Changing To Bigger Tank.

[bam_emma]

I've recently got the big tank set up with everything in it that i want, i'm just waiting for the water to be ok.
Would it cycle faster because i have used loads of water from the other tank.
I did a 30% water change to the littler tank i have the other day and put all that water in the big tank.

I've also been putting a tiny bit of the new tank water in with the little one to mix it.

I've put the filter in the big tank for a bit to get the bacteria on that one too.
How long roughly will it be till i can put them in??
I dont have a water tester thing, so i take the water to the lfs and they do it for free.
I'm waiting to go as my sisters car is broken.

I've had the big tank set up since sat.

 

[ox5477]

what is the size difference between the two tanks?

Because if the difference isn't huge and your not planning on adding any new fish right away, you can just place the current filter on the new tank along with a new virgin filter to get your total turnover up. As long as your not adding a large new bioload on this tank, the new filter shall eventually grow some bacteria and the filters will share the load

 

[bam_emma]

The little tank is 30l and the big tank is 90l
I just had the filter media is that what its called on the other one for a few hours and its got loads of the old filter crap on it now lol
I've left it on as this will help i thought.
I've been putting water into both tanks to try and get the other fish ok with the water.
They seem fine since i've been doing this and nothings been happening.
I've also took an ornament out of the little tank and placed that in the big one too.
And i've got some plants in it now, i'm planning on putting the other plants in that are in the little on too.

 

[ox5477]

changing water will not help anything towards a cycle as bacteria do not live free in the water. prob 95 to 97% of your beneficial bacteria lives in the filter media so hence why cycling is a filter process more than anything.

Changing the water can help equalize things like pH and alkalinity between the water which is not necessarily a bad thing so you can keep exchanging water

I would say, buy a bigger filter rated for atleast 400L/hour (over 4x filtration) and place the media from your current filter in the new filter along with the new media (may be a little crammed but you should be able to squeeze it). Then you can move over the fish as long as it's at temperature

 

[bam_emma]

The thing is, last time i got some new fish for the other tank and i got the water tested at the lfs and they showed me that everything was fine.
And then within a few days all the new ones had died.
I know i didnt check the water after i put them in but it cant have been that dramatic could it?

Anyway... So if i got the water checked and they said its fine, should i just transfer the whole filter stuff over then put the fish in??

When i put the fish in the bags to introduce them i was going to empty the water out the little tank into the big one. Is this a good idea??


Also i forgot to mention that i put some of that bacteria stuff in, the stress zyme in the tank at the beginning.

 

[ox5477]

well if your water was fine... one of two things caused them to die...

one, you added too many fish at once for the sized tank you have... this will increase the bioload faster than the filter can adjust so the tank goes through a mini cycle and some species are very sensitive to even small amounts of ammonia or nitrite...

two, the fish were diseased from the lfs, which is not too hard to imagine, and died from the illness. If it was something like this, then this goes to show the importance of quarentining any new fish for atleast 2 weeks to a month to make sure no diseases are found as you don't want to infect any of your current stocking.

You can pour the water from the old into the new tank if you want, but it won't add too much value so if it will be a hastle, then don't worry about it. Is the filter you have now rated at atleast 400lph? if it isn't you need to buy a new filter to make sure you have atleast 4x turnover. You can then take the media from the old filter and put it in the new.

 

[bam_emma]

Cheers!!
Thats actually really helped me!!
I'm going to go on friday hopefully and get the water tested and if they show me its fine, i'll put the fish in i have already and the water and other things in the tank.
Then see how it goes from there!!