Converting 55gal to a 100-120gal tank

Hey yall,
I'm looking into getting a bigger tank, probably 100-120 gal. What are the steps into transitioning my 55gal stock and plants to a new tank? My 55gal is fully stocked community tank thats heavily planted. It has an eheim 2215 canister and a top filter(I don't remember the name). Ill obviously be upgrading the filtration to suit the appropriate increase but just need advice as to how I can go about moving everyone to the new tank, will the new tank need to cycle? Etc.

 

Hey yall,
I'm looking into getting a bigger tank, probably 100-120 gal. What are the steps into transitioning my 55gal stock and plants to a new tank? My 55gal is fully stocked community tank thats heavily planted. It has an eheim 2215 canister and a top filter(I don't remember the name). Ill obviously be upgrading the filtration to suit the appropriate increase but just need advice as to how I can go about moving everyone to the new tank, will the new tank need to cycle? Etc.

I would recommend the fluval canister filter fx4 or fx6. You can just take a couple handfuls of cycled filter media and that will help cycle your tank so it should be done in a couple of days when you add ammonia

 

Congratulations on the upgrade. If the 55 is cycled you can just move the cycle over to the new tank by moving EVERYTHING from the cycled tank to the new one. You will lose the bacteria growing on the glass but by moving everything else you shouldn't even experience a glitch in your cycle.

I would transfer all the fish to a holding container filled with water from the original tank. Maybe you could run the smaller filter on this container. Leave enough room in the big tank for the water you are holding the fish in. Once everything is transferred over, move both fish and water over to the big tank. There is little to no bacteria in the water but it is the water your fish are used to so by using it both fish and bacteria will just feel like they have had a bigger than normal water change.

 

Yes it will need to cycle a bit but if you transfer media you can speed things up. You need to set up the new tank first with say 50% of the media out if your old filter. Treat as a fishless cycle. In a couple of days the bacteria in the old tank should have recovered.
Once the new tank is cycled try to match the water to the old tank. When you uproot the plants you should trim the roots to encourage new growth and transfer. Lastly net the fish and transfer them, at this point you could transfer the rest of the media.( Assuming your not keeping the old tank going )
With larger tanks it makes sense to double up on smaller equipment eg two lower wattage heaters , filters, air pumps etc that way you have some protection in the case of equipment failure. If your keeping the substrate it will contain some bacteria but I would give it a rinse and remove any organic matter.

 

When your fish are in a bucket while you're moving everything, block off the heater (But still let water pass through) with bigger fish such as angels. When I put them in a bucket the first time, my biggest angelfish got burnt by going right under the heater.