New Tank Questions

[DaveA76]

i have just purchased a second hand tank which has come with a second hand filter which works fine, i want to transfer all my plants fish etc from my established tank into this new 1, the filter in my original tank is on its way out but is still going just, and was wondering the filter that came with the new tank has not been used for a while so i have bought some new media for it if i put the filter from my old tank in with the new 1 and run them both will this have the new tank running as cycled? how long should i have both the filters running before putting the fish in the new tank? i have the new tank filled now with declorinated water and the new (second hand) filter running and will put the heater ih tomorrow once the water has got to room temp
will this work or will it have an adverse effect on my fish ?

 

[paulbr1]

If you dechlor the new water and get the temp right, put the old filter in you can put the fish in straight away - but run both filters and the new one will mature much quicker with the old filter present (and working).

If your new tank is larger it shouldn't cause any issues but do check you water stats regularly - I wouldn't add any new fish for a few weeks though until you are happy with everything - good luck.

Hope this helps.

Paul.

 

[DaveA76]

thanks

how long should i leave the old filter in before leaving the new one to run by itself ?

 

[paulbr1]

I would leave a couple of months - but dependant of the size of the new filter as they will eventually share the job and when you remove the old one you stats could spike, I am sure somebody more Q'd up than me can give a more accurate answer.

But you can put your fish straight in as the old filter is matched to you fish level already.

Paul.

 

[s007]

The easiest way Dave IF YOU CAN which will save you headache is transfer all media (or most of it) to a new filter so it can handle the stock you have now and then slowly replace the old media with new keeping in mind every time you replace it you have to leave some time for the new media to populate with beneficial bacteria colonies on the new media you have just placed so id say you can safely change each media once every 2-3 weeks just to be on the safe side as you dont want to get new tank syndrome! And remember dont overclean or overchange your media as you will have big problems .

Serg