Upgrading tank. Moving fish?!?!?

Question

alright so this week i will be upgrading my tank from a 10 gallon to a 30 gallon..

Now my question is this..
I understand that i will need to do the break in cycle of the new tank.. but would you slowly adding my current 10gallon water to the new tank help build the bacteria?

someone with experience please guide me step by step on what to do

i have a aqua-clear filter for up to 30gallons in my 10gallon tank.. Though the new tank will have a whisper 40 filter..

Thank you all for your answers

Answer 1

Ok first congrats on the upgrade! :) Kay!

1. Set up the other tank fully with 5 gallons less than what you want. (Filters, gravel, plants, heater... ect). If it is going in the same place as the 10gal. tank is now You'll have to drain some water out and move the tank over (sometimes can cause future leaks though!) or wait and do it all at the same time (STRESSFUL!!!).

2. Have everything running like filters and heaters.

3. There is a product called Cycle and another called Biozyme. Cycle is in a white bottle. It's just super consentrated "good" bacteria. Biozyme is in a powder form and a little more messy. I would go with Cycle. I use it. Warning though... your water probally will cloud and look milky. That is actually good. You CAN NOT overdose on Cycle. It even says that. Trust me... I've had fish sitters stupidly dump half a bottle in my tank and the fish are still alive today. The cloud is just a bloom of bacteria (good kind from the nitrogen cycle). Make sure you understand this cycle. There's many, many sites that talk about it. Most are very credible. ALWAYS go to two sources when you hear about fish on the net though. (Even including here.)

4. Drain 50% of your water from the ten gallon and add to the 30. Make sure pH and temp are ok too.

5. Net or grab fish and plop them in the 30 gal. DO NOT TOSS YOUR 10 GALLON YET!

6. Watch how they act. If they are not exploreing and calming down (gasping, hiding, not acting right, darting... ect) within 20 mintues, consider feeding a little bit. If the fish doesn't eat... add back to ten gallon.

If all went well clean and store the ten gallon! Yay! If you have a stressed fish...

7. Every 20 or so mintues add a half a gallon to a gallon of the same kind of water in the 30. If it is a social fish put some other fish in with the stressed too to calm him/her/it. Once that's done add them to the 30 gallon and they will be find. If not the pH, chlorine, ammonia, or temp is not right.

Also, there's been a BIG outbreak of metalic poisoning. People change their water or set up a new tank and suddenly their whole tank or even just a few... freak out and die. That's why it is VERY important to either age your water by letting it sit out for a day... or watch them carefully and be willing to mix water and take care of them should they freak.

Hope I helped! Good luck with the big upgrade! :)

If I did help at all... feel free to email me anytime if you have problems with your tank or just "dumb" questions. lol. A lot of people are giving up the fish hobby becuase they have a lot of trouble and don't know what to do. So yeah. Good luck again! :)

Answer 2

Just transfer all the media including the filter and the tank water to your new 30 gallon, and treat like a big waterchange, which will be in your case like a 60%

transfer everything and fill it up with conditioned water
You can have your old filter in there as well as your new one
the old filter has already the much needed bacteria
after 6 weeks you could remove the old filter and the new one will have build up the bacteria as well by then
Your tank might still go through a small cycle, but nothing major


Hope that helps
Good luck


EB



Feel free to email me


Edit*
Well, if you guys don't believe what i say, then follow the link in my profile and talk to people who have 20+ tanks setup and do it exactly the way i mentioned

Answer 3

Set-up and cycle your new tank just like you did with your 10 gallon. Add some of the gravel from old tank to your new tank. You'll have good bacteria living in the old gravel and adding a cup or two to your new tank will shorten cycling time a little. If you have filter mats/floss/cartridges from your old tank that will fit in your new tank's filter, you can also use old filter material in your new tank. Don't use all of it, only about 1/3 or a half at most. Using old gravel and filter material is a better way to speed up the cycle process as this is where the bacteria lives.

Be sure you are testing your new tank water and try to be patient and let the new tank cycle fully before adding your fish.

Hope this helps and good luck!

Answer 4

You can get product called Cycle from your LFS that works wonders... it can cut the cycle time in half and reduce the intensity of the ammonia spike. Other things that you may want to try

1) use the old, smaller filter on the larger tank in conjunction with the new filter. the old filter will have all the old bacteria in it, and provided that you don't add any fish to the tank and increase the ammonia load untill the tank cycles for the first time it will help keep the ammonia spike down and your fish alive. This won't be feasable if you use an undergravel filter.

2) incorporate the old gravel in the new tank. again this will provide established colonies of bacteria to spread into the new filter and substrate, providing a much speedier cycle, and keep the ammonia low.

3) cut down the amount that you feed the fish by 20-50% for the first week or two. The less they eat, the less ammonia they produce, and fish can go for a week with NO food, so a reduced diet won't cause them much harm.

Hope these ideas help... one other piece of advice, don't add any fish to the tank untill after it cycles for the first time. The increased volume of the new tank will more than accomidate the current population, even if you add them to a totally fresh system (given that their reasonably hardy fish like danios or guppies. you know your specimens best, and how tolerant of ammonia they are.) if you incorporate one (or more) of the ideas I've given you, you shouldn't have any trouble.

Good Luck!

Answer 5

I already gave you a partial answer in your other question. The good bacteria will die if you don't add the fish at the same time that you put the stuff from the old tank into the new. You can put some of the other stuff as well as mentioned before. Just put all the water from the old tank. It will not help the bacteria but will help the fish to acclimate. Be sure to use Stress Coat to remove chlorine and chloramines if you have city water. Also be sure the temperature is the same and check the ph to be sure it's also not too far off in the two tanks. If it is, acclimate the fish in a bag or plastic tub, just as you would when you got them. Here is a good site for cycling information: http://www.firsttankguide.net:80/cycle.php

Answer 6

Upgrades! OK. You can use the gravel from you 10 and put it in the 30. You are probably upgrading your filter too right? So you will need to let that cycle but it shoudln't take as long. I would still just put about half your fish in there and check the water levels in a week, when amonia and nitrites get to zero, put the rest in there. Then wait another week to add any more.

Answer 7

well i have a 29 gallon tank and when we did it we left the fish in the 10 gall for a while and put the 10 gallon's bacteria covered filter in the 30 gallon's filter(our filters were the same size) let it sit for a day or two and then put the fish in. well good luck on your fish! have fun

PS:
adding some of the old 10 gall tank water will help

Answer 8

Start with EVERYTHING clean and new, Add algi tabs. and the fish after th water is at room temp. feed hem once a day fo about a week then once every other day. Also get a good alkli to add to the water.

Answer 9

come across a liquid supplement that quickens the cycle. upload fish foodstuff to spike the ammonia.you additionally can upload ammonia to kick-start up the cycle. Do alterations weekly, and you ought to be o.k..