Moving fish to a new tank, questions inside...

[terd ferguson]

My work getting my big tank ready is almost complete. My neighbor dropped it helping me carry it in my house. I took it completely apart and put it back together with a new piece of glass. No leaks, so I'm almost ready to set it up and move the fish.

Here's where you guys come in. The new tank is 60" long x 24" wide x 30" tall. It has a wet/dry sump for filtration. The old 55 gallon that the fish are in now has an Emperor 280 and an Emperor 400.

As far as cycling the new tank goes, will the bio wheels from the two Emperors be enough (3 total)? Should I use the Emperors on the tank (to get good bacteria in the sump) or just put the biowheels in the water? Or should I get some goldfish and put them in the new tank until it cycles? Or should I add the biowheels and goldfish? I'd like to get it up and running and the fish moved as soon as possible.

As always, thanks very much in advance for any and all help and/or suggestions. And thanks for this great forum.

 

[Merbeast]

I would use the Emperors on the new tank. It will ease the cycling process, provide more aeration than the sump alone, and provide a larger margin for error than just having the sump. YMMV

 

[Ianab]

If you are completely swapping the tanks over then use the complete working filters from your old tank in the new one. They will be handling the same bioload as they were in the old tank, so even if they are 'too small' for the new tank it's OK because the new tank is only lightly stocked.

After a few weeks the new filtration in the new tank should have cycled and you can think about taking the the old filters out.

If you are keeping the smaller tank set up as well, then just move one filter and 1/2 the fish.

Cheers

Ian

 

[earthstones]

You could also try transferring some gravel/ sand from old tank to help with bio load

 

[terd ferguson]

If you are completely swapping the tanks over then use the complete working filters from your old tank in the new one. They will be handling the same bioload as they were in the old tank, so even if they are 'too small' for the new tank it's OK because the new tank is only lightly stocked.

After a few weeks the new filtration in the new tank should have cycled and you can think about taking the the old filters out.

If you are keeping the smaller tank set up as well, then just move one filter and 1/2 the fish.

Cheers

Ian

Ian,

Thanks. That's the info I was looking for. The 55 now has 2 Aequidens rivulatus (False Green Terrors or Gold Saums) about 4", 1 Astronatus ocellatus (Common Oscar) about 4", 1 Amphilophus festae (True Red Terror) about 5.5", 1 Parachromis loiselli (Loiselli) about 6.5", 2 Parachromis managuense (Jaguars) about 2.5", 1 Synodontis eupterus (Featherfin Catfish) about 4".

My 6" Cichlasoma octofasciatum (Jack Dempsey) is on loan to a friend trying to get some spawning done but will be back in about 4 weeks. I loaned out the JD and took in the beautiful female Festae in trade for my 'trouble' (I get to keep the Festae). Not bad, lol.

The tank these will be going in is 189 gallons and measures 60" long x 24" wide x 30" tall. The wet/dry sump is about 50 gallons. Everyone's getting along peacefully as of now and have been for the last couple of months in the 55 gallon (the JD was swapped out for the festae, but the JD will be coming back).

Also, the sand from the 55 (50 pounds worth of 3M Colorquartz) will be going in the big tank along with about 150 more pounds of new Colorquartz. I will add the Emperor 280 and 400 (along with the sand) to the new tank as recommended. I also have 2 Penguin 1140 powerheads (300 gph each) for added aeration and water flow with filters for a teeny bit more mechanical filtration (these are on the 55 now and will be going to the new tank). Does this sound ok?

Thanks again everyone for the help and thanks for this great forum.

 

[terd ferguson]

I almost forgot, I will probably be getting rid of one of the Green Terrors. Both are males, I'll keep the one that looks the best when they get a little larger.

I'll be doing the same kind of thing with the Jags. I bought two of them at Petsmart. They look different from each other, one is light and one is dark. I'm hoping one ends up being a male. So, I'll keep which ever one that ends up being male. Or if they both end up being female, I'll keep which ever one looks the best when they get a little larger (or keep searching for a male).

I'd like to eventually add a female Parachromis motaguense (Red Tiger Mota) and/or a female Cichlasoma salvini (Salvini) when I get rid of one of the GT's and/or one of the Jags. Or maybe I'll keep them, I don't know I guess it depends how attached I get to them.

At the end of the day, I'll end up with a tank full of stone cold killers hopefully living in relative harmony. I figure if 5 big killers and 2 little killers can get along in the 55, 8 or 9 big killers should be ok in the big tank. So far, so good.

My goal is to have a tank (I have dubbed this tank "Pelican Bay" due to all the killers, lol). of what I feel are the most beautiful CA/SA cichlids. The big tank should be up and running within the week. Look for a monster thread coming soon with pictures detailing the trials and tribulations getting this thing going (including a diy stand, replacing a huge piece of glass, and taking the whole tank apart and putting it back together again). It's been a long hard road the last couple of months, but has definately been worth it. It's so close now, I can hardly wait.

 

[ProblEmZ]

Cool can't wait to see the pics of your future monsters!

 

[terd ferguson]

Cool can't wait to see the pics of your future monsters!

There's a few pics in some of my other threads of the Synodontis, GT, JD, Oscar, and Loiselli. They're all in different threads. Search my posts if you can't wait on the new "Pelican Bay" thread.

 

[terd ferguson]

I'm literally just waiting for enough help to lift the tank onto the stand now.