Upgrading From Smallish To Medium Tank

[bigfish-smallpond]

Hi.. fairly new to this but heres the story so far....

Kept fish as teenager but fell into so many of the beginner problems.. needless to say it was a disaster!

20 years later i've been given a two foot 70 litre tank for my daughter. Set up with an internal fluval and things are going swimmingly (excuse the punn)
Tank holding 3 mollies,(Breeding nicely) 5 babies, two platties, bristlenose, a cory and five tetras. Tank stable and no problems in three months. Weekly waterchanges of 25% working well.

Just got a 120 litre tank off ebay (for next to nowt )and am planning to transfer contents across to new tank to give them a bit of space. Can transfer all existing water and will top up with new water as if its a water change without removing any.Does anyone forsee any obvious problems??? Cant afford fancy external filter so was planning on using two fluvals.(Extra one came from bloke who sold me extra tank) Tank is for my little girl who has autism... and i don't want have to deal with telling her Mr Bristlenose or mr stroppy have died! (she named them...not me!)



Any advice appreciated!

Mickey


ps ... tropical fish are fantastic for kids with autism it chills them out watching them for hours

 

[laura120381]

hello!!

i think that it is great that you are doing this for your little girl!! you are absolutely right..fish can provide hours of stimulation for her...brilliant. i am really sorry to tell you that most plecos get too big for your tank!! however, bristlenose do not grow so big so you may be ok. if not you could send him on holiday!! cory's should be kept in groups of 6+ as should tetras...no worries though..your new tank will accommodate the increase in numbers. i hope your daughter continues to enjoy your fish and please keep us updated on how things go!! any questions do not hesitate to ask!!

L

oh sorry meant to ask...with regards 2 filters...where do u live???

 

[fishyfeet]

excellent

 

[bigfish-smallpond]

Cheers. Live in-between York and scarbourgh now fish Hav been great for her. think they should be available on the NHS lol. Hope to get few more corys soon but waiting till after the tank swop. Will let that settle in first ... 'mr cory' looks gd for now.. Eating well n very active One step at a time to avoid any disasters. I will have to save a few pennies for a external filter (easier said than done tho)

 

[Mowbz]

As above, Corys prefer a min of 6, tetras live in shoals of 1000's in the wild, so the more the better.

On the subject of filtration, two internals (proving between them they can turn the tank volume over 5-10 times and hour) wouldnt be an issue, there is no real need to have an external, there are just some benefits! Out of interest, which Fluval do you have? (U2/U3 or 2+/3+ (older version)?)

Your going to need a minimum turnover of 600lph, somewhere around 900lph would be ideal.

With an external, you'll have much more room for media, meaning it will handle the bioloads much easier. You will also normally have some kind of spraybar for the water to go back in, which is generally better at creating Oxygen permeation between the air above and water in, the tank. It also means there is more room in the tank, as there will normally only be a single inlet sticking into the water.

Hope this helps!

 

[The Taffy Apple]

Good afternoon Bigfish.

Firstly may i also add my admiration for your decision on a tank for your daughter, always a lovely idea.

Do you have your own water test kit? Liquid ones are generally most suggested and it made everything alot more thorough very quickly for me

When i upgraded to a bigger tank i was advised not to move any existing water across, the vast majority of useful bacteria being in the filter and the media. I filled up with warm, dechlorinated water and moved as much of my 'old' bacteria (it was sponges and ceramic balls for me) across as i could. Again, my regular water tests confirmed what was happening, and by posting my test results on here, the advice and opinions i received has resulted in my current, healthy 120L tank.

Hope this helps,
Terry.

 

[fluttermoth]

Can I also recommend that you consider changing to a sand substrate (if you have gravel atm)? Cories really enjoy snuffling around in it; it makes them happy Cheap playsand from Tesco, Argos or B&Q is fine in tanks as long as it's well washed first.

 

[Jamie24]

Your going to need a minimum turnover of 600lph, somewhere around 900lph would be ideal.

Just out of interest what do you base your turnover of water on ?? The reason I ask is that I've just purchased a 130 litre tank (not set-p) and my powerhead is 650lph but when looking around at other places I've seen my tank sold with a 750lph powerhead as standard so was wondering if my 650 will be enough, would prefer to change it before I set up if it's needed.

Thanks.

Hope this doesn't derail the original post, great what your doing fella, just do one bit at a time an do it properly that way you'll hopefully encounter no problems, I would also add more cory's

 

[bigfish-smallpond]

The fluvals are The older type - will look at box in garage later Then I can work out the lph of them combined. Had my friendly fish shop do watertests n they said they were fine. Will get test kit when I get paid next time.... Funds a wee bit in short supply. Like tge idea of some sand in tank but swapping the blue gravel for sand gonna be tricky with daughter...... she Picked the blue lol. Will Hav to sus out putting pics on here soon

 

[bigfish-smallpond]

Thanks to you all for your advice. its definitely helped Just got back with new tank OMG it was heavy moving it in and out of the car on my own....in the dark.. it survived the trip round some very dodgy bends and bumps on the way home.
Pump turned out to be a fluval 3 plus. Doesn't look very old but i think its missing the finer of the filters from the middle of the two course ones.(im guessing it should have one ?) Ebay i expect is a gd place for that Add that to the fluval 2 plus and that will give me 700l per hour and 400 litres per hour for the original fluval 2 plus =1100lph. hope this wont be too much?? Next question....... is it best to just clean the tank with plain water??? it is a 2nd hand tank i'm concerned about any residual diseases in tank... it apparently hasn't been used in over 3 months and seems dry, but a little dirty

Big fish... small pond is asleep... for now

 

[bigfish-smallpond]

Thanks to you all for your advice. its definitely helped Just got back with new tank OMG it was heavy moving it in and out of the car on my own....in the dark.. it survived the trip round some very dodgy bends and bumps on the way home.
Pump turned out to be a fluval 3 plus. Doesn't look very old but i think its missing the finer of the filters from the middle of the two course ones.(im guessing it should have one ?) Ebay i expect is a gd place for that Add that to the fluval 2 plus and that will give me 700l per hour and 400 litres per hour for the original fluval 2 plus =1100lph. hope this wont be too much?? Next question....... is it best to just clean the tank with plain water??? it is a 2nd hand tank i'm concerned about any residual diseases in tank... it apparently hasn't been used in over 3 months and seems dry, but a little dirty

Big fish... small pond is asleep... for now

 

[bigfish-smallpond]

No answers??? Hmm guess hot water it is then ???

 

[bigfish-smallpond]

Laura- you sent me a personal message.... i cant get it for some reason gives me error message..... [#10226] You are not allowed to use the private messaging system. email me or chat me??? michaelgarrod@yahoo.co.uk
up to you.... curious to see what you wrote need to get this fixed!

Mickey
bigfish-smallpond

hello!!

i think that it is great that you are doing this for your little girl!! you are absolutely right..fish can provide hours of stimulation for her...brilliant. i am really sorry to tell you that most plecos get too big for your tank!! however, bristlenose do not grow so big so you may be ok. if not you could send him on holiday!! cory's should be kept in groups of 6+ as should tetras...no worries though..your new tank will accommodate the increase in numbers. i hope your daughter continues to enjoy your fish and please keep us updated on how things go!! any questions do not hesitate to ask!!

L

oh sorry meant to ask...with regards 2 filters...where do u live???