How Long Should I Wait?

[Lizzie71]

I have now set up my new 2 foot tank, put in the gravel and water, set the filter and heater going. Tomorrow I will put in the plants and decorations (thinking of a big piece of wood as a centrepiece with quite a few plants around it).

I am intending to use part of the sponge from my existing tank to cycle the new tank. So once the plants are in, is there any need to wait before adding the fish and the filter sponge? I am intending to start with a small number of fish, maybe something like zebra danios, and build the stock up gradually.

I could either put the fish in on Sunday, or wait until next weekend.

Eventual stocking isn't really decided yet. How about any of the following options:

3-4 zebra danios, 6-8 small tetras (maybe lemon)

a trio of small gouramis (honey maybe), a shoal of tetras as above

a pair of rams, and a shoal of small tetras or barbs

And in addition to the above, I may add a small plec (bristlenose maybe?).

 

[Colin_T]

put your plants in, leave it a couple of days, then add the filter and go buy some fish on the same day. Keep the feeding down and monitor the water quality, in particular the ammonia. You might get a little rise but it shouldn't last long.

 

[backtotropical]

No need to leave it at all.

So long as your water is dechlorinated and you make sure to add the mature media and the fish at the same time, everything will be ok.

As Colin says, test levels in both tanks for a few days after. Monitor ammonia in particular. If you get any spikes, you will need to do water changes to compensate.

HTH

BTT

 

[Lizzie71]

Thanks for the advice! I hope to get the plants in tomorrow, so maybe fish on Sunday

Any comments on the stocking?

 

[luque]

BN is good but if you are like me and don't really like plecs, the ottos are a good substitute, but thats completely up to you

 

[MermaidMel]

No need to leave it at all.

So long as your water is dechlorinated and you make sure to add the mature media and the fish at the same time, everything will be ok.

As Colin says, test levels in both tanks for a few days after. Monitor ammonia in particular. If you get any spikes, you will need to do water changes to compensate.

HTH

BTT

Is this also true if you are doubling your tank size? Will there be enough bacteria in the mature media from the small tank to work the big tank for adding fish straight away?

 

[-SPB-]

I think you should be ok as long as you don't put to many fish in. Keep an eye on your water stats, if your ammonia readings get to high, you may need to do some water changes, but as long as the stocking levels a low for a while then you should be alright.

 

[backtotropical]

No need to leave it at all.

So long as your water is dechlorinated and you make sure to add the mature media and the fish at the same time, everything will be ok.

As Colin says, test levels in both tanks for a few days after. Monitor ammonia in particular. If you get any spikes, you will need to do water changes to compensate.

HTH

BTT

Is this also true if you are doubling your tank size? Will there be enough bacteria in the mature media from the small tank to work the big tank for adding fish straight away?

Hi Mermaid Mel,

The bacteria in your filter will have the capacity to process the same amount of ammonia and nitrite regardless of the size of the tank.

As an example, if you have 15 guppies in a 10 gallon with an established filter, and then you move the media to a 20 gallon, the media still has capacity to deal with the level of waste that 15 guppies produce. If you moved the 15 guppies at the same time as the filter media, you shouldn't suffer any spikes.

However, if you moved the media to the 20 gallon, and put in 30 guppies (because the tank is twice the size), you would suffer spikes of ammonia and subsequently nitrite. This is because, as i said above, the bacteria in your filter will deal with the same amount of waste regardless of tank size.

It is important (as i said in my previous post) that if you do this, you must move the fish and the filter media at the same time. If you move the media first, you run the risk of the bacteria dying off because of a lack of ammonia / nitrite in the tank. If you move the fish first, you run the risk of ammonia / nitrite building up in the tank before the bacteria are there to process it.

Hope that makes sense to you.

If you post details of exactly what you want to do, maybe i can help you further?

Cheers

BTT

Lizzie, sorry for hijacking your thread a bit there!

 

[Shrimper]

I did something like this with my new tank. I planted it and filled it with water on Saturday and on Sunday after checking the temp was steady I moved half the media and half the fish from the old tank, I then gave them a week testing every day before buying some more fish. Testing again once the new ones were in there. I didn't see any ammonia or nitrite readings so i guess it worked!

Edit: just to add my new tank is much bigger than the old one. 40G compared to 7G

Edit 2: Don't forget to test the old tank as well... remember you've just taken out half the media so there could be a spike in there as well.

 

[MermaidMel]

No need to leave it at all.

So long as your water is dechlorinated and you make sure to add the mature media and the fish at the same time, everything will be ok.

As Colin says, test levels in both tanks for a few days after. Monitor ammonia in particular. If you get any spikes, you will need to do water changes to compensate.

HTH

BTT

Is this also true if you are doubling your tank size? Will there be enough bacteria in the mature media from the small tank to work the big tank for adding fish straight away?

Hi Mermaid Mel,

The bacteria in your filter will have the capacity to process the same amount of ammonia and nitrite regardless of the size of the tank.

As an example, if you have 15 guppies in a 10 gallon with an established filter, and then you move the media to a 20 gallon, the media still has capacity to deal with the level of waste that 15 guppies produce. If you moved the 15 guppies at the same time as the filter media, you shouldn't suffer any spikes.

However, if you moved the media to the 20 gallon, and put in 30 guppies (because the tank is twice the size), you would suffer spikes of ammonia and subsequently nitrite. This is because, as i said above, the bacteria in your filter will deal with the same amount of waste regardless of tank size.

It is important (as i said in my previous post) that if you do this, you must move the fish and the filter media at the same time. If you move the media first, you run the risk of the bacteria dying off because of a lack of ammonia / nitrite in the tank. If you move the fish first, you run the risk of ammonia / nitrite building up in the tank before the bacteria are there to process it.

Hope that makes sense to you.

If you post details of exactly what you want to do, maybe i can help you further?

Cheers

BTT

Lizzie, sorry for hijacking your thread a bit there!

I'm sure this helps Lizzie too

I had 2 x 22 gallon tanks, but sold one and had to move the media to a bucket of aquarium water, this was Monday so the bacteria will have died by now. The other 2 gallon is still running with the fish in and will be transferred to the new 55 gallon with the fish all at once, it has sponges, wool and noodles. So you are saying, as long as I don't add any new fish straight away, the 55 gallon will get enough bacteria from the 22 gallon? Is there ANY possibility there is anything good left from the media that's been in a bucket for a week?