Switching From 5 Gallon To 30 Gallon.

[ScalpCrabs]

Hey, so kinda new to this game kinda not.
Ive had the Fluval Chi for about 3 years. pretty low maintenance and Ive only ever had sucker fish and gold fish in them. the most recent has been living for about a year now which is the longest Ive kept a fish alive aside from the sucker fish which lived for 2 years before disappearing under mysterious circumstances with my cats. 
So heres my question. Ive filled the 30 gallon and dechlorinated it.
Its been sitting for about a week with the filter running.
If i pour the water from my Fluval Chi into the tank and have the filter (not the original filter, it burn out) running in it, would that be sufficient to establish the tank?
Or should I be taking a gallon or so per week and dumping it in the tank?\
 
Sorry if this seems really noobish.
Thanks in advanced.

 

[Gvilleguy]

So the Fluval Chi is up and running with a fish, right? Meaning that Chi filter has established media in it that is cycled for 5 gallons and a small load of fish. The water itself from the Chi tank is not going to give you any meaningful bacteria, in my opinion. The helpful bacteria grows in the filter and the surfaces of the tank.
 
I think if you are able to either (1) move all of the Chi media into your new filter, or (2) run the Chi filter alongside the new filter in the 30 gallon, then you will have a decent start at cycling. If you move your fish at the same time, then you could test ammonia and nitrite levels and make sure that the 30 gallon remains cycled for the small load.
 
It will then take time to build up bacteria to handle more fish, so you would want to slowly add additional stock rather than all at once.

 

[ScalpCrabs]

The filter in the chi tank is a  Marina i25 Internal Filter.
It is cycled and running well. 
Once the tank is established I'm hoping to give the goldfish to a friend and get 6 danoi fish. 
The comet gold fish is about 2 inches. Do you think that would be sufficient, to drop the gold fish in with the filter and have it run for a week or two then heat the tank up and switch fish?

 

[Gvilleguy]

That depends on how one goldfish's bio-load compares to danios! I have no knowledge about goldfish, although I have read that they are messier. If you move the Chi filter to the 30, then your tank is officially cycled to handle one 2-inch goldfish. I would think you could add 2-3 danios in that environment and see how they do after the gold is removed.
 
You could also consider leaving the gold in the Chi and fishless cycle the 30 from scratch with an ammonia source.

 

[ScalpCrabs]

I was hoping to avoid recycling the tank from scratch.

 

[ScalpCrabs]

re-cycling** I don't know why i didn't catch that earlier

 

[LyraGuppi]

Derp! Didn't see your earlier post.
 
EDIT:
Here's what you could do..
Rehome the comet if possible. I see your friend will take him
If the 5g is cycled, move the filter media and substrate over to the 30g. Put the media into a larger filter (A filter for a 5g will not circulate a 30g), then add in your substrate and water. Add in a heater if you don't already have one, danios need heat.
Add in 3ppm of Ammonia, and give it 24 hours. Test the next day for ammonia and Nitrite. If both are zero, then the tank is ready for fish. This pretty much proves that the tank has enough beneficial bacteria to handle the 3ppm of ammonia.
If the tank does NOT process the ppm of ammonia and nitrite in 24 hours, then the tank isn't ready. You could message TwoTankAmin, he's great with cycling. I'm in a foggy territory right now, but I'll do my best.
If the tank doesn't process the ammonia in 24 hours:
Wait for the excess ammonia to go away and down to 0, then add in another 3ppm. Keep repeating this step until it processes in a day.
If the nitrite gets up to 5., back off of the ammonia additions to let the Nitrite bacteria develop.
If your tank processes both the Nitrite and Ammonia, both at 0, in 24 hours, the tank is cycled. Do a 50-75% WC, then add in your fish.
 
What is your intended stocking? What type of danios are you looking at?

 

[ScalpCrabs]

I don't think that I will be able to add the filter media to the new filter, I am changing from a Marina I25 internal filter to a Fluval C3 filter. They seem to be 2 completely different filters.

I was thinking that the smaller filter would pick up a bit of the slack as the bigger one gathers the bacteria. Am I wrong in assuming that this would work?
 
The problem as well is that my sister is taking the tank in 2 weeks for a tree frog (shes making a custom top) and my friend will only be getting his tank in a 2 or 3 weeks, plus cycling time. so i still have to house the gold fish.

 

[LyraGuppi]

I'm no good with trasferring bacteria or filters, TTA may know. Sorry, I use sponge filters

 

[ScalpCrabs]

Thank you I appreciate the help!

 

[Gvilleguy]

If you have 2 - 3 weeks where you still need to house that goldie, I would start a fishless cycle on the new tank and see how far you can get in the time you are waiting. I do not know the filters you are using, but even if you can cut just a part of the Chi media out and jam it into the new filter, that would help kick start your cycle. You could follow the steps that Lyra provided. The beginners section has even more information on fishless cycling.

 

[ScalpCrabs]

I'm going to go pick up some ammonia tomorrow and start the cycle. Thank you guys for helping out. I'll check back with results, and pictures once the tank is set up. I have a very zen plan for this tank!

 

[fluttermoth]

I would swap the media into the new filter (cut it up, if it won't fit; there's always a way to make old media fit into a new filter) and move the fish.

Goldies have no place in a tank that small, and the sooner it moves to something bigger, the better.

 

[LyraGuppi]

xD Whenever I saw flutter's post I was terrified I'd posted something incorrect!
 
Sounds good, I always like having a set plan for a cycle beforehand.

 

[NickAu]

 
xD Whenever I saw flutter's post I was terrified I'd posted something incorrect!

Never be afraid of making mistakes and then getting corrected by somebody, We all make mistakes. Learn from it, Thank the person who showed you a better way, And move on. I have noticed that the Administrators and Moderators on this forum are a nice helpful friendly bunch.