My new freshwater 300g setup. Whats next?

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R

rgraze

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Nov 1, 2012
14
0
1
Mokena, IL
I just filled my 300g tank a week ago and was wondering what I should do next to move my fish from my 55g tank. Can I dump my cichlids in or do I have to do some sort of ammonia thing? Not sure.

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I am running a sump, the water drains down into tank by 2 feeds, filters through the matrix, into the refugium, into bio balls, heater then pumped back out.
Substrate is pool filter sand

Planning on rearranging rocks and driftwood, enclosing the base and top, plumbing lines for auto top off and water changes.

Also looking for any input on this setup anything that might need changing and putting socks on the in take lines in sump? Do I just grab a pair from my drawer? Whats the purpose?

2013-01-17140608.jpg
 
Its good that you are asking questions first before you put fish in there.

Your tank needs to be cycled before it is safe for fish. I would do some research on "Nitrogen Cycle" to understand first what a properly cycled tank is and how to achieve it.

Also, filter socks on the tank drains going into your sump are a very good idea. They trap the large particules of uneaten food and waste before they get trapped in your sump. Best to trap them in the socks, which are easily removable, and clean the socks to remove the waste from your system.
 
Rayne said:
Its good that you are asking questions first before you put fish in there.

Your tank needs to be cycled before it is safe for fish. I would do some research on "Nitrogen Cycle" to understand first what a properly cycled tank is and how to achieve it.

Also, filter socks on the tank drains going into your sump are a very good idea. They trap the large particules of uneaten food and waste before they get trapped in your sump. Best to trap them in the socks, which are easily removable, and clean the socks to remove the waste from your system.
Click to expand...


+1

If you have your old tank running still, you can add water to the new tank to speed up the process of cycling
 
water may help a little, but if you can use filter media from the cycled tank that will greatly speed it up. What kind of filter are you running on the 55g? If its a reasonable sized canister than can easily be transferred over I'd be inclined to put the fish straight in the 300g and run the filter from the 55g for a 2-4 weeks until the media in your sump is established.
 
Why not soak the media from your 300g in your 55? just get a mesh bag that will fit and not take up too much room, add what media from the 300 that you can, then soak it in the 55. Itll take a while to establish but at least it would be a seed. If its going to take that long though, you can probably just add ammonia and do it the old fashioned way
 
Hmm thinking about this, I could A. take the cartridges from the 55g and put them into the sump, Would I then add the fish or should I run it for awhile? or B. Hang the filter on the sump, would I then be able to put fish right in or have to wait? I would like option A since I plan on using the 55 for smaller cichlids in a 10 g tank.
 
Another question I have is water changes. I have a sump I was thinking of putting a pump in last chamber but I feel it would not get a lot of water out so kinda perplexed right now. The other option is the old gravel pump and 5 gal buckets.
 
Could you setup an auto drip or auto water change system? If you have a drain close by a pump that pumps water out would work. Auto water changes are super nice,

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