Confused About Old-New Tank?!?

[cammy3000]

I've been trying to read up through the forum about cycling my new 98L tank. I have the old 28L tank still going so the filter and water are already cycled.
 
Its the new tank im confused about. I mean whats the best thing to do? Put the water, gravel and filter media from the old tank in??? If I do that the fish will have to have new water in the old tank?!?!
 
What should I do to put my fish in the new tank? How long will it take and what shoud I be doing?
 
So confused!!!! Is this the correct order.....
 
I am going to put gravel in the new tank so understand it needs washed with hot water first (NO SOAP!) until it runs clear. Then it can go into the new tank.
 
The water needs treated as its going to be tap water. That part is fine!
 
The tank will need media from the old tank. Do I put the sponge from the old filter in the new filter? Do I just take some gravel and water an put in the new tank while its running?
 
How long should I wait before testing?
 
When do I put the new fish in?
 
Sorry about all the questions. I tried looking and searching on the forum but theres 100 different answers to each question!
 
Many thanks in advance for any answers!

 

[Stimo]

someone should be along soon who might know better.
but from what i've heard the most important thing is making sure old filter media is linked to new tank straight away and youre good to go.
transferring as much water as possible has mixed reviews to its use
also make sure its up to correct temp as well

 

[sawickib]

You can go to the cycling area in the forum and read up on that, will take a couple weeks and some pure ammonia, or I believe you can move ALL old filter media and put it with the new filter for your larger tank. Then add the fish to the bigger tank to and wait awhile to add new fish. But then I think you need to recycle your 30l, but I'm not an expert in this stuff someone else will help more haha
The old water wouldn't really matter as it holds no beneficial bacteria, you could add the old decor or old substrate, all hard surfaces develop bacteria in the tank.

 

[Essjay]

Do you want to keep both tanks running?
 
If you don't, that's easiest. I've just transferred my fish from a 125 litre tank to a 180. I set up the new tank, put water in, and sand as I wanted all new, and let it run for a couple of days to test the new heater and check there were no leaks, using a spare filter to circulate the water. Then I removed some of the water and moved the filter, decor, fish and most of the water from the 125. So far there hasn't been a sign of any ammonia or nitrite.
You can put the old media into the new filter and fill up the gaps with media from the new filter. Sponges can be chopped up to make them fit.
 
If you want to run both tanks, then take up to a quarter of the media from the 28 litre tank and follow the cycling instructions that you'll find in the menu bar at the top of the page. Use some of the media from the new filter to replace the old media you take out.

 

[Tropical_Dave]

im currently waiting to get a bigger tank going as well and was unsure on the best way to get it going.
the water in your current tank doesnt hold any bacteria, its pretty much all in the filter and a fair amount is in the gravel too. if you are going to move the gravel over to the new tank then dont wash it as it holds bacteria that you want. what ive done is put the innards of my new filter in my current tank for a few weeks, letting them collect some bacteria and soon i'll set up the new tank with the filter running and hopefully it shouldn't take long to cycle the regular way

 

[noobgamers]

I've been trying to read up through the forum about cycling my new 98L tank. I have the old 28L tank still going so the filter and water are already cycled.
 
Its the new tank im confused about. I mean whats the best thing to do? Put the water, gravel and filter media from the old tank in??? If I do that the fish will have to have new water in the old tank?!?!
 
What should I do to put my fish in the new tank? How long will it take and what shoud I be doing?
 
So confused!!!! Is this the correct order.....
 
I am going to put gravel in the new tank so understand it needs washed with hot water first (NO SOAP!) until it runs clear. Then it can go into the new tank.
 
The water needs treated as its going to be tap water. That part is fine!
 
The tank will need media from the old tank. Do I put the sponge from the old filter in the new filter? Do I just take some gravel and water an put in the new tank while its running?
 
How long should I wait before testing?
 
When do I put the new fish in?
 
Sorry about all the questions. I tried looking and searching on the forum but theres 100 different answers to each question!
 
 

try putting your filter sponge in the other filter after about a week or two it should have sufficient bacterial colonies to support a few fish but you wont be able to get loads of fish then e.g 6 i might be able to tell you what would be good to put in after you have moved around the sponges you must put a source of ammonia in the tank after youve transfered it otherwise the colonies will die off

 

[cammy3000]

Cheers guys!
 
What im going to do is clean the new gravel and put it in. Gonna put the OLD gravel in too as its the sam and fill with treated tap water.
 
Not going to use the 28L tank so the filter will be cut and placed into the new tank. Going to keep half the filter in the old tank for a couple of days whilst the new tank cycles. Obviously keeping an eye on the levels! Will have to use both tanks for a few days!
 
Would I be right in thinking that some of the fish can go in after a couple of days as long as the levels are good?
 
Does this sound like a decent plan of attack?
 
The new tank is all set up and ready for gravel, water.....and most importantly....FISH!!!

 

[Ninjouzata]

Why not just move all the filter media and all of the fish over at once? The media should have enough bacteria to support the current amount of fish.

 

[cammy3000]

Do you think that'd be ok? I thought about that but read so many posts on here I thought it was best.
 
When I set up the other tank I left it for 3 days cycling at it was fine. Maybe because it was smaller.
 
Think maybe tomorrow will be change over day then providing the tank has no leaks etc!!!
 
Eek.....getting excited!

 

[fluttermoth]

Always think of your filter media as being paired with the fish, not the filter or the tank.
 
So, if you're moving half your fish, half the filter media goes with them. All the fish, all the media. You should make sure you feed sparingly and test often for the first few days (not feeding the fish for a day or two before helps as well), in case some of the bacteria die back and you need to do a few extra water changes.

 

[Fishmanic]

delete

 

[cammy3000]

Water is in! Gravel is washed (until non-cloudy) and is in! Heater is on and water at 26 degrees!
 
Feeling confident about cycling with my fish in. Gonna put the old filter in overnight and move the fish over 2moro.
 
What kinda levels should I be looking for. Ph is 6.0, but not sure about nitrate/nitrite. Should I be testing for Ammonia too? Thought the fish would create that TBH.
 
Anything important im missing before I go ahead n swap my boys over? Don't want to hurt or put them at risk!

 

[Essjay]

You need to move the filter and the fish at the same time. If you move the filter tonight and the fish tomorrow, they'll spend all night swimming in water with increasing amounts of ammonia in as there will be no filter bacteria to remove it. The bacteria left in the small tank (on the glass, decor etc) won't be enough. Either move both tonight or both tomorrow.
 
You need to monitor both ammonia and nitrite for a few days after the swap. The fish will be making ammonia. If you lose some bacteria during the move, there might not be enough to remove it all. That's why you need to keep an eye on the ammonia level. You may not lose any ammonia-eating bacteria but you may lose some nitrite eating ones, so that the amount of nitrite increases - that's why you need to keep an eye on that too. Ideally, both of them should be zero.

 

[cammy3000]

Done it! Lost one fish though.

 

[Ninjouzata]

Done it! Lost one fish though.

Sorry for your loss