conversion

[sweettooth162]

ok i have a 20g tank with 2 springers dottybacks and 2 blue spot jawfish(both pairs) 15lbs lr and 2 inches of crushed coral 1 inch ls 170 penguin bio wheel 1 horseshoe crab 4 turbo snails. what i want to do is take the lr the filter and the sand/crush coral and move it into a 30g. if i move everything over including the water will it still need to cycle? only new thing i would add is 10 g of water and a power head

 

[leigh]

Yes--if you're disturbing your filtration in any way--which you are by moving your cc and sand, you will have some cycle to deal with...sorry

 

[michaeltx]

I would consider taking at this point and changing the bed to all sand and get rid of the CC. but if you use all existing you might have a mini cycle that can last a day but usually less than that.
the only thing I dont know if anyone has pointed out that horsehoe crabs are not suited for a smaller tank and most dont want them in the bigger tanks. they are kewl looking though.
anyway they get big and can be distructive so keep an eye out on him.
Mike
BTW just thought of a couple of things.
the sand CC mix if you use this and not switch try to find something that wont turn the sand when you are moving it. take it out in sections and that will help but also keep a good sized bucket for the fish to be housed in temporarily just in case the mini cycle last longer. you might even consider just setting up the 30 gallon tank and let it cycle and then move the stock over that will work as well.

 

[sweettooth162]

ok so a mini cycle anyone know how long 10 15 inches of fish can survive in a 5 gallon bucket?

 

[lesleybird]

Hi,
I took all the gravel and rock and water out of my 25 gallon and put it in a new 40 gallon over two months ago. I kept the filter sponges from the old tank filter and added some more gravel and a few extra rocks filled in the extra 15 gallons of new water. It did not go thru any new cycle at all. I would just wait about a month before adding any new bioload until the new rock and gravel gets well seeded with the old gravel bacteria. Good luck, Lesley

 

[lesleybird]

Hi, what I am trying to say is yes, you can safely move all your fish into the new tank right away without killing them....Just bring all the items with the beneficial bacteria already growing in it.... You are not increasing the bioload on the existing bacteria colonies...Just don't add any new fish for a month or two. Lesley
You want them to die for sure, just see how long the amonia will take to spike with all of them in a 5 gallon bucket! Common sense is all we need!

 

[michaeltx]

mini cycles can last a couple of hours to a couple of days.
You want them to die for sure, just see how long the amonia will take to spike with all of them in a 5 gallon bucket! Common sense is all we need!
long term yes but for a day or two then its ok for a mini cycle to complete itself out. this is what I do all the time with out problems you just want to get them out of the bucket or pale as quickly as possible. but I would put them in a bigger bucket than 5 gall more like a 20+ gallon tube or something similiar.
this is what I would do is get a tube 20+ gallons make new saltwater in it let it sit and aireate overnight get the water the same as in your 20 gallon tank. (salinity ph and temp) take your fish and place them into a nother tube or bucket (temporarly) with the water from the tank. take out some of the newly made up water in the bigger tube so you have room to add some of the aged water out of the tank and then add the fish. keep a PH and heater in the fish tube so that you can take more time if you need it.
move the rocks substrate water, etcc.. to the new tank and then wait a couple of hours and test water to make sure theree is no ammonia or nitrite if not wait a couple of more hours and retest to make sure if there is none present then your safe ,if there is then wait longer and retest till theres nothing reading. if the minicycle takes til the next day take a couple pieces of rock out and place with the fish in tube but most of the time it doesnt take that long. just dont feed the fish in the tube till they get back into the tank or it will cause ammonia spike in the tube.
doing it this way will also get the new aged water added to the tank and a water change of the older water at the same time.
just dont let the rocks sit out of water keep them in water as much as possible.
Make any sense LOL
Mike

 

[lesleybird]

Hello again, Talking about the five gallon bucket....What I ment was don't lieave them in there while the tank cycles....an hour or so in a couple of 5 gallon buckets shold not hurt them. Lesley

 

[michaeltx]

no biggie I understood what you were saying. after you posted I went back and reread what I typed and it didnt sound right and off your post I just added to it.
the qoute thing was to reiterate that long term it wasnt a good idea but for a short time its fine ... I guess I should have aded that LOL
Mike