Changing Tanks

[ugly fish]

Hi

I've bought a new tank to replace my old one. It will need to go in the same place and I'm wondering how best to do it. The original is a 60 litre and the new one is 125 litres so neither are huge but it still looks like a bit of a faff and like I could get fairly stressed if I don't plan it well.

I'm thinking that I should do the following (but please say if this is wrong!):
1. Drain it down and keep some of the water in buckets
2. Catch the fish (only 8 neons, hoplo and a kuhli if it's still in there) and put them in a bucket.
3. I'll keep the gravel, bogwood, plants and filter sponges wet and move the old tank out of the way.
4. Put the new tank in it's place and add new gravel and old and ornaments etc.
5. Refill with some of the old water and new. Bring up to temperature with water from a kettle
6. Add fish.

The filter in the juwel tank is inbuilt so I think I'll cut the sponges up and fit them into the new filter. Do you think this will be enough bacteria? There will also be the gravel, plants and ornaments.
What should I do about water changes and feeding etc?? I have test kits so will test regularly.
Will it cycle again?
How long will the fish be ok in a bucket for if it takes longer than expected? Should I put the heater in there?

Any advice appreciated!

Thanks

 

[rdd1952]

It sounds as if you have it pretty well covered but I will make a couple suggestions.

Do a normal water change the day before you make the change. That will give you the cleanest possible water in the tank. Then, save ALL the water from the current tank. Once you have the new tank in place, add the gravel, decorations, water and fish. Test the pH of your tap water and your tank water. If there is a big difference, then you may need to take extra care in refilling the new tank (i.e, topping off slowly over a couple hours). If there isn't, then simply top the tank off with new water. It will basically be the same as a 50% water change. Just try to get the water temp close to the tank water temp so as not to cause a large temperature swing. You shouldn't have any problems with the filter media. Even if you only end up moving half the bacteria over (if you move the sponge, you will have way more than half) the bacteria will double in about 24 hours or less to recycle the tank.