RivendellTS

I purchased a 55 gallon tank from someone on Craigslist and will be picking it up in a few days. Fish were included. The person who has it now has a tote for transporting the fish (a large angelfish, several silver dollar fish, some tetras and an algae eater). Any advice for moving the tank and the best way to get it set up quickly so I can put the fish back in would be appreciated. Also how to best care for the fish while they have to be in the tote. I never knew about the nitrogen cycle until I just read about it today on this forum. (It would explain why I have had such bad luck with the small tanks I bought for my kids at the beginning of the summer.) Should I email the person who has the tank now and ask him to hold onto the filter for me when he breaks the tank down?

Lucy

Welcome to FishLore
Congrats on your new to you tank!
Ask the seller to put the filter media in a ziplock bag and keep it wet.
You'll want to empty the tank completely otherwise you could compromise the integrity of the tank.
Put the substrate in a seperate tote. You'd be surprised how heavy a 55 can be with wet gravel/sand can be.
How are are you moving the tank?

Melissawater

I would have him hold the filter so you can use the media from it, but there are a lot more experienced aquarist on here that will probably be answering you shortly with great advice!
Welcome to FL

Lucy

Oh, I just remembered, Shaina has a great thread with pics on how she moved her tanks.
Here it is:
Moving Tanks

RivendellTS

We are taking both my husbands truck and my van to pick everything up. The person is only about 20 miles from us. I am getting the persons entire set up, tank, stand, heater, pumps, everything.

Lucy

Like Shaina outlined in her blog, you might want to bag up the fish. They can get sloshed around in a tote.

RivendellTS

That's a good point. I will bring some bags and maybe we can move them into bags before we take them out to the car. What was that product she used in the bags before she moved them? Also it seemed like they went back into their tank within a few hours of arriving at their destination. Is that OK to do? I was thinking they would have to live in the tote until I can get the tank to cycle. I don't know what substrate is currently in the tank but I was hoping to buy new (so I can choose my own color). I've read about products you can buy to speed up the nitrogen cycle but can you use those with fish in the tank? Sorry for all the questions but now that I realize that I REALLY messed up on my smaller tanks and that's why we had such high fish loss, I am a little concerned about keeping these fish alive...and healthy!

Beth1965

HI, Welcome to FL if I haven't said so already.
I would do my best if I were you to avoid using "products" to help cycle. It's much more healthy to di the cycling naturally.
I didn't see it posted earlier but be sure that the media/if you're going to use the media from the seller is put in a bag at the last moment--otherwise the bacteria you need will die.

Lucy

Don't worry about asking questions. The members are always happy to help.
Shaina used Prime. It a water conditioner/dechlorinator that also detox's ammonia for 24 hrs. Many of us use it.
Since you'll be using the old filter and filter media you'll be transferring a good amount of beneficial bacteria...what we call seeding a tank.
Since the bacteria also lives on the substrate, you could be losing some there.
You should be ok cycle wise, just keep a close eye on your water parameters for a few weeks. If you start having ammonia readings you can do daily water changes until you get the cycle back.

One cycling product many members have had luck with is Tetra SafeStart. It's designed to add to the tank once along with your fish. As Beth said, be wary of any products that you have to keep adding.
There are products with similar names, so be careful!

RivendellTS

But it IS OK to put the fish back in immediately once I get the tank set up in it's new location? Also I should probably mention I have well water and the fish currently are in a city location which I am sure is chlorinated. Anything I should be aware of that could be caused by this difference? I have been reading the acclimation articles on this site but the more I read the more I am confused. So if anyone can write me up a step by step simple process for moving the fish from the bags (or the tote) to the tank that would be very helpful (and think fish moving for dummies...or as a friend likes to say...talk to me like I am a third grader!! )

I ordered a test kit online but I think I will go buy one tonight so I have it on hand for when the fish arrive. I am sure the one I ordered will not go to waste. I will email the seller again and see what color the current substrate is. Perhaps I can take a small amount of it for the bottom and then cover it with the new stuff. Or would that be defeating the purpose of having the old stuff in there in the first place?

peacemaker92

Hi Rivendell and WELCOME TO FISHLORE!

Great advice above. Hope you successfully move your new tank in and with all the cool fishies. Hope to see pictures up as well as soon as its done, FL members love tank pics! Congrats on the great deal!

