[Austin]

Hi everyone,

I am swapping my 50g to a 75g aquarium hopefully this weekend. I just want to make sure my procedure is right so if there is any red flags please let me know and if anyone has any suggestions please post them.

I intend to siphon out about 15 gallons of water into a cooler and place my fish in there. Then probably some more water to save in buckets. Then I will pull plants out and put them in a bucket, siphon gravel, store gravel for a rainy day, etc. Then I will move the old aquarium out of the way and then move the new aquarium. Add my washed sand, some water, driftwood, plants, filter, heater, etc. Then I will probably acclimate my fish a bit, and add them in. Is it that simple? I get a bit nervous that it is a lot of new water and change. And since the new aquarium needs to go where the old aquarium is its more complicated.

 

[Flint]

Can you run the old filter on the new tank or stuff the media in the new filter? If not you're looking at a fish-in cycle.
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[Austin]

Oh yes, sorry. I'm keeping the same filter, so the media and such will be the same as in my current aquarium.

 

[Flint]

Then you shouldn't have a problem. If do daily testing to watch for a mini-cycle but it shouldn't have one.
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[jaysee]

Yeah, it's pretty much that easy. Should take just a couple of hours.

There is no worry about changing that much water unless you never change the water, or you alter the waters chemistry, so I would not keep any of the old water except that which holds the fish. Honesty when I have done such swaps I didn't save ANY of the water. I just netted the fish out of the buckets and plopped them in the new tank.

You forgot one key step, to be done before you do ANYTHING. Secure the background on the new tank. That's the first thing you should do, because once you put the tank in place and set it up, that opportunity is lost. Sure you can still get one on, but it's so much more difficult and the quality of work will suffer for it. I prefer to paint the back glass.

Depending on your total filtration system, swapping out the gravel for sand may leave you briefly exposed while the bacteria catches up. I would not feed for a few days and dose with prime (water conditioner) for a few days to help things balance out. It would be a good idea to test a couple of times just so you know what's going on in your tank.

 

[Tolak]

Good call on the background, so few of my tanks have them that I wouldn't have even taken that into account. It all sounds good, I'd feed the fish lightly before the move, and fast for a day after, feed lightly after that for a bit to avoid any potential spikes.

 

[jaysee]

Honestly, if you really want to mitigate the impact on the cycle, you can remove the gravel from your existing tank over the course of a few days. Just net it out. Removing the gravel ahead of time will force the filter colony to pick up the slack in a more controlled manner. so, when it's time to make the switch there shouldn't be any gravel in the tank.

In my opinion, feeding heavier before making changes that can impact the cycle is the way to go. The extra food fed will build up the bacteria colony.

 

[Tolak]

Only reason for fasting before the move is for the benefit of the fish, as well as the temporary home in the cooler, same as you would do with shipping.

 

[jaysee]

Yeah but the fish won't be in the bucket for more than a couple of hours, so while it's similar to shipping, there's just not the time for anything to become a problem. Certainly adding a little water conditioner to the container would handle any ammonia produced in that window. my fish spend 2 hours in bags on my way home from the good fish store.



Oh, and my suggestion would be to not worry about netting the fish until you've removed the plants and decor and most of the water - far easier to do that way and less risk of injury to the fish.

 

[Tolak]

A double or triple dose of Prime to the holding water is one of the best tricks out there. That's another shipping trick, over the years I've bagged thousands of fish who sit for 24-36 hours, long drives to auctions & swaps, hours sitting on a table, and have yet to have someone get back to me with a problem.

I'm just trying to give someone a bit newer to this every advantage possible for success. Anything to reduce stress on the fish while being moved is a plus, think about going on a roller coaster ride after Thanksgiving dinner. Think, don't picture that!

 

[jaysee]

My fish store doesnt put anything in the water.

Oh yeah I don't think it's necessary to feed the fish the day of the swap, or even the day before. Agreed.

 

[Austin]

Thanks for all the advice! I've swapped tanks before and everything has been fine but I never really paid much attention I guess I got lucky LOL. Want to make sure. So I should double dose the water I store the fish in temporarily?