moving house, moving tank!

[kat and james]

ok so we have our rena classic 200, and have our old tank also. we need to move house before we set up the new tank, as it will be too heavy for the second floor flat floor.

the old tank has a UGF with quite a bit of gravel, and because of how the hood is, we can't set up our new rena xp3 filter to begin the bacteria cultivating in the filter (have to wait till we can set it up in the new tank)

so my question is, when we move house, if we take ALL the water from the old tank, and ALL the old gravel (keeping the old gravel in the tank water) and transfer it all to the new tank in the new house, and then topping up with treated tap water, will we still have to cycle the tank.. all our water stats are fine, and we do'nt have a problem with fluctuations.

we don't really want to have two tanks set up and running at the same time.. not only will space be a bit tight, but it will also be a pain having to move the two tanks, hopefully we can give the old tank to the ppl who are buying it from us, and avoid having to transport it to our new house..

sorry this is sooooo long winded.. but just wanted to find out what everyone else thought was best to do!

thanks!

 

[Bloo]

so my question is, when we move house, if we take ALL the water from the old tank, and ALL the old gravel (keeping the old gravel in the tank water) and transfer it all to the new tank in the new house, and then topping up with treated tap water, will we still have to cycle the tank.. all our water stats are fine, and we do'nt have a problem with fluctuations.

[snapback]914651[/snapback]​

uhm I didn't read properly, so I'll have to change my anwer.
in my opinion, you will experience some kind of cycle - to what extent I'm not sure. The vast majority of bacteria resides in the filter material - not in the poo and waste in the gravel and water. Is there absolutely no way that you can add some of the old filter material to the new one ?

 

[emma12321]

Hi Kat and James.

It really would be best if you could run the new filter in the old tank for a while but if not

Bag all fish in 1 third water 2 thirds air, pack in a cooler to keep the temp stable.

Put the filter in a bag to keep it moist, if you are moving a long way you will need to keep water flowing through it at least once every hour so pour aquarium water through it .

Bag up all the plants, ornament, wood etc and keep them wet and keep the bacteria alive on them.

As you have an UGF the gravel will be filthy, scoop out enough gravel from the top to fill the feet off a pair of tights. These can be placed in your new tank if you are using a different type of gravel. If not just save a bag full and lay on top of the other gravel. The rest of the gravel will need a good rinse as it will be like sludge under the filter.

Run your old filter in the new tank for a few weeks until the new one is cycles.

This is an ideal opportunity to convert to sand, only a couple of quid a sack from argos.

You really don't need to save any old water as it has no bacteria actually living in it. Just fill up your new tank and make sure its the right temp before releasing the fish.

tip: don't feed the fish for a couple of days before the move and they won't polute their bags of water as much.

Keep an eye on water stats and keep up with ater changes as it may go into a mini cycle, depending on the difference in tank sizes. Don't buy any new fish for 4-6 weeks until you know the tank is stable.

Is there any way you can add some of the new filter material to the old one until you move?

Hope this helps

Emma

 

[kat and james]

the filter we are running at the mo is only a under gravel one, and in the other tank (the goldfish tank) it is just a small filter, and the media is not the same shape as the xp3, besides we are planning on running the goldfish tank in the new house also.
there isn't anyway of running the new filter on the old tank, as the hood on the old tank prevents us from being able to put the tubes into the tank, and we don't want to have to cut any of the tubes down, as they may then not be the right lengths for the new tank.. !

 

[kat and james]

"Run your old filter in the new tank for a few weeks until the new one is cycles"

sorry i couldn't figure out how to do the quote thingy..

anyways.. so just to clarify.. i should run my undergravel filter in the new tank as well as the new xp3s?

the undergravel filter will be too small for the new tank.. or does this not matter.. also won't it be really messy when we take out the undergravel filter after a couple of weeks?

thanks for your help!

 

[Bloo]

In that case I'd change my answer to a definite yes - I'm afraid

 

[emma12321]

Any chance you could run the new filter in the goldfish tank?

 

[kat and james]

we hadn't thought about that, but the goldfish tank is only a 12 gal tank.. the xp3 is for 50-130 gal! wouldn't that be too much?
thanks again

 

[Bloo]

we hadn't thought about that, but the goldfish tank is only a 12 gal tank.. the xp3 is for 50-130 gal! wouldn't that be too much?
thanks again

[snapback]914686[/snapback]​

Way too much ! The goldfish will probably be jacuzzi'd out of their tank !

 

[kat and james]

yup thats what i thought..! hmm... what to do! as we haven't chosen a new house yet, i don't know how much room we will have, but i would imagine that we won't have enough room for a tank measuring 6ft across and one measuring 4ft across! it would be tank city in our lounge room!!!!!

 

[yvez9]

if i'm not mistaken, the rena filters containes buckets to put filter media in right?

If so, just scoop up gravel and fill up one or two buckets instead of the material the give you with the filter. then after a month or so, remove part of the grave and replace with the proper filter media.... this should cycle your new tank instantly as long as you add fish right away, and leave enough gravel in your older tank to remian cycled

 

[kat and james]

ah.. so once again to clarify.. sorry i need to put it into my words just to make sure i understand!!

take out all the media from the filter.. put the gravel where the media should be, then after a month it'll be cycled, and i can put the media back into the filter.. and teh gravel back into the tank?

do this to both filters.. or just one with gravel and one with media?

sorry for all the questions!!

 

[emma12321]

Look for a house with a long living room, i have my 5 foot tank at one end and a 3 foot tank in an alcove at the other end. We were also considering knocking a hole in the chimney breast in the kitchen and inserting the spare 4 foot tank in there. The smaller ones are upstairs in the spare bed room.

Every house we looked at i was saying no, no fish tank space.

Emma

 

[keane]

if i'm not mistaken, the rena filters containes buckets to put filter media in right?

If so, just scoop up gravel and fill up one or two buckets instead of the material the give you with the filter. then after a month or so, remove part of the grave and replace with the proper filter media.... this should cycle your new tank instantly as long as you add fish right away, and leave enough gravel in your older tank to remian cycled

[snapback]914700[/snapback]​

alternatively, just put some of your media from your new filter into a stocking and secure it at the bottom of your current tank, sitting, if possible, on your UGF. This will ensure a constant flow (of sorts) around the stocking.

Bacteria will develop on this media and when you come to set your new tank up you can simply put the media into your new filter and you automatically have a colony of bacteria in your filter.

steve

 

[emma12321]

not sure on the set up of that filter but i know what yvez means if its the right one. Some filters have space in the bottom for ceramic balls etc which bacteria grow on, then they have sponges then floss. If yours is like this fill the ball section with gravel.

It would be great if you could keep your old tank for the goldfish as they would appreciate more room as they get bigger. Fella has a great looking goldfish tank with a few loaches.

Emma