I'm going to be upgrading my tank from a 55g to a 150g and was looking for some personal experiences with Instant Cycling. I had planned on moving the gravel from the 55g to the 150, and then using the seasoned filter from the 55 gallon on the 150. I know i will need to do some extra water changes at first but are there any special considerations I need to make? I'm going to be doing a swap over of the fish in the 55 to the 150 and have no room to have both tanks up at the same time. Thanks for your help.
instant Cycle
- Thread starter HokieFish
- Start date
I have done similar with good results. Provided the changeover is in a relatively short time period, the BB will survive and keep working in the new tank. Be sure not to kill it adding tap water to the larger tank make sure you de-chlorinate.
I have the exact same question. I'm just going to be adding my old rocks and deco to the new tank (120). Then recycle my 55.
Yeah, all of the decor (rocks, driftwood, and such) will also be transferred over to the tank.
I already do regular waterchanges (around 25% three times per week), should i increase this or will it be sufficient?
I already do regular waterchanges (around 25% three times per week), should i increase this or will it be sufficient?
Yeh I wouldn't say ur new tank will be instantly cycled but it will cycle pretty fast with less bio load..
That's great news. I pick up the 150 tomorrow. The decor, gravel, and filters will transfer over. The FH and his Clown Pleco tankmate will be the only fish at first, so the load will be low.
Tanks Cycle contantly, there just won't be a spike in this case, like a new setup would do which is commonly referred to as "Cycling" becasue that's what it has to do one time before adding fish in a Clean Setup. but in this guys case, his BB colony will already be large enough ot handle the bio load that will be going in the tank. Plus BB double in size in around 24-48 hours, if needed!
This is how I've increased my tank sixe for years with no change in routine with 100% success on City water... Just make sure to treat the new tap water being added to the new tank as you would with a water change. This will delute the Nitrates in the tank and act as a water change. also make sure that your tank has been on a regular water change routine and that you don't have high amounts of ammonia in the water or the addition of of the new waters higher PH could turn the ammonia lethal!
post some pics!
Not sure when I will have time to get the actual set up complete. Things are crazy at work, Hopefully I'll have a day next week that i can devote to swapping everything over (if i can find help physically moving the tanks). Don't worry, more pics are definately on their way, I already posted a pic of the empty tank i snapped last night on one of the other threads.
Thanks for the info!
Thanks for the info!
i guess technically I havent "cycled" any of my tanks over the last 5 years. i do pretty much what your doing. Just did it this past week with a new 135. I had two canisters on a 90 growout that i was shutting down for another project, so i moved both of those to the new tank. i also moved a third canister from another 60 gallon, and the the fourth canister is new but has bio from my main tank, so technically, all four filters are seeded and ready to go. First week i usually dose with Stability just to be safe. Other than that, stock lightly and do water changes every few days and you should be good to go.