Tank upgrade, Advise please

[Avinitlarge]

I am upgrading my 30" tank to a 48 inch tank, I was going to use the water, gravel, filer and everything else from the 30" tank but Ive read somewhere on here that is a pretty bad thing to do, Help PLEASE!!!! I dont want all my fishies to die.

 

[hellohefalump]

hmmm... that doesn't seem like such a bad idea...

Using gravel and filter from the old tank would transfer the nitrifying bacteria, therefore instantly cycling the tank. You shouldn't need to use the old water though. You could just use fresh water (dechlorinated and at the right temparature)... if you do that though, definately acclimatise the fish first.

 

[andywg]

My thoughts exactly

 

[OohFeeshy]

Yep, in effect you are cloning the tank.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

How many gallons is the old tank and how many gallons is the new tank going to be? Gallons are more important than length in many respects, cloning the tank will help prevent you having to cycle but adding too many fish too soon may cause it to mini cycle...What fish are you going to put in it and their current sizes?

 

[nc_nutcase]

Great advise thus far…

If you only add the current fish stock from your 30 inch tank then you will have the proper quantity of bacteria you need to handle their bio load. After the new tank is set up and stocked I would wait a couple weeks before adding any new fish and then as Tokis suggested add new fish slowly over a period of time to prevent mini cycling.

Sounds like your thinking in the right direction and are getting expert advise… props to everyone involved

 

[Avinitlarge]

So I add 100% new water, The old gravel, plants etc, Leave it to settle and warm up then add the fish from my 30" tank, After a while it should be ok to add to slowly add the fish from my 24" tank

 

[Bloo]

Well what filter will you be using on your old tank until you transfer over to the new one ? You should really in effect just move everything straight across in a matter of hours.

 

[abstract]

the only time cloning a tank is a bad thing is when you are cloning a diseased (or possibly diseased) tank!

 

[boxman]

Agree with bloozoo, you'll want to transfer the lot at once.

Putting the fish in bags would be the easiest way I would imagine until the temperature gets right.

 

[Avinitlarge]

Well what filter will you be using on your old tank until you transfer over to the new one ? You should really in effect just move everything straight across in a matter of hours.

Thats what I am planning to do, I am using a Fluval 3 plus in the 30" tank at the mo but I will be using the Fluval 3 plus and a Fluval 4 plus in the 48" tank

 

[Avinitlarge]

We did the swap last night, Took a while to do, The new tank is a 50 gallon tank, With the plants and the fish spread out more, it looks fantastic, All of the fish seem to be ok, I am so pleased with it, The mrs is a bit gutted that we cant have a puffer or 2 though.
Is 1 200W heater too small for this tank??