Switching tanks!?!?

jennlegend

jennlegend

Member
I currently have a 20 gal tank...I was under the impression that this was a 30 gal until Sunday when I saw a 30 at LFS and noticed it was a bit bigger than mine. Anyway, LFS told me a Volitan lion would be OK in a 30gal, so I bought it 2 weekends ago. Now that I found out it was only a 20 gal, I had to buy a bigger tank ASAP!! I bought a 46gal tonight and am switching the lion over. I am going to take all the CC and LR out of the 20 gal and put it into the 46...I am also going to switch the water over. I was wondering if adding an additional 20(ish) gallons of SW is going to cause another small cycle?? Is it going to be OK to put the lion in the new tank once all is switched over?? Will the lion be OK in a bucket of the water from the 20 gal until I get it all switched over?? HELP!! THANKS!! And sorry for the long post...
 
stacyt

stacyt

Active Member
You will most likley go through another small cycle. Also a 46 will still be to small to hold a volitan for life. They get up to 15". He should be fine in the 46 for awhile. If you can get some more cured LR to add when you make the switch. This will help prevent/minimize the cycle. Also you may want to consider making the switch to a DSB at this time. Whenever I've torn a tank down I have kept the fish in a bucket of water that I drained from the main tank along with a heater and powerhead. One last thing are you using the filter from your existing setup. If the 46 came with a filter than you want to run both the filters together for awhile until everything settles, maybe a few weeks.
 
jennlegend

jennlegend

Member
Thanks!
Will the lion be OK in the tank through a small cycle? I really don't have much choice but to put him in there...
 
stacyt

stacyt

Active Member
Would it be possible for your LFS to hold the lion for a few days while you make sure your tank settles O.K.? What about setting up the 46 and letting it go through a complete cycle? If you have the room then that would be my recomendation. Setup the 46, throw in a cocktail shrimp and let it cycle. After the cycle is complete then move the lion, and the contents of the 20 gallon over.
 
smalltimer

smalltimer

Member
Imo, you should not cycle anymore, you're not adding any additional nutrients to the water, you are only adding fresh salt water...
I would take cc, out siphon out if you can put in new tank, take, 1/2 of old water and put in new tank, leave lion in old tank with 1/2 water, if there is room.....add new h2o and salt and set to same salinity as old tank, let set for a day, oh and move 99% of live rock also, let set for 24 hrs, get to same temp and salinity, then bag lion, get bags from lfs and put him in new tank as if it was just brought into your house aclimate him to the new water....if you HAVE TO, most lfs will hold a fish for u, but you will have to aclimate him to the lfs, and then aclimate him to the new tank at home, keep the moving to a minimum and he should be ok, they are pretty tough anyway...
goood luck:cool:
 
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