I'm Still So Confused On This....please Help !

[Faythee]

I have a 10 gal. tank and am setting up a new 75 gal. tank. I bought the same type filter for the 75 gal. I figure I can move 1 part of the media from my small filter to the larger. I have a sponge, carbon insert, and biomax insert. Which one do I put in my new tanks filter....in other words which has the most beneficial bacteria ? I will be transferring some plants too. No gravel.

I figured 1 week later I can switch another part from my 10 gal.'s filter. However.....these are really small compared to what is supposed to go in there. Is this going to cause me problems ?

I also bought some Stresszyme biological filter booster to put in the new tank. It says "Contains millions of live bacteria that speed up the development of the biological filter to eliminate nitrate and ammonia" Is this a good idea ?

I was going to transfer some of my fish right away but the LFS said to wait 3 days and test the water. If I do that....then will the used media in my new filter lose its good bacteria because of no fish being in there ?

Didn't realize what a water chemist I would need to become to start this hobby

 

[benniebru]

I have a 10 gal. tank and am setting up a new 75 gal. tank. I bought the same type filter for the 75 gal. I figure I can move 1 part of the media from my small filter to the larger. I have a sponge, carbon insert, and biomax insert. Which one do I put in my new tanks filter....in other words which has the most beneficial bacteria ? I will be transferring some plants too. No gravel.

I figured 1 week later I can switch another part from my 10 gal.'s filter. However.....these are really small compared to what is supposed to go in there. Is this going to cause me problems ?

I also bought some Stresszyme biological filter booster to put in the new tank. It says "Contains millions of live bacteria that speed up the development of the biological filter to eliminate nitrate and ammonia" Is this a good idea ?

I was going to transfer some of my fish right away but the LFS said to wait 3 days and test the water. If I do that....then will the used media in my new filter lose its good bacteria because of no fish being in there ?

Didn't realize what a water chemist I would need to become to start this hobby

well this info was just told to me, i did the same type situation i switched from a 30 gal to a 60 gal last night, since the tank is bigger u will need to wait a few days for the bacteria to increase for the bigger tank, if u can u should put all the filter media from ur ten gallon to ur 75 gallon ( and do not let it dry out cuz that will kill the bacteria. if u use like a bio wheel and u can use the old one in the new tank do it, thats about all the help i can give sorry if this doesnt help u out

 

[Faythee]

Well I am planning on keeping the 10 gallon running to use for a hospital tank or a temporary place to put a fish getting bullied...etc., or for eggs, a hatchery.

If I remove all the media from that tank at once and replace it, will I not get new tank syndrome or will the bactreria within that tanks gravel and decor be sufficient enough. Was going to leave my 2 zebra danios in there.

Thanks

 

[Mikaila31]

How many fish are in the 10 gal and what kind? depending on your bioload in the 10gal I would move either the sponge or the biomax to the larger tank. Once this is done you must either add ammonia or a few fish to keep the bacteria alive. If you wait a day or more all the bacteria you transfered to the larger tank will die off.

If it I was doing it I would move all the fish and media to the 65 gal. Let it sit a few weeks, then slowly start stocking it with what you want. Once it is about half stocked, I would move a some media from the 65 gal to the 10 and clone it. Add any fish you want in the 10gal back too it, or use it as a quarantine tank. This may seem long, but cloning a larger tank from a smaller tank can be difficult IMO.

 

[Faythee]

I have 1 opaline gourami, 1 dwarf gourmai, 2 zebra danios, and a polka dot pictus catfish.

Will these be enough to get the 75 going If I transfer all media, excludling gravel ?

Yes I could take the danios and put them back in the 10 gal. later on....makes sense to me.

I didn't plan on adding too many fish to the 75 right away. 2 more opalines to start....then a few weeks later a school of 6 small fish. Then take my time from there. Most of the fun is picking and adding new fish...so don't want to do it all right away.

Thank you

 

[Tolak]

Transfer the media & fish at the same time. Your filter media has enough nitrifying bacteria to sustain the bio load in your 10 gallon tank. The filter media doesn't know if it is hanging on a 10 gallon tank or 100 gallon tank, it just processes the ammonia & nitrite it is provided with into nitrate. A small percentage of nitrifying bacteria will be contained in your gravel and other decorations, but a mature bacterial colony can double in 24 hours.

Fast the fish for 24 hours before the move, and feed lightly for the next week, about 1/3 what you normally would. Less food means less waste produced, this will give your nitrifying bacteria a chance to catch up should there be any sort of die off.

I do this all the time with fry, starting with a 2.5 gallon, moving to a 20 or 29, then split between tanks or into a 55 or 150. The filter follows them along, to be put back int a 2.5 in a number of months. Being fry I don't cut back on feeding, and have never had a problem. Cutting back on feeding is a procedure that works for older fish, and one I will do on a regular basis when increasing stocking on an established tank. Increasing for me often means doubling up.

It sounds like you have an Aqua Clear filter, they run biomax. I used to have over a dozen of these running, good filter choice. In theory the biomax should have the most nitrifying bacteria, this is a newer media that they have been using. Previous to this they just ran sponges with some floss, or carbon if you wanted to bother with that. I used to run mine with double sponges and floss, I saw no difference running the biomax, and I only ran carbon on a brand new tank, or to remove meds.

Don't waste your money on stresszyme. The only reliable bacterial culture available in the US is Biospira, and it needs to be properly refrigerated. I have never wasted my time with such products, I just transferred media & cloned tanks to where I am now.

You are right that by leaving the nitrifying bacteria for 3 days with no food that they will die back, perhaps entirely. You will bring in a water sample, your lfs will say no ammo, no nitrite, no nitrate, perfect. Wrong. Any cycled tank, unless it is way understocked with a lot of plants will show some nitrate.

You will learn some chemistry from aquatics, as well as animal behavior. It's part science & part art, with a little luck thrown in at times.

 

[Faythee]

Tolak....You are awesome. Thank you !