Transfering aquarium. Can I insta cycle the new tank?

[Karen B.]

Hey guys!

I bought a 20 gallons long to transfer my 2 apistogramma cacatuoides in. They were in a 20 high and as my male Dior is grumpy and chase my female Chanel a lot, I figured a little more space wouldn’t hurt.

I will be using the 20 high for 6 pea puffers.

Both will have new substrate.

I plan to plant the 20 long (new plants), use the old rocks from their aquarium and 1 little piece of driftwood. I will also fill half the tank with their old water, use their HOB that I will first squeeze/clean in the aquarium, let it run/clear the water for a day then I would think it to be safe to transfer the 2 fish? Or should I wait longer for the new cycle to establish itself?

As for the 20 high, new rock/driftwood and plants. But would let the sponge filter in. I also have the new HOB media seeded in another aquarium (been there for a week). For good measure, will also clean/squeeze the media of another aquarium in. Will let it run empty (with snails) for 2 days before adding the pea puffers.

what do you think of my plan? Am I too quick to add my fish? I have prime and will of course monitor closely for ammonia. The pea won’t be fed as I will quarantine  them using the trio-med straight in their new aquarium. 

[nabokovfan87]

Tagging in @tolstoy21 for some advice on setup for the tank.  Please share a photo so that if there is a line of sight issue or something, potentially advice can be given to fix things while moving the fish 🙂 .

 

On 11/17/2022 at 4:16 PM, Karen B. said:

I plan to plant the 20 long (new plants), use the old rocks from their aquarium and 1 little piece of driftwood. I will also fill half the tank with their old water, use their HOB that I will first squeeze/clean in the aquarium, let it run/clear the water for a day then I would think it to be safe to transfer the 2 fish? Or should I wait longer for the new cycle to establish itself?

I would add all your filters (or media) to the current active tank until you have advice on method to do the swap.  It gives the media time to build up some bacteria and likely isn't any issue with the setup to add this onto or in the water column near/around the water movement is best.  I would run it for 2-3 weeks, then move over the equipment to the new tank.  I would dose the new tank if you have liquid bacteria.  If not, just be patient and feed light to give things time.

pea puffers can be a very sensitive species, so I would really try to give them a clean, viable, and established tank.  Don't rush it.  Plants will help a ton too. 

[tolstoy21]

For two fish in a 20 long, if you are transferring the HOB with established media (did I read that correctly?), you will be fine. If your water source is the same for the new tank as it was for the old tank, then you probably don't even need to transfer any old water. You can, but I'm not sure you need to.

I would just fill the tank, decorate it with driftwood and plants, move the fish  (if the params are in the same ballpark), then maybe give the HOB media a quick clean in a bucket of old tank water, then move the HOB.  The whole process should take no more than an afternoon.

If the HOB has been running on their tank for a while now, it should have bacteria enough to seed the new tank.  I would only use caution if you also planned to introduce a bunch more fish on the same day. Then the HOB might not be able to keep up with the new, increased bio-load.

All in all, keep it simple, don't over think it, but do pay attention to the important things, like transferring your established HOB at the same time you move the fish, and making sure that the water (Ph, Kh, Gh, temp) is approximately the same in the new tank as it was the old tank before moving either.

Maybe take some daily readings for the first week or two and do water changes as needed in response to what those readings tell you (just as a better-safe-than-sorry measure).

And as @nabokovfan87 suggested, dosing liquid bacteria never hurt anything.

[Karen B.]

On 11/17/2022 at 8:13 PM, tolstoy21 said:

For two fish in a 20 long, if you are transferring the HOB with established media (did I read that correctly?), you will be fine. If your water source is the same for the new tank as it was for the old tank, then you probably don't even need to transfer any old water. You can, but I'm not sure you need to.

I would just fill the tank, decorate it with driftwood and plants, move the fish  (if the params are in the same ballpark), then maybe give the HOB media a quick clean in a bucket of old tank water, then move the HOB.  The whole process should take no more than an afternoon.

If the HOB has been running on their tank for a while now, it should have bacteria enough to seed the new tank.  I would only use caution if you also planned to introduce a bunch more fish on the same day. Then the HOB might not be able to keep up with the new, increased bio-load.

All in all, keep it simple, don't over think it, but do pay attention to the important things, like transferring your established HOB at the same time you move the fish, and making sure that the water (Ph, Kh, Gh, temp) is approximately the same in the new tank as it was the old tank before moving either.

Maybe take some daily readings for the first week or two and do water changes as needed in response to what those readings tell you (just as a better-safe-than-sorry measure).

And as @nabokovfan87 suggested, dosing liquid bacteria never hurt anything.

Thank you for your reply.

What would be your advice about the old tank that will be redecorated to house 6 pea puffers?

The substrate/plants/driftwood and rocks are all new. I would however leave the old sponge filter in (so not transferring it with the apistogramma as they will have their old HOB filter seeded already. I will use a new sponge filter for them).

I have a new HOB filter for the pea puffers, but will be placing some seeded media from my other aquariums. And they will not be fed for a couple of day while they go through quarantine. 

[tolstoy21]

So the puffer tank will get an already established sponge filter and a new HOB with seeded media? I would think you'll be fine then.  Just make sure there is an ammonia source for the filter to stay established if you put it in a new clean tank without fish for more than a few days.

Better yet, move the old sponge filter with the apistos, then when you are ready to introduce the puffers to their new tank, move it back.  Then put the new sponge filter into the apisto tank.

In all honesty, in a 20-long with only 2 apistos, you probably only need the HOB and can skip adding a sponge filter if you want. Adding one certainly won't hurt anything, but I don't know that it will add any meaningful extra biological filtration capacity.  A best it might serve as a second source of mechanical filtration, or perhaps a second source of current to keep the water moving around the tank.

Edited November 18, 2022 by tolstoy21

[nabokovfan87]

@tolstoy21 how do you keep your apistos?  In terms of aggression, how many in a 20H or 20L do you have?  Any special scape needs?

[tolstoy21]

@nabokovfan87 I keep pairs only in 20 highs and sometimes 10 gallons.  I tend to put a big java fern in the tank, a pot or two of crypts, leaf litter, and a single hut. I focus more on making the female feel her hut/cave is nice and secluded and protected, but also make sure I can see it so I know what’s going on breeding wise. I never put more than a single pair in a 20g because I find it’s too small for two females and if one has fry, more often than not, the other snacks on them.  Also, females can be territorial as well. 

Now if a fish in the pair gets aggressive for a prolonged period of time and I’m afraid I might lose one of them, I separate the fish.  Keep in mind, all my tanks are set up for breeding and I have a bunch so it’s easy for me to relocate fish. They are all pretty minimally scaped. But in general I try to give the fish places to feel safe from me or one another. I use endlers as dithers (mostly males) because they are small and don’t bother fry and tend to occupy the top layer of the tank, and also because they are easy to reproduce (aka inexpensive).

I use 40 breeders for grow outs and they can have anywhere from a dozen to over a hundred apistos in them. These house both sexes and frequently contain varied species. In these scenarios the fish are younger and there are so many that I never see aggression because there are no established territories based on the population size. I’ll often see multiple males congregating together peacefully inside the same ceramic log or other shelter.

Anyway, that’s the basic rundown of my setups. I’d do something similar in a display tank, except make it nicer looking. 

Edited November 18, 2022 by tolstoy21