Tank Split

[ianfarn]

Hello All,

I currently have a 55g tank that has been set up and running for a couple of year. I'd like to add to slightly larger fish to the 55g tank and if possible some angel fish. So in preparation for this I have set up another 30g tank across the room to move some of the smaller fish into. First question is can I put some filter media in the new tank and I will then be cycled and ready for fish? The second question is how do I split up the fish into each tank. Here is the list of fish and I will add the fish I would like to also put in the tank but have not been purchased yet.

6 red eye tetra
4 Skirt tetra
1 Platy
2 golden Gurami
4 Green Barbs
2 Sliver loache
4 head and tail light tetra
4 harlequin tetra

Would like to add:
3-4 Angel fish
8-10 Neon tetra
Some more platys for the lonely one.

thanks

Ian.

 

[moochy13]

technically i guess, if you take out half the fish, you can take out half the media, though id be erring on the side of caution with that. if i was you id take 1/3rd of the media out, or whatever depending on what filter you're using, then take out some of the fish you want to remove, leave it a week then take out the rest of the fish you want to move over. keeping an eye on both tanks of course for signs of bad water quality as the filters re-colonise.

the neons and angels will need to be in seperate tanks, so thats an easy decision to make. unless you want your angels to feast on neons.

id leave the angels, red eyes, barbs, and loach in the big tank. and also up their numbers a bit. i think big shoals of one type of fish look much better than small groups of different fish. 15-20 red eye tetra in with those angels would look great i think. if you get 4 angels, you will probably have to remove 2 if you get a proper pair form.

that leaves skirt tetra, neon tetra, platy, harlequin, tail light and gouramis. i know nothing about gouramis, so couldnt advise on them. would be nice to keep them in the 30g though as the centrepiece i guess. that leaves 12 various tetra and the lone platy. with these, id be asking my lfs for a swap, again to build up the number, but reduce the number of species. if you consider there should be 6 of each, thats 18 tetra and maybe 3 or 4 platy's, thats going to look very busy in a 30g, with the gouramis (possibly). and plus the neons you want. id stick with the gouramis, lots of neons, and 6-10 harlequins. id get rid of the skirts, tail light and platy, and also get 6 cories. then job done far as im concerned.

so

55G - 4 angels, probably eventually 2
15-20 red eye tetra, minimum
loach
6 green barbs, more if you fancy i guess.

30G - gouramis
20+ neons
10 harlequins
6 cories

i would also end up putting cories or hopolo cats in the 55G, and a fancy plec.