First post!

gorangers0525

Hi! I've had a ten gallon tropical aquarium for quite awhile now. It's seen plenty of small fish in the past. Right now all it has is a Blue Gourami and an albino pleco. These guys have lasted awhile and I've been planning to upgrade to a 29 for awhile. Any tips on what to stock in this aquarium? I'd like to include the gourami and pleco in the 29 since I've had them both for 3 years. The tank is fine for both of them, but adding anything else would be overstocking it and the gourami can be territorial. Also any tips on transferring these fish into the new aquarium would be greatly appreciated, it would really hurt to lose them.

brownmane

Welcome to TFK. I don't know a lot about different fish. I always use the "Tropical Fish Profiles" tab at the top of the screen for great fish info. I'm sure that your questions will be answered once others see your post.

Of course I can say that the first thing you want to do is get your tank set up and start the cycling process. As you know, this can take a while, but you can use some of the beneficial bacteria you already have in your first tank to help cycle your new one. If your new tank has already cycled, then you could add your fish you already have after acclimatizing them to it like you did when you first brought them home. Or, you could stock the new tank with the new fish, leaving your older ones in the first tank until you know that the new ones are not carrying any diseases and add the older ones later. Just remember that anytime you are moving fish, acclimatizing them is important to help minimizing stress.

gorangers0525

Thanks brownmane, the fish profiles are very helpful. I'm considering getting some blue rams but I'm afraid my gourami might mess them up a little. I wish there was a way to calm him down. Hopefully a bigger tank does it.

ladayen

As Brown mentioned cycle the tank first. Put any new additions in first then the gourami and pleco.

gorangers0525

Any hardy/compatible fish suggestion to use to cycle the aquarium?

bigfish93

A lot of us here use the fishless cycling method because it is easier and less stressful. You can use pure ammonia from ace, raw shrimp, or fish food. You can also add some of the gravel from your ten gallon and run the filter in it as well. This will add beneficial bacteria and speed up the cycling process. If you still want to do the fish in cycle then I am pretty sure danios are the hardy fish that people use.

gorangers0525

I haven't tried the raw shrimp method before, it seems effective. I'll also move as much as I can from the ten gallon into the 29 without taking much away from my pleco and gourami. Thanks for the help guys!

k19smith

If your moving the pleco and gourami your best bet is to take the gravel, filter and fish and move them all to the 29 at the same time. There is no need to cycle the tank if your moving the fish and equipment, you will still have the same bio load of 2 fish.

I do not recommend ever buying fish to cycle because then you have to get rid of the fish when your cycle is finished.

You need to add the new fish you decide on slowly as not to cause a mini cycle. Ex. don't go buy 10 fish and toss them in.

gorangers0525

I know not to add to many fish at one time, but are you sure that's ok? I know the gravel and filter and everything will be holding most of the beneficial bacteria needed to convert the ammonia but are you sure just moving them in like that is fine? I also know that the water itself does not hold much of the bacteria but would it be good if I used a little of the 10 gallon aquariums water?

gorangers0525

Bump just because I want to get this new tank rolling.


Again thank you everyone for the help. I'll definitely be sticking around this forum. Hopefully one day I'll be helping out new members too!