Im New And Needa Bit Of Help

[Timmy_Bee]

Hi guys,

Im new to the site! Hello!

I have got a 60l BiOrb at the mo with about 8 Barbs and a couple of cats.
(FYI i would NOT recommed a BiOrb..)
I have just got a 2nd hand Juwel Rio 180 (much better...) and set it up last night.
Now - to my question...
Every site i read says different things about when to introduce fish to a new tank. Some say a few hardy fish can go in after a couple of days, others say leave it alone for 6-8 weeks...

Im not that keen on waiting 8 weeks, but i will if i have to. Is there any way i can safely move fish earlier? how about if i gradually take water out of the old tank and put it in the new?

Also - how 'hardy' are Barbs?

 

[Curiosity101]

The 'waiting time' you're describing and putting hardy fish in is called doing a fish in cycle. As you already had a biorb you should already be cycled or at least partly cycled for the number of fish you currently have. I can't remember what filtration biorbs have on them... is it an undergravel filter? Has a uplift tube using an air pump?
If so your filter bacteria will be on the gravel meaning that if you set up the new tank, put dechlorer in the water and give it a couple of hours to get to temperature with the filter running aswell. Then you can move all the fish across with the gravel straight away. Try to put the gravel in a net bag or similar and position it close to the intake of the new filter. This way your tank will be cycled straight away and over time the bacteria will move from the gravel and into the new filter (presuming it's a power/box filter).


If all of that sounds a bit confusing (the cycling parts) red the following...
What's Cycling
The Nitrogen Cycle
Fishless Cycling
Fish-in Cycling

 

[Timmy_Bee]

That should good. Yeah the Biorb has 'ceramic media' ie some sort of volcanic rock which, im told, is where the bacteria live. And yes, my new tank has got what i guess is a power/box filter - its a stack of varying filters enclosed in a box in the corner

So you think i should lob it all in and the fish should be OK?

 

[Curiosity101]

Well as the bacteria will have grown to cope with the bioload of the current fish then yes they should be fine. Move all the media and you can move all the fish. Simple

Just make sure to get the media as close to the intake of the new tanks filter as possible as you want them to slowly migrate into the new filter, but in the meantime they need to be getting a good flow of water to keep the tank stats ok.

Having said all this I would definitely suggest testing the water for ammonia and nitrites for the first week just to make sure everything holds. And that if it doesn't you're on top of it.

Oh and good on you for ditching the biorb... for the price you pay it's ridiculous what you get. There was never a thought for the fish, just how much they could make per unit selling to people that don't know any better!

 

[Timmy_Bee]

Cool cats. should be easy.

Thanks for the links before - gave them a good read.

As i've only got a few fish at the mo, im looking to get a few more. Im guessing i should give it a good few weeks before thinking about that? i'm thinking a good water testing kit might be a good investment right about now...

And yeah - biorb's are rubbish. Got mine a couple of years ago, completely conned by the salesman. They're fine so long as you don't want to have many fish, especially med/large ones and you don't mind never seeming them thanks to the curve of the glass... The only good news is that they seem to hold their price on e-bay! but feel bad about selling it to another newbie sucker

 

[Curiosity101]

Water test kits is a very good investment. I personally would recommend API Freshwater master test kit, they tend to last more than a year and cost around £18 from ebay which IMO is a steal

And no you don't need to wait a few weeks. I would wait a week after moving everyone across just to make sure stats are holding fine n such. But after that just add how you would normally... try not to add more than 50-100% on top of the current stock bioload wise.

It's hard to measure but basically fish that are roughly the same body mass should create roughly the same bioload...but it does depend on diet etc.
But each time you add new fish just check the water stats the next day (by which point the filter should definitely have caught up) and just don't add any fish if you every have an ammonia or nitrite reading.

Lol I know what you mean about fooling someone else into buying one. But hey... we'll just help them in two years time when they bump into the fish forums

 

[OldMan47]

With a simple box filter, I would put as much of your ceramic media into the box filter as will easily fit and top off the filter with a bit of filter floss, also sold as polyester pillow stuffing in most yard goods stores. The ceramic gravel is what I run in many box filters in my own tanks. As long as you can get much of the ceramic media into that box filter it will happily take over caring for the bio-filtration for your fish.

 

[Timmy_Bee]

Took the dive last night and transferred my fish! so far so good... fish look happy and full of colour
Are there any tell tail signs that all is wrong? i have kept the old tank going just in case

Also found another issue with BiOrbs - its really hard to catch fish in a net becuase you cant push it to the side and drag up the wall like you would do in a square tank... Also very hard to keep your eyes on the fish

 

[Curiosity101]

Just keep an eye on water stats with a test kit.

Normally when you start seeing the signs of bad water it's too late. But gasping, listlessness, spinning and twitching are all signs of either ammonia or nitrite poisoning.

 

[dipsydoodlenoodle]

Glad you are getting sorted with your tank and welcome to the forum

I personally HATE bio-orbs but at the weekend found myself admiring them....silly girl lol.

Bio-orbs are a fashion statement; they cost a fortune when you can get a new tank twice the size for the same price.

 

[Timmy_Bee]

Not only the initial cost, but the cost of all the filters etc is much more than your usual tank...
Avoid at all costs...