QUESTION - Transferring fish to new tank

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Buc_Nasty

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Jun 28, 2010
157
2
31
California
I have my fish temporarily in a 20g tank after selling my 125 and now getting my 90 up and running in a new apartment...
9 denison barbs, a black ghost knife, and 2 plecos (all very small)

I have an eheim 2217 fully stocked with bacteria thats been running a long time on the 20g now, and another brand new 2217, both which will go on the 90g long term...

My question: how should I go about doing the transfer? Can I just stick both 2217's on the 90 with new water? Cycle the 90 first with the new 2217? (want to get the fish out of the 20g as soon as possible)
Any advice would be much appreciated.
 
I've done this very same exercise many times throughout the yrs. I would transfer half your fish into the 90gal with the new 2217 and it's new media. I would wait approx 2 weeks and then swap out the media between the filters. Keep your eye on the amonia levels and do frequent WC's of maybe 10gls each time. Not sure what you have for substrate in the 20g but you could transfer some of that to the new tank after several weeks too.
 
Since the filter on the 20g has been keeping them all alive already, I'd just put it all on the 90 at once. The BB is the biggest concern and since it is a large enough colony to sustain everything in your 20g, there should be no difference in adding more water as long as you're not adding more fish at the same time. Also, I would guess this would kick-start the colony in the new eheim as well. I did this when changing from a 20 to a 55 without any problems (I would hope this isn't only good luck, but a proof that it is a safe method) using an established HOB and a new sunsun.
 
I just moved 7 tanks.... just move the current filter and new one onto the 90 with the fish.. long as you've been doing regular water changes on the 20 you shouldn't have any issues with useing all new water in the 90.. and imo it's best to do just that.

I would toss the new filter on the 90... fill it up.. dump you water chems in ( whatever you use for chlorine ect) let it run a few hours to match the 20' s current temp... then start netting fish over.... once teh fish are out... move your current filter over... done.... shouldn't see any ammonia spikes at all... but I always check the first few weeks anyways.
 
one problem is that the 20 is set up an hour drive away from where the 90 is being set up. I'll just fill the 90 and put prime and stress coat and whatnot in, match temps, then go get the fish and 2 filters, and put everything in the 90 at once. Its really my best option the 20 has too many fish and my brother's taking care of it for the time being but doesnt really know what hes doing so i want them out of there ASAP. I'll check ammonia and other factors regularly for the first few weeks.

Is it better to do more water changes or less for the first few weeks in this situation?
 
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