Lucy

If you decide to change the gravel, you can put the old substrate in some new pantyhose and set it in the newly set up tank. Leave it there for at least 2 weeks. It won't look pretty but that should help with the seeding process.

Make sure the water in the tank is the proper temp before adding the fish.
It might be a good idea to check the pH in the water that the fish are in and compare it to your well water. You wouldn't want to shock them.
Float the bags of fish in the tank and slowly over the course of a couple hours add a small amount of tank water to the bag. If the bag gets too full, discard some water and continue. In the end, you'll end of with more tank water in the bag than old water.

Several members prefer the drip acclimation process. I've always found that confusing, so someone else will have to guide you through that.
You can also use the search feature at the top right, I'm sure there are threads about it.

RivendellTS

So I should get the fish back into the tank ASAP and not leave them in the tote until the tank cycles. I knew to float the fish but not about transfering the water from the tank into the bags (assuming that addresses the 'difference in pH' issue). Then I assume I should not dump the water from the bags into the tank but I should use a net to move the fish back into the tank? Right? If the tank is going to cycle with the fish in it then I should be testing daily? I am guessing that once I get my hands on a test kit (never knew I was supposed to be doing this so haven't ever tested the kid's tanks) this is all going to make alot more sense

RivendellTS

Whoo Hoo - The seller just emailed me and said the gravel is the color I wanted so i will be able to use it which will help with the cycling.

I also have another question. If you need the bacteria on the filter to maintain the water quality, then what happens when you change the filter or clean the filter...do you wash all the good bacteria away. Will you experience the cycle again when you put a new filter in?

Lucy

Adding water slowly to the bag helps the fish adapt to the differences in your water and what they're used it.
Once you're done slowly acclimating them, there should be more tank water in the bag than their old water. Imo, I'd let them swim out rather than net them. They're already going to be pretty stressed.

The bacteria that's living on the filter media and gravel need a source of ammonia to live, so I would add the fish rather than keeping them in the totes.
If they're in the totes, they'd need a heater, a filter or the very least an air stone.
They'll be creating ammonia through their waste and left over food, so you'd end up doing daily water changes in the totes.

Edit: Looks like we posted at the same time. Great news about the gravel!
You can just rinse the filter media in used tank water when it gets gunky, replace it when it's falling apart. Only the carbon needs to be changed often.
Once the tank is re-established changing out the catridge shouldn't be a big deal. You'll still have your filter sponge or bio wheel depending on the type of filter.
Many of us keep extra filter media hidden in the filter or tank. You can replace the cartridge with that.

RivendellTS

OK I think I am seeing where I am getting confused on the filter. In the 10 gallon and 5 gallon tanks my kids have we have a filter that is all one piece. I just pull out the old one when it gets dirty and put in a new one (which I now realize is probably only adding to my problem and contributing to the high fish loss). Sounds like on the bigger filter that will be on the 55 gal, that's not going to be the case. It sounds as if the filter is in separate components...filter material, carbon, etc.

Lucy

It'll make more sense when you see the larger filter.
I know this is off topic but what kind of filters are in your smaller tanks?
I've got a couple of whispers. I bought some filter sponges, cut them to size and just use those instead of the catrdiges. They're easy to rinse when they get nasty.

What kind of test kit are you getting? The lquid kits are much more accurate than the strips. They're expensive but less costly in the long run.
Once you get it, you can test all your tanks

RivendellTS

The 10 gallon is a TopFin I think. The 5 gallon is an Aqua something or other. THAT tank actually has a separate piece that fits BEHIND the all in one filter portion that resembles the sponge thing you are describing. Eventually I'd like to put all of the fish from the two tanks into the 55 gallon and take the two smaller tanks down. I was hoping to put guppies in the 55 as well but once the seller told me one of the fish I will be getting is a large Angel fish that pretty much ruled out the guppies. I am even having second thoughts about the platies....one set which we got from friends when they were teensy (because her single platy just kept having babies even with no male in the tank...I have since discovered they can do that) has turned out to be a male and female. I am thinking the Angelfish will just love to snack on Platy fry. My daughter's mickey mouse platy female ate all her fry (I'm sure with help). She was huge one day and not so much the next and we found no trace of fry even though we had a breeder box all ready for them. We didn't know when to put her in it and she beat us to it.

RivendellTS

Liquid test kit. I did read about the differences online yesterday BEFORE I ordered it so I at least did one thing right!

Lucy

You did more than one thing right, give your self more credit!
You're asking a bunch of good questions before jumping right in.