# Moving fish to a larger tank



## bulldoghall (Jun 12, 2007)

Advice:
I will have to break down my 115(with a 180g wet-dry and two AC 70's) in two weeks, and move my F1 Kapampas(11) to a 300. However, it will take two-three days (to put in the hardwood floor and reinforce the floor from the basement) to switch them over, let alone if the 300 has to cycle..

I have plenty of "dirty water". I also have two 20 longs that I can put up and run Aqua Clear 70's in each one and split them up. I could also re-set my 115 in another room, and put them back in it one,and refill it, after I dechlorinate it .

Or should I do something else?
HELP :roll: 
Thanks
Steve


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## bulldoghall (Jun 12, 2007)

Any one home?


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## Hoosier Tank (May 8, 2007)

Can you move the 180g (capacity not actual gallonage??) wet / dry to the 300 intact? if the 300 isn't drilled for overflows but the 115 was, you could build / but a HOB overflow. I would think with that and the 2 AC 70's that are well established would prevent you from getting a ammonia / nitrite spike.
Or put the 2 AC70's on their own 20g tanks as you mentioned and put 2 AC110's along with your established wet / dry system on the 300. Take some media from the 70's and preseed the new 110's.
I suppose either way you _could_ see a mini cycle, but really you aren't increasing the bioload, just deluteing it with more water going from a 115 to a 300.


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## bulldoghall (Jun 12, 2007)

a PM to ya!! Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## bulldoghall (Jun 12, 2007)

a PM to ya!! Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## Eb0la11 (Feb 29, 2008)

Agreed with hoosier. Unless youre adding more fish straight away and for some reason didnt move over the same established filtration bacteria colonies over, then you should be fine.

Once you get some more filtration media developing its bacteria colony you can add more fish.


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## bulldoghall (Jun 12, 2007)

The good news is that my builder is going to install the flooring up to the 125, and then reinforce the floor in the basement so that I can set-up the 300 and have the 125 run and the same time... so... I will have 4-6 days that I can run the 300 without moving my fronts... But

I cannot move my wet/dry.. Or the substrate/rocks into the 300.. I am putting other fish in that tank..

I am putting both of the AC 70's in the 300, along with a 100g large sponge that I am going to soak in "dirty water" from the 115 for a day, then run it in the 300 with a large pump in the tank.

The set-up (300) comes with 2 fluvial 404's too.. Should I add some "dirty water" from a water change in the 125 to the canisters, after I fill and add Prime to the water?? Or dump the dirty water (a 1/2 gallon or so) in the 300??


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## Eb0la11 (Feb 29, 2008)

"dirty water" doesnt do much of anything for your fish.

Ammonia and Nitrate present in the "dirty water" would help feed your bacteria colony and thats about it. Problem is if you dont have that colony in the first place then you are just starting out with water that has properties that arent ideal for the fish (ie ammonia, nitrate and nitrate present) Having fish will also feed your bacteria colony, so bringing the water over will help somewhat, it wont do nearly enough to make sure that you dont have crazy ammonia nitrata and nitrite levels.

You need filter media to be established. If you cycle the tank it takes at least 2-4 weeks to do it from scratch with an ammonia source (fish provide this but you need a hardy fish that can withstand some wonky levels while the bacteria grows).

I'd try to seed the new filters with some established media in the form of bio balls with the bacteria that breaks down fish waste or sponges that have established bacteria on them or gravel has a tiny bit, moreso than water but less than on things that it normally grows such as rough surfaces like bio balls or sponge filters.

People also say that if you put some gravel from your substrate into a new pantyhose and put that in your filter it can help seed it a bit too so that the process is done quicker. The bacteria has to grow. Starting from scratch takes the longest. A seeded one (like 1/4 of the filters media being established) would speed it up and transferring complete established media would be no ill effects whatsoever.


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## bulldoghall (Jun 12, 2007)

If I put my both of my seeded AC 70's from my 115 (they both have two sponges and bio material in each one) in the 300, along with some of my bio balls from my 115 wet/dry in the AC 70's (I will put them in a biobag) that will speed up the process.. Or will I need a large fish(es) to ride a short cycle out before I put my Fronts in there? I do have up to two weeks before I move them...

Thanks


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## Eb0la11 (Feb 29, 2008)

Quick question before I answer that. Did you say you have a 180 gallon wet dry filter on a 115 gallon tank?


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## bulldoghall (Jun 12, 2007)

It has been up and running for a year-and-a-half in the 115.. Leleupi breeding; fronts getting huge.. I was going to add a AC 70 to the 115, once I removed the other two and move them to the 300..


