So Many Questions

[H. Houdini]

Don't know where to start really, but hoping for some really useful help..........

Currently I'm running two tanks, one a 100 litre and the other a 30 litre. I'm basically using the 30 litre as hospital/quarantine/safe house. I always keep something in there to keep it cycled.

I'm going to be moving next week and I've got myself a 250 litre tank to replace the 100 litre as the main community tank. I have all the necessary bits and bobs (bigger filter/ air pump etc etc). It obviously isn't cycled, but I don't have room for the two tanks in our new flat (the 250 litre is coming from my two yellow belly sliders that are now housed in a much bigger and better garden pond). The filter from the 100 litre isn't going to be enough for the new tank. Is the best way to either; a) put the smaller filter in the new tank and run it alongside the bigger filter, or b) remove the foam pads and place them in the new filter?

In the larger tank I have only livebearers (a great idea of my girlfriend!). We had only mollies, but her uncle kindly donated (threw our way before we could say no) the most colourless mollies and about 5 million guppies. The mollies are breading, no problems, but all the fry are getting eaten. The guppies, on the other hand, colourless themselves and a unwanted ( I haven't the strength or desire to chance them with the turtles) seem to have fry that survive without any problems. What can I get that will dispose of the guppy fry, but more or less leave the mollies alone, or will I have to be strong and start "selecting"?

That'll do for now, but I have many more questions. Guess I shouldn't be too greedy in my first post though!

Many thanks in advance,

Harry

 

[OldMan47]

Welcome to the forum Harry.
The easiest way to get the new tank started would be to move the existing filter over. Filters do not relate to water volume as much as they relate to biological load. Since the filter is already taking care of the biological load it can continue to do so. Meanwhile the new filter will start to acquire its own biological capability while it runs along side th one that is taking care of the fish. Eventually, I like to think at least 4 weeks for safety, the new larger filter will be able to take over the whole tank's biological filtration. The larger filter is really needed for the population that you may end up with in a larger tank and is helpful for mechanical filtration which relates more to water volume than biological load.

Trying to solve a bad stocking of fish by adding more fish is never something that I would recommend. Fish like platies and swords are much more likely to eat fry than mollies but what will you do when they also start dropping fry? Many of the tetras and barbs are serious fry eaters but don't you really want to save some of the molly fry? I would prefer to take the breeding fish from the tank and let the turtles eat well which would reduce the fry explosion in your livebearer tank. There is really no reason to put up with fish that you never wanted in the first place when the turtles need food. Based on some of the threads I have seen here, even placing the adults with the turtles may not be enough to control the population.

 

[H. Houdini]

Welcome to the forum Harry.
The easiest way to get the new tank started would be to move the existing filter over. Filters do not relate to water volume as much as they relate to biological load. Since the filter is already taking care of the biological load it can continue to do so. Meanwhile the new filter will start to acquire its own biological capability while it runs along side th one that is taking care of the fish. Eventually, I like to think at least 4 weeks for safety, the new larger filter will be able to take over the whole tank's biological filtration. The larger filter is really needed for the population that you may end up with in a larger tank and is helpful for mechanical filtration which relates more to water volume than biological load.

Trying to solve a bad stocking of fish by adding more fish is never something that I would recommend. Fish like platies and swords are much more likely to eat fry than mollies but what will you do when they also start dropping fry? Many of the tetras and barbs are serious fry eaters but don't you really want to save some of the molly fry? I would prefer to take the breeding fish from the tank and let the turtles eat well which would reduce the fry explosion in your livebearer tank. There is really no reason to put up with fish that you never wanted in the first place when the turtles need food. Based on some of the threads I have seen here, even placing the adults with the turtles may not be enough to control the population.

Thanks OldMan.

What you said made complete sense, I'm not sure why I didn't think of it to be honest. I'll do that, and also take the filter from the hospital/quarantine tank too. That'll keep it cycled well without having to keep the whole tank up and running 24/7.

As for the mollie fry........ I've been using the hospital tank as a breeder when there is nothing desperate going on. If I have a problem I whip the fry into a breeder net and put it into the community tank. However, we all know how these little things multiply, and if I did that fir all the mollie fry I'd have a very over populated tank in no time. Besides, I can't get all the pregnant females into a seperate tank, they'll eat each others fry.

I'll stick the guppies into the pond with the turtles then!!! Though they'll probably be able to get away anyway, I'll just make sure to change a little water everyday to keep the quality higher for them.

Thanks again,

Harry