New 120l Tank, Swapping Media?

[Harry83]

hi,

just got a 120l tank with new filter,

currently have a 70l tank that has been matured for about a year now. Can i put half of the matured media from the 70l tank in the new filter and then fill with declohrinated water and then run the tank for a few days to settle.

Will this mean the new tank will not need cycling as there will be mature media in there -although its only half- and then the other half of the non-matured media will then mature as time goes on?

this also means the 70l tank will be down to half a mature media? will this matter? will it cope with the bioload?

I have reduced feeding to once every 2-3 days to reduce ammonia already.

Hoping to make this tank a planted tank with moss walls and floor...any suggestion on that wld be great

cheers

 

[Harry83]

bump bump bump anyone

 

[BecciMac1987]

Yep that should be fine, just do as you are and reduce feeding, then add fish to the 120l very slowly. Check your water params every couple of days, you may need to do 15-25% water changes twice a week just to help the new halves of filter media mature. Ive done this lots before, (its called cloning), just make sure the media that you are taking from the 70l stays in tank water, and the new water is decholrinated and not of a drastically different temperature.

Oh and forgot to say, dont leave the new tank to 'settle' for days as you need fish in there to add ammonia to keep the bacteria in the filter alive, so if you have them in your current tank, just add a couple of mollys etc for a few days if you want.

 

[Tolak]

What's the stocking on the 70l, and what do you plan on stocking the 120l with? I do this sort of thing on a regular basis, stocking has to be taken into consideration.

 

[Harry83]

What's the stocking on the 70l, and what do you plan on stocking the 120l with? I do this sort of thing on a regular basis, stocking has to be taken into consideration.

not going to stock 120l tank very much as going to take time to plant the tank with moss walls etc....may put in a BN plec and then possibly a few zebra danios...to get it started, ultimately want to have just a shoaling tank possibly congos? but not quite sure yet.

70l has neons, 1 gourami, 1BN

any advice for when 'cloning' the media ?

 

[Harry83]

Yep that should be fine, just do as you are and reduce feeding, then add fish to the 120l very slowly. Check your water params every couple of days, you may need to do 15-25% water changes twice a week just to help the new halves of filter media mature. Ive done this lots before, (its called cloning), just make sure the media that you are taking from the 70l stays in tank water, and the new water is decholrinated and not of a drastically different temperature.

Oh and forgot to say, dont leave the new tank to 'settle' for days as you need fish in there to add ammonia to keep the bacteria in the filter alive, so if you have them in your current tank, just add a couple of mollys etc for a few days if you want.

would adding a bristlenose be ok? and maybe a few tetra?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

What I would suggest is you take one third of the media from the 70litre (one third is usually assumed to be safe and won't cause a mini cycle, although nothing is fool proof) and put it into the main tank, then do a fishless cycle on the main tank with pure ammonia. Because you've used a reasonable chunk of media to start it off you'll find that the cycle is more like 4-6 days than the usual 4-6 weeks. That's about the safest way that you can clone the tank. You could add a few fish straight away and it would probably be fine, my preference is to 'check' by fishless cycling that the mature media transfer has worked. sometimes it inexplicably fails to seed the new filter and people end up in a fish-in cycle by accident.

 

[Tolak]

You should have no problem taking 1/3 of the media from the 70l, adding it to the 120l, and putting in a bristlenose while you work on planting. I have yet to encounter a problem doing this sort of thing, it's a pretty common thing with my setup.

Miss W is right, if you do a fishless cycle with 1/3 the media you will cycle in about a week, and be able to stock the tank fully. Your choice.

 

[Harry83]

What I would suggest is you take one third of the media from the 70litre (one third is usually assumed to be safe and won't cause a mini cycle, although nothing is fool proof) and put it into the main tank, then do a fishless cycle on the main tank with pure ammonia. Because you've used a reasonable chunk of media to start it off you'll find that the cycle is more like 4-6 days than the usual 4-6 weeks. That's about the safest way that you can clone the tank. You could add a few fish straight away and it would probably be fine, my preference is to 'check' by fishless cycling that the mature media transfer has worked. sometimes it inexplicably fails to seed the new filter and people end up in a fish-in cycle by accident.

cheers MW,

i will use your advice,

cant wait to start planting my new tank! will i be able to plant as soon as i get the tank or is it better to wait a few days for the water to become more stable - ie with a few fish and the old mature media in there?

will a 125l be suitable for a shoal of congo?> i do love these,