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## bulldoghall (Jun 12, 2007)

yes it is a 180 wet/dry..


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## bulldoghall (Jun 12, 2007)

alot of fish in there.... I also do 25-35% water change every week..


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## Eb0la11 (Feb 29, 2008)

Hmmm, you said you have up to two weeks to move them right? What I'd do is is have the two AC 70s setup on the 300 like you said and then seed both of my fluvals that are going to be on the 300 anyways. Seed them pretty good if you can. Take some bio balls or whatever you got in your sump and put them in there and maybe some sponge if theres some of that too.

Then let that run for basically as long as you can to build up the bacteria colony again.

I dont think you'd need to add another AC 70 to the 115 unless you need some kind of surface agitation from the water fall of it. That 180 gallon sump is tons for a 115 gallon tank. Itd be ideal to have that sucker on the 300 gallon and then the fluvals and ACs on the 115 but maybe thats another day's project.

You'll need some kind of ammonia source to get the bacteria to grow in the seeded fluvals. Im not sure how comfortable I'd be with my most prized fish in this setup but I'd definitely feel comfortable putting in quite a few fish, like 6-8 medium sized guys (5-6 inch guys) because the two established AC 70s alone should be able to handle the bio load of these fish and eventually the bacteria will grow in the fluvals. I'd slowly add more fish to to increase the bio load so that the bacteria does grow. If the fluvals are seeded well with at least 25% of the filter media in them already having a thriving bacteria colony then they shouldnt take long to get into full flight so I would almost add a fish every day or other day.

Does this make sense? I hope I've read everything you wrote down right.


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## MidNightCowBoy (May 7, 2007)

Bio Spira might be the easiest solution for you.


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## Eb0la11 (Feb 29, 2008)

MidNightCowBoy said:


> Bio Spira might be the easiest solution for you.


I have no experience with the stuff as its not shipped to Canada but is this a sure thing? Sounds like bulldoghall has some nice fish. Id hate to see him lose some if something did go askew.


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## bulldoghall (Jun 12, 2007)

1. Add the two fluvials (for the 300) to the 115 and run them in the 115 for a week or two.
2. At the same time, declorinate the 300 and move one of the old AC 70's loaded with sponges, bio materials, and some of the bio-balls from my wet/dry (in a bio bag), AND add a used AC 70 that has not been up and running, and add new sponges and bio balls from the wet/dry in the 115 to the 300 and run that..
3. I will add a 100 gallon sponge and a large pump to the 300 that has been soaked with dirty water.
4. After a day or two, I will add 6-8 large guppies to the 300
5. After a week I will test the water and coordinate water changes based on the readings
6. After 10-12 days I will add the fluvials from the 115 to the 300.
7. I will test daily for the next 2/4 days and put my fronts in when the chemistry in OK
Sound like a plan????


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## Eb0la11 (Feb 29, 2008)

Sounds pretty good to me. I still dont understand the 100 gallon sponge. Thats gotta be a big sponge. *** never heard of using one like this before but maybe it'll help grow some bacteria in the tank, but it'll probably all be removed when you remove the sponge as it wont just grow in the water and float around, it'll grow right on the sponge.

Nonetheless this should work out well for you. Just make sure you've got enough overall water turnover. I am not sure waht the fluvals are rated at for GPH but you gotta make sure you get at least like 6-8 times your tanks volume in factory rated turnover (which will be more like 4-5 x actual turnover as those are rated without any media inside the filters.)


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## bulldoghall (Jun 12, 2007)

After I visited some of the more experienced African breeders in Michigan(Oyers, Wet Thumb, two others) I noticed that all of them had thousands of dollars into the fish and years of experience breeding Africans, and with that in mind, they all had various types of sponge filtration in their tanks..

I will have a huge pump(for up to a 90 g tank) on that one sponge plus two fluvial 404s and two AC 70's (most of the AC 100's do not fit in the slot for Acrylic tanks) is that enough?

I will keep that 100 gallon sponge in there(behind some rocks) even after it is cycled..

Thanks for all of the help!!

I sent you a FM too!!


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## Eb0la11 (Feb 29, 2008)

I just dont understand what you mean by a 100 gallon sponge. Is this a sponge that takes up the space of 100 gallons of water? My filters all just came with sponges and yes, all of them have sponge to some extent in them, its called mechanical filtration. Perhaps just the name you used for them was what threw me off.


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