Your thoughts and advice on a tank move and replacement.

[Mary K]

I have a new 75g that I need to set up. The plan is to move everything from my existing 29 into it.  (I only want and have the room for one tank, blasphemy I know, sorry). But I need to move the 29 tank first, so I can set up the 75 in the same spot. I am not quite sure what order to everything. Here are my thoughts cause I need to write them out.  

1. Empty 3/4 of 29 water into a plastic storage tub

2. Move fish into tub with some plants and HOB filter and air stone. 

3. Pray I can lift and move/rotate stand and tank together 5ft to the left.

3a. if not, remove rest of water, try again, if not then plants & gravel  (ugggghhhh, bleck, use curse words, cry)

3b Move tank, replace everything. making a cloudy mess.

3c. something was supposed to go here but I lost my thought

3d. Return fish to tank once its not to cloudy, Hope fish don't die. 

QUESTION: Will this mess up my cycle in 29g if I have to remove everything and put it back?  

4. Set up new 75 and use some water and seeded filter from 29g.

5. Move over 1/2 the plants. 

6. Wait for cycle in new tank.  

Does this sound like a plan?  

Thank you in advance for any input. I do appreciate ya''ll!! 

29g

 

75g Waiting patiently. 

 

[lefty o]

doing a straight transfer form one tank to another, clean 5gal buckets, totes etc. put fish and water in one, gravel decorations etc in one. move empty tank, place new one, add old and new gravel, fill, treat water if needed, get filtration up and running, and tank is to proper temp, add fish and remaining water from that bucket. i would do it all at one time, might take 2 hours if you get after it. but better than tear down, set up old tank, set up new, move old stuff etc.

Edited April 11, 2021 by lefty o

[Mary K]

@lefty o  Well...  how bout that!!  Cool.   I just assumed I had to get the new one cycled first. 

I like it!  Thank you!

Edited April 11, 2021 by Mary K

[CalmedByFish]

The new one should be fine regarding cycling - since you're moving your bacteria from the 29 into it. 

But I sure wouldn't put any fish in the new one until it's been full of water, without leaking, for a minimum of 24 hours. The longer the better. Ya never know. 

[lefty o]

sort of agree with above. i would fill the new tank somewhere safe and let it sit for a day or two. just to be sure it doesnt leak. can be drained and moved where you want it after.

[1moretank]

Test the new one outside for leaks, then @lefty ois correct, move everything from the 29 to the 75 at once.  The bacteria will be enough because you aren't changing the bacteria needs of the tank, would not add new fish for a while, then add a  few at a time to let bacteria keep up.  Congrats on the new tank.

[Mary K]

Thanks @CalmedByFish , @lefty o , & @1moretank I appreciate y'alls advice!

I did the 24 hour leak test last weekend.  She is a go!!

 

[LaurieinIA]

I transferred/upgraded my African cichlids to a new 75 last weekend.  I agree with everything above... just do it all at once using your basic plan of putting the fish/ plants in tubs while you’re working.  It took about 3-4 hours from when I started to having it all cleaned up.  I transferred all water, substrate, decor, etc. My water was still a little cloudy when I dropped the fish in, but within 2 hours it had cleared. 

Transferring everything you can with BB on it from your old tank should be enough to get the new one going.

That being said, I personally still felt like I was doing a “fish in” cycle, but with a head start due to the existing BB. It has been 8 days and I am confident that I have fully cycled new tank.

I chose to use Fluval Cycle to help move things along and I used Prime to treat my tap water.  Then, I treated with Prime daily, as needed, to protect the fish from higher than 0 levels while working thru the cycle. I did have the normal ammonia & nitrite spikes that are expected with a new cycle, but they were short lived. Today, I reached 0 ammonia & 0 nitrites.  Nitrates were a bit high (as expected) but a large water change took care of that.  I plan to test daily for a while to be sure things are stable, then will start getting ready to redo the old tank as a planted community tank. 

This blog post was helpful to me in deciding how much/when to dose with Prime and how much/when to do a water change.  https://fishlab.com/fish-in-cycle/

Since I will need my HOB on the old tank again soon, I actually have both my new canister filter and the old tank’s HOB running on the 75 right now to keep that filter & media going while also giving the new filter system a longer chance to get better established.  Depending on what you have for filters, you could probably do that too - just to give the new one a boost - even if you aren’t going to use it again later. 

Good luck!

Edited April 12, 2021 by LaurieinIA
Correction

[Mary K]

@LaurieinIA

Thank you very much for the advice. I do appreciate it. 

I was shooting to do it yesterday but  my helper is not feel good at all after 1st covid shot, and I get my 2nd one Friday and expect to not be feeling good either....  SO its going to have to wait.  That will give me time to get Fluval Cycle though. 

[LaurieinIA]

5 minutes ago, Mary K said:

@LaurieinIA

Thank you very much for the advice. I do appreciate it. 

I was shooting to do it yesterday but  my helper is not feel good at all after 1st covid shot, and I get my 2nd one Friday and expect to not be feeling good either....  SO its going to have to wait.  That will give me time to get Fluval Cycle though. 

Glad I could help!  I know using Cycle might not have been 100% necessary, but I felt it was the right move for me.  I dosed per the bottle for the first 3 days along with following the “fish in” guidelines for dosing Prime and doing water changes from that blog post. It took the guesswork out of it for me and I feel it was less stressful for me and my fish. 

[Mary K]

Just a follow up.  This move did not go well for the fish, nor me.   If I had to do over again i would have moved the old tank over, and set up the 75 and let it cycle.  Although water parameters are good, Iv lost a lot of fish. 

I do know it could be one many things causing this.  I'm sure a more experienced Aquarist could have handled this move though.

Very bummed out now. But just doing what I can, meds and water changes.

[LaurieinIA]

@Mary K I’m sorry to hear this didn’t go well for you