Moving Filters

[scooterchick]

My plans to re-arrange my tanks is now pressing due to 2 deaths in each of my tanks. One tanks deaths are due to overcrowding I'm sure and the other most likely to poor maintenance, due the tha tank being in such an awkward place.

The logistics of the move make my mind boggle. The big tank (the one I'm keeping) is the one in the awkward position, so I have to move the tank, obviously emptying it of fish etc, then it's going to replace the smaller tank which also has to be emptied of fish etc can you see my problem? In the meantime I have a 17 gallon tank cycling, fishless. Could I speed up the process by moving a filter from the big tank into it? The big tank has 2 filters so I don't think it would suffer because of it, plus the fish would be moving into the small tank temporarily anyway. Moving the filters would allow me to press on far quicker.

Now, on a temporary basis, could I have 1 plec, 1 angel, 2 gourami's and 4 mollies in a 17 gallon tank? 2 days max? And howlong would the established filter have to be in the tank before I could move the fish in?

Thanks!

 

[Tolak]

If you have two cycled tanks, the 37 & the 31, you can clone the 17, no need to do a fishless cycle.

That being said, the filters on the 37 have enough nitrifying bacteria to support the fish living in there, no matter what the tank size. Same goes for the 31. You could take the fish & filters from the 37, and add them to the 17, after doing a large water change to remove the ammonia you have been adding. Since they are in 1/2 the amount of water you will have to do maintenance at twice the rate as you were when they were in the 37.

It shouldn't take but 3 or 4 hours to switch around the fish & tanks, as long as you have plenty of buckets for gravel & decorations, siphons, water conditioner, and other supplies on hand before you start. You could put all the fish in the two larger tanks in the 17 for several hours, along with the filters. The only exception would be the tetras & guppys if the angels & gouramis are on the large size, you don't want them to become fish food by accident. They would do fine in a bucket with an air stone.

I rearranged all my tanks last fall within two days, with the exception of the 65, a few 29's, & the 150, look in my sig for tanks. At one point I had a couple 12" plecs & an 8" plec in a 20, along with 5 adult angels in a 5 gallon bucket with an air stone, for about 4 hours. They all did fine, the only casualty was my sore back. I used the 20 gallon on a sturdy table, and a couple of buckets for holding tanks while I moved tanks, racks, and other equipment.

 

[scooterchick]

Thank you so much for your reply!!! It's really useful and helpful. Jst one more question........when transferring a fish from one tank to another, I take it it's not a good idea just to lift it out one tank and put it straight in another? Should I be putting it in a container of mixed water from both tanks for a few mintues?

 

[Tolak]

I do anywhere from 50% to 80% water changes weekly on my tanks, so I just switched them from one tank to another. If you do some larger water changes on the tanks the week before, and make sure the water temperature is within a degree or two, you can just switch them over.