New Tank Question

[jiffy]

I am going to give my girlfriend a fish tank for christmas but had a couple q's. I am going to set this up while she is at work, so when she goes home after work it will be all setup with some fish in it.

It will be a 10 gal tank using same filter as on my tank. If I transfer my filter cartridge to her filter, I would be able to add some fish immediately right?

Would it be possible to set up the tank from scratch, transfering 50% of the water and the filter cartridge from my current tank, and put fish in the tank within half a day? I could also put some of the substrate I am going to buy her into a stocking and keep it in my tank for a day or two before this. Infact, she will be getting a bio-wheel filter, so I could even run that on my tank for a week before transfering it to her tank. That way even more bacteria will be present (on the bio wheel).

How feasible is this?

 

[cane76]

are you sure its not a present for you
or does she share the hobby?wish my gf did

 

[cujoho78]

Hi. If you have mature filter material then i think you will be fine. There isn't much use in transferring the water because the beneficial bacteria isn't present in it so you can start with fresh water if you like. I have done just this with some new fish in a quarantine tank and a mature filter cartridge. Just keep an eye on the ammonia and nitrite levels in case you get a little spike and don't overstock it right away.

 

[jiffy]

cane76 - lol no no its for her. she kinda likes fish but has said before that she would like them more if they were her own...

cujoho - ok sounds good

I kinda changed my mind about putting the fish in same day. I figure I'll get it all set up and decorated and then take her to the store to pick out her own fish.

 

[smithrc]

I kinda changed my mind about putting the fish in same day. I figure I'll get it all set up and decorated and then take her to the store to pick out her own fish.

in that case - dont add the mature filter stuff until the fish are ready to go in - the bacteria will die without ammonia from the fish

dont worry about gravel in a stocking if your using a mature filter, that will be more than enough to allow stocking

If i we're you - I'd put the filter on an existing tank and leave it for as long as you can it wont take long for the bacteria to grow.

 

[sylvia]

Can I just point out a few things - don't use old tank water. That'll introduce nothing but dirt. The water contains no good bacteria. Secondly, go for the 'running the biowheel filter on your tank for a week' route. Move the filter to her tank within 2 hours before adding fish. If the filter is left with no ammonia source for more than two hours, the bacteria will begin to die off - defeating the purpose completely.
Otherwise, sounds like a great plan A warning though - make sure you'll be able to help her choose fish that are suitable for her new tank and compatible with each other. She may turn out to be one of the predator-loving people and pick out some tankbuster for her 10 gallon