Upsizing My Tank

[gowing238]

Hello.

At the moment i have got a 110 litre tank that has been established for the last 15 years. It has a fluval 3 internal filter. At the moment i have 50 tetras in it. Rummynose
neon
rainbow
x ray
platinums
blacks
and an old orange gourami to keep them all in shape!

I have purchased a 250 litre corner tank. My plan is to transfer most of the water into the new tank from the old one, then top up with new water. Put the old internal filter straight into the new tank and add the fish.

I then plan to start running the new external filter i have for the new tank to get bacteria living in it then eventually remove the old internal.

Basically id like to know if the old filter is sufficent to keep these fish alive until the new filter is colonised. Obviously i will be keeping a close eye on water stats and wont be adding any new fish for a good while yet

Look forward to hear wat you all think!

 

[vinylman]

That should be fine, as the filter won't be coping with a larger number of fish. I wouldn't save more than around 50% of the old tank water; just treat it as a large water change. When you swap over, just make sure beforehand what you're going to do and don't rush.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi gowing238,

Your plan is a good one. It's not necessary to transfer more than 30%-40% of the water though, to avoid getting cloudy water in your new tank. Since the beneficial bacteria live on the filter media and not in the water, keeping large quantities of it are not necessary.

The beneficial bacteria in the filter will support the same number of fish in the new tank as they will in the old one. While small numbers of bacteria live in the substrate and on other surfaces, and will be lost, they will very quickly regenerate themselves.

Once you add the new filter and give it time to populate itself with beneficial bacteria, keep in mind that the bacteria will not all move there and abandon the old filter. At best, you'll have about half (depending on the amount of media in the new filter)of them in it. At that point, it's safe to remove the old one and let them reproduce on their own. Depending on the size of the fish and the amount of food they eat, they should be fine. If you have any doubts, just do some extra water tests for the next few days.

BTW, since your tank is an old one, have you had any problems with Old Tank Syndrome? If so, you will want to take a look at this article and follow the instructions near the bottom. A rapid change in environment might not be good for your fish.

http/www.bestfish.com/oldtank.html

Lots of luck with your new tank!

 

[iankent]

you can move your existing filter media into the external filter and it's cycled immediately (assuming the bioload is the same!) - have done it recently and ammonia/nitrite have stayed at 0, so worked perfectly!

edit: and good luck!!

 

[rdd1952]

I agree with Inchworm about the water not helping with the cycling but depending on te parameters of the tank water versus your tap water, you may still need to move most of it. You are better than doubling your tank size so if you moved all the water over, it would still be like doing a 60% water change. If your pH, GH & KH of your tap water is significantly different from the tank water, then you may still need to move the water to help with acclimating the fish.

I also agree with iankent that the best thing to do is simply move all the media from the old filter into the new external. Since there are some beneficial bacteria on the decorations, substrate and walls, you won't be moving all your bacteria but you will be moving the vast majority and should not have any problems at all. And doing that will prevent you from having to cut extra holes in the over in order to run the old filter.

 

[gowing238]

Cheers for all your replies. I didnt think of just putting the old media into the new filter. Cracking idea! I think thats what im gonna do. saves on hole cutting at least!

Cheers!!