Transfering From 1 Tank To Another.

[sausagewinkle]

Hi everyone

I currently have a Aquaone AR850 that has been up and running for about a year. It has a external canister filter.

I am now upgrading to the AR980, this is brand new so wont be cycled. I need help knowing how to transfer fish, filters etc.

My plan (that needs help from you guys)....

Move my AR850 to the other end of the room, with fish and everything and keep that running as it is.

Set my AR980 up, (clean etc first) fill with water, set filter up, heater, new gravel. No plants as most will be coming from my old tank. Let this stand for a few days for the temperature to stabilise and the water to settle.

Is it possible to run my canister filter along with the new filter(that is uncycled) in the new tank? If so how will I do this as it will be in my old tank. When do I move it over, how long until the fish can be moved? I understand I cant leave the old tank without the filter for very long.

Thanking you

 

[KittyKat]

It is even simpler than that..:

1. Drain the old tank, and put fish + plants into a bucket
2. Move the old tank
3. Position the new tank
4. Move substrate from old tank to new tank
5. Fill new tank with warm, dechlorinated water
6. Replace decor and plants
7. Place the old external onto the new tank or move all media from the old external into the new external (the latter might not work if you use the inbuilt trickle filter because the bacteria may be different)
8. Place fish and any remaining old water into the new tank

If you do it your way, then you should run the new filter on the old tank for 6 weeks.

 

[sausagewinkle]

Thank Kittykat,
1 thing, I was hoping to change the gravel and add new......

 

[KittyKat]

That's fine, just add new instead of moving it over. Make sure to wash it properly first!

 

[sausagewinkle]

Brilliant, thanks again.
Lets hope the move goes well then

So do the move as you said, and run the 2 filters together for at least 6 weeks??

 

[KittyKat]

What is your current filter and what is your new filter and why are you upgrading? (Answer depends on those.)

 

[sausagewinkle]

The filter I have now is the Aquaone Aquis 750 (filters up to 200L, the tank is 215L)
The new filter is the one that is built into the aquarium

 

[KittyKat]

Going by that, you should move your fish to the new tank, then run old and new filter in parallel on the new tank for 6 weeks.

 

[sausagewinkle]

Brilliant, just what I thought
Cheers for your help

 

[sausagewinkle]

Would it be possible to put my external filter media into the aquaone filter (the 1 built into the lid, wet & dry trickle system)

Anybody done this ?

 

[KittyKat]

Would it be possible to put my external filter media into the aquaone filter (the 1 built into the lid, wet & dry trickle system)

Anybody done this ?

[...] move all media from the old external into the new external ([it] might not work if you use the inbuilt trickle filter because the bacteria may be different)

(I think it may actually be because there are different proportions of aerobic and anaerobic bacteria in each filter).

 

[sausagewinkle]

Sorry but I don't quite understand this

 

[KittyKat]

I might be talking complete ##152### here, but this is the impression I have:

The filter bacteria which live in high-oxygen filters (trickle filter or a HOTB with a biowheel) do not survive well when completely under water (low-oxygen environment, for example, an internal or external filter) and vice versa. So bacteria from an external filter will not do well when exposed to a lot of oxygen.

So if my assumption is correct, then it could work if you make sure that they are well submersed in the trickle filter (you can raise the outlet to increase the water level in the filter compartment) or maybe even just seed that filter to encourage the bacteria to populate the trickle filter faster, while running the filters in parallel.

Like I say, I do not know if there is any scientific basis to my assumptions, but I would imagine that if I am correct, then either the bacteria are not good at adapting between different oxygen contents or they are different species of bacteria which live in these two environments.

 

[sausagewinkle]

Thanks for all your help.

Ill set it up and see how high the water level gets in the filter compartment, other wise I can easy run the canister along with it, just need to find somewhere to put the pipes off the canister with out chopping into my tank.

Thanks again

 

[KittyKat]

Through the front is easiest, although ugly >.<