tkfury

I have permission to get a 75g and I'm currently talking with someone who is selling a 75g set up, so hopefully it goes well and within a week it'll be mine. But it just dawned on me, what about my fish? I will be combineing three of my tanks into the 75g - part of the agreement that one larger tank is easier to take care of than three smaller ones and the fact there isn't enough room to have another tank.

Taking fish to the store is not an option for me. My kills were rescued (though I am having problems with some aggression, post is in the killifish section) and well, I'm very fond of all my other fish. I'm pretty sure everyone will get along in some degree but best to make sure and at least know what problems to look out for. I keep my tanks at all the same temperature and all the water is the same save my 22g's pH is .6 higher (I found the problem - the orginal gravel I had picked up has a few tiny shells in it but I plan to try and keep one tank set up to experiment with peat moss anyways).

The plan is
3x Golden Wonder Killifish (1m2f)
7x Silver Tip Tetra
6x Zebra Danio
6x Otocinulus
3x Peppered Corydoras
3x Panda Corydoras
2+x Ghost Shrimp

Leaving me with a little room to maybe add to the tetras and/or danios or maybe look into some cherry barbs or dwarf gouramis (not sure if the gouramis will be compatiable with the killifish but it'll be awhile before I'm able to add anything new anyways).

I have plenty of decorations to give everyone a hiding palce of their own, I've a few caves and some fake roots/log as well as some driftwood and probablly waaay to many plants for my own good.

Assuming everyone gets along nicely, how will I go about getting everyone settled in?

I will have to tear down my 22g to make room for the 75g. I'll be using the gravel from my 22g and 10g in the tank as well as whatever extra I need to give me 2-3 inches. And I'll also be using the aquaclear 50 I have in my 22g ontop of one of the filters that comes with the tank. But even then the tank still needs to cycle, correct? Perhaps adding my zebra danions first will be best and move my otos in with my tetras and then the killis and cories in the empty 10g (very temporary) until its safe to start adding everyone else?

angelfish220

I would go to walmart and buy one of those big plastic containers that are semi-clear and hold like 50 gals of whatever you want to put in it. then take all the decorations 1/2 the gravel and the filter media from the 22 and 10 and put it in the storage tub (after thoughly cleaning the tub) Put in the water from the 22 gal and more treated water to fill the tub add the fish. That could hold them for maybe a couple of days ontill you can get some bio-spheria for the 75. I wouldnt let them in there for linger than a week though.

susitna-flower

The mix you have sound like they will work together, I wouldn't add any more fish though, as you are up to about 70" of fish with what you have....It is always better to have it under stocked if possible. If you are able to keep one of your tanks set up in addition to the 75, add new fish to it....You DO need a quarantine tank, right!!!

Changing it over will really not be a problem. IF you want to use bio-spira, which is always a good idea, it will help to cycle your tank, but using the old gravel and filter material will help. You can use a couple of buckets, I pick these up for $2 from home building supply stores...or you might have them around the house. If they are new just rinse good and you are good to go, old buckets have to be washed very well, and rinced thoroughly several times. Place your heater and air in each bucket from your tanks, to keep the water good for a couple of hours, use tank water from the tanks they are coming from, and you are ready to set up your new tank.

Move any gravel or decorations/ filters over, fill with conditioned water, adjust the temp to within a degree or two of your buckets, and add bio-spira....move your fish over and with the same water from your own supply, things should be fine. If you are worried about that .6 ph difference, you can place those fish in a smaller plastic container float it in the new tank, and add 1/2 c. tank water every 15 min to help them adjust to the new ph just like you would do if you brought them home from the store....
This should be a couple hours job tops, just keep all gravel and filter material moist as you go, and the new tank should be able to handle the fish without cycling problems. To be sure use bio-spira, but this is up to you. Good Luck.

tkfury

Ah, see I figured it would just be around 60 inches - glad you said something ^^ The owner says they have kept a 10g under the 75g, on the stand that is. I just want to make sure the stand was built to support a second tank, even if its just a 10g so I can at least have one running in the background (shrimp are enough to keep a QT going, correct?). I've been lucky nothing has really happened but I know I've been cutting it close after gettign rid of a qt Two out of two suggest bio-spira so it sounds like thats tbe best way to go.

