Hello - I currently have a small 28 litre tank, and I am seriously considering upsizing to a 50-60 litre tank as I want to add stock and it seems a bit pointless with a small tank and two healthy/good sized fish (red tail shark & cory). As I am a novice I would like some advice please. Obviously I need to transfer my water, filter/media and gravel from old tank to new - however, as the tank would be double the size, I won't have enough gravel/water. How do I combat this safely? Do I run the water at half level and gradually increase the water level? Is it safe to double the gravel mass straight away, or do I add gravel slowly? Any help much appreciated!
Upsizing Tanks - Advice Please
- Thread starter NickBFC
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Hey Nick, welcome. It's no problem to just add to your gravel in the new tank. You can transfer the water if you want but it's not important. Your beneficial bacterial is pretty much all in the filter media so the water is disposable. Just make sure to not let the media dry out if you have to take the filter out. What filter do you have? Do you test the water? How? When you fill the new tank, make sure you temp match so the fish are going into the same temp. Good luck
Thanks,
Steve
Thanks,
Steve
That's great thanks Steve. I have a kit to test water. RE keeping water the same temp, is it easier to get another heater and pre heat the water so I know it's the same? If I took 50% of the current water and added it to the new tank, plus say another 20% on top, how long would you recommend to put my filter (Fluval U2) in there for before adding the fish? I assume they would be okay in the current tank for a little while without a filter?
Just transfer everything water, gravel, fish and filter to the new tank. If you need more gravel add it. Then fill the remainder of the tank with new water. It is just like doing a water change.
If you have a new filter for the new tank, use the new filter with the old cartrage.
If you have a new filter for the new tank, use the new filter with the old cartrage.
Excellent thanks for that. Will have a look at tanks, seen this below, does anyone have one? Aquael Classic 60. Would a 54 litre tank be a decent size for a reasonable number of fish? I don't really have anywhere to put a larger tank so 50-60 litres is about my limit. http
/www.surreypetsupplies.co.uk/aquael-classic-kit-60.html
/www.surreypetsupplies.co.uk/aquael-classic-kit-60.htmlIt looks like an a good tank, but seems expensive. I am also in the US and don't really know aquarium prices in England. I will also recommend you add a few cories when you upgrade. They will be much more active and entertaining.
Electric Warrior
Fishaholic
Hi, just so you are aware, a RTBS really needs like a 180L + sized tank unfortunately. They need a lot of space to swim, and will not do well at all in even a 60L tank. If you keep it in a tank that small, it will eventually either become stressed/ill and not live too long, and/or kill everything else in there. You should try and rehome it, and up the number of cories when you get a bigger tank, as they need to be in groups.
Cheers, yes I agree the shark has grown to a really nice size so it would be kinder to let him roam in a larger tank. I read that cories prefer sand, is it an issue to use sand in my new tank as it would be a lot easier to start off with sand rather than change down the line. Edit to say: I have just bought a 70 litre tank and collecting it later!
I would go with the sand right away (good choice, btw; your cory will be much happier 
). There's a negligible amount of the good bacteria living on the substrate, so you don't need to bother transferring your old gravel.
What you want to do to change tanks is this;
wash your sand until it's clean and add it to the new tank. Remove most of the water from your old tank and put it in the new one.
move all your decorations and filter/heater to the new tank.
catch the fish and move them, once you've checked that the new tank is at the right temperature
gradually (don't bother taking more than 15 or 20 minutes though, you don't need to be that careful; to the fish this is just like a big water change) top up the new tank. making sure the new water is temperature matched and dechlorinated, of course!
switch everything back on.
It's best not to feed the fish for a couple of days before and after the move, and test the water every day, just in case some of your bacteria have died off during the move (a 'mini-cycle'). If that does happen, you might have to do a few extra water changes until the bacteria regrow.
). There's a negligible amount of the good bacteria living on the substrate, so you don't need to bother transferring your old gravel.What you want to do to change tanks is this;
wash your sand until it's clean and add it to the new tank. Remove most of the water from your old tank and put it in the new one.
move all your decorations and filter/heater to the new tank.
catch the fish and move them, once you've checked that the new tank is at the right temperature
gradually (don't bother taking more than 15 or 20 minutes though, you don't need to be that careful; to the fish this is just like a big water change) top up the new tank. making sure the new water is temperature matched and dechlorinated, of course!
switch everything back on.
It's best not to feed the fish for a couple of days before and after the move, and test the water every day, just in case some of your bacteria have died off during the move (a 'mini-cycle'). If that does happen, you might have to do a few extra water changes until the bacteria regrow.
Excellent, thanks for that. Shall get myself some sand in the morning from Argos (imagine local fish shop is way dearer) and do the change tomorrow. Looking forward to it, next question's going to be which fish shall I get when everything's back to normal but I'll make another thread for that!
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