May as well It will go stagnent without a filter running in it, and that won't be nice to sort out when you get back... Either fishless cycle with the seeded filter when you set-it up again before adding all the fish, or just add 4 fish the size of the ones you have moved out

All the best
Rabbut

 

[tom_os]

will do.

surely if the filter is now seeding in the tank with 10 fish, it will develp enough bacteria to cope with around 10 fish?

 

[rabbut]

Unfortunately not

Filter bacteria will spread themselves across the filters by proportion to the filter flow if they have space. If the cycled tank has a filter twice the size (by output) of the cycling one, and you had 12 fish (so chosen to make for easy maths here, I've had a long day...) you would have enough to support 4 on the cycling tank's filter alone, and 8 on the cycled tank's filter...

All the best
Rabbut