I was thinking about bio-spira actually. I can't find a place in my area that sells itso it'll be $50 online - a little much but probably my best bet as you've said. I can keep the two 10g up until its safe to move them, they are safetly on the otherside of the house but the aggreement was I got rid of them.

If I use the bio-spira on top of my own filter, gravel, decor - will it be safe to all my 22g fishies on the same day and then the others within a week or two? I recall reading something about still having to watch how many fish you introduce at once when with bio-spira, at least I think I read it. I have a dedicated 3g bucket for water changes but I'm heading to the dollar store shortly after dropping my brother off at work so hopefully I can find a few things there.

angelfish220

If you use biospheria I think that it would be alright to put them in

susitna-flower

How far is this new tank from a drain/sink? You need a syphon if you don't already have one, as changing 25-50% fo 75 gallons can be daunting with a bucket! Your mom & dad would agree that carrying all that water creates chances to spill......

I am really glad you are going to get your larger tank.

My house is fairly hard to keep temperatures regulated in my tanks. The bigger tanks need more heaters some times...I have two in my 125 and 2 in the 55 that I keep shrimp in. This is because it is so much harder to treat a tank with shrimp, I keep the temperature up to 82 to keep ick out.....

Trio123

Oh My God!!! tkFury you are so cool!!!!! I didnt even read the thread but your avatar caught my eye. Ghost in a Shell rocks!

From what I read though your tank sounds awesome, good luck Back to work now...

tkfury

I've been thinking about getting a python, the room the tank will be on is right next to the kitchen but there isn't a wall there (its a doorway then the cabnets with a counter ontop open to both rooms) so I can get away with the smallest one. If I'm lucky I might beable to get my parents to get me one - I like using buckets to be honest, not sure what it is - I may just be crazy heh. But like you said, its probably best even if I keep with only filling the buckets half way before moving them (to prevent spills, my cats like tripping me).

For the heaters, its best to place one at each end right? I'm not sure exactly what kind of heater is coming with the tank so I may end up having to get new ones anyways. Now should I be looking to have two heaters that can heat the tank by themselves or have lower heaters that together heat the tank? Also,for my smaller tanks I keep the heater and filter at opposide ends and just place my airstone at the end with the heater to keep the water moving - for a 75g just place the a filter near each heater and then add either some airstones/bubblewands wherever the water seems to be still?

Heh, thanks Trio =P I don't get a chance to watch it as often as I do so I rarely understand any of it but it really is one of those shows that can hook ya on a single episode.

Trio123

cool cool, in all your planning make sure you dont miss the obvious stuff When I bought my 65 gallon was all ready to go until I got to the guys house and realized there was no way the tank and the stand were fitting my car . 2 hour extra trip when I could have just borrowed my friend's truck. Oh and it's hard to carry that large of tank up 3 flights of stairs. Enough of my random nonsense, sounds like you've got it with the airstones and heater stuff. As for the wattage, I've been told that you want to split up the wattage on either side of the tank, so two lower heaters.

tkfury

Yeah, thankfully if they can't do a delivery the price for renting a van for a few hours isn't too bad. I'd still rather pay them for their time and gas but I think I have that part covered. I know I'm missing something though and I know its something obvious - hope its nothing too important hehe.

She still has the tank running with turtles so she doesn't know what kind of heater it is - so I'm just asked about what tempt she keeps it at. The filter is an aquaclear 110 and she says soon as the turtles go to homes later in the week she'll be taking the tank down and cleaning it. Its probably best if I just clean the filter again myself and replace all the filter media, right? I had planned on filling one of the filters with floss (probably best to fill the smaller one). Are there any precautions I should take because the tank housed turtles? She says she'll be cleaning it and I'll be doing another quick cleaning when I get it but just to be paranoid.

(It is a differant seller - the one I was talking to sold it for a higher price but directed me to someone else also selling one. I want a 75g set up but I need this one, the stand is very nice and so far the only thing I need to worry about is probably the heaters.)

I'm almost to the point I want to steal the decorations from my current tanks, chalk out the dimensions of the 75g and start planning where everything is going. Saddly I know my fishies would kill me if I touched anything in their tank.

*ish so excited* Is it next week yet?!