need advice immeadiately please

Transfering 50G to 75G need advice

I over crowded my 50 gallon tank i've got 3 pleco's 1 common 1 gibbeceps and 1 L48(yellow polka dots) 4 tiger barbs 1 tetra and 4 cory's.

it was clear to me tha there was to much waste being produced in my tank by my monsters(pleco's).

I'm using an ehiem 2213 which clearly doesn't do the job.

ok here's where i'm at.

I just purchased and built my new 75 gallon tank.
I purchased new filter rena xp3 (xp2 was good for up to 75 galons so I got the xp3 which is good for 175 gallons.)

My 50 gallon tank is where I want my 75 gallon tank, i've got to move fish from 50 g to 75 gall, problem is I need the gravel and all the stuff from my 50 gallon tank. will my fish be ok if I just take out the gravel cup by cup until the tank is completely empy? remove filter media from eheim, throw some of it into my new rena and just fire up the 75 gallon tank and toss the fish in?

or do I need to take the fish out of the 50 gallon, and do it bit by it.

any advice

 

HI Morph..
You have your work cut out for you, changing out the 55 for a 75 g.
If I had to do it, I would take the fish out and put them into a clean bucket of tank water with a heater attached and the air pump running while you hooked up the new tank. Since you already have the equipment, its not like you would have to buy anything. Other than making sure you have a good large size (new is best), plastic bucket. I have two five gallon buckets that I use for water changes, if you have buckets for your water changes, I would use one of them. I believe that eventually after it takes the time for you to get all the gravel up you would end up really stressing out your fish if you left them in the tank. I also think with them out of the tank your job would go faster.

~ kate

 

my gibbeceps is like 8-9 inchs, I can't store him and his friends in a bucket, I only have 1 bucket :|

I gotta set up this filter, move 2 huge tanks on my own, find a place to store the fish. if wasn't such a cool character i'd be freaking out right now.

I have a 29 ggallon but I left it with like an inch of water in a spare room for like 3 months, ton of gravel in it :|. I don't think it wou;d be wise to throw them in there, can I scoop the gravel out and rinse it rreal quick and use it as a storage dewvice? or does it need more ntense cleaning. I really don't want to have to deal with sik fish in my 75 gallon at the end of this ordeal.

 

Hi, first off I'll say there are many more experienced people on here that will answer in more detail.

How long has your 50 g been set up? is it fully established? If so then some filter media and some gravel will cycle the new tank quickly. I have moved fish to a new tank this way in 2007 BUT I was lucky enough to have space to start the new tank up and not have to move the old one and add the fish at stages. I'd definitely change bit by bit as to preserve your fish.

I moved gravel cup by cup, that wasn't a problem for me and I actually syphened some of the old tank water into the new tank too but it was a step by step process that I will be going through again this year with another tank for different fish!!! So I maybe asking YOU for advice!!!!!!!

 

my huge dilemma here is having the 50 gallon tank exactly where I want the 75 gallon tank.the floor can't handle both aquariums one infront of another.

basically i'm overfaced and taking a thinking break. should I set up the new filter first before moving everything around? I guess that might be a smart idea incase the water get's all messed up somewhere.

maybe I should prioritize some things over others.

set up filter
isolate fish problem
empty 50 gallon
move 50 gallon forward
place 75 gallon
shift 50 gallon gravel to 75 gallon
remove 50 gallon
hhmmmm

 

Hi, first off I'll say there are many more experienced people on here that will answer in more detail.

How long has your 50 g been set up?
4 months
is it fully established?
yes but changed carbon out of ehiem 2213 and had a nitrite problem

sums it up

 

Ok sorry if not reading well enough BUT what about a good clean of the 29 gallon setting up the new filter to run in that, no fish just filter media and some gravel. Start the filter off on a good note. Will other filter be to large for 29 g? if not put it in there to use that as the transfer tank. CapeK has given me new ideas re the buckets!! ty!!

 

after mulling it over I think i'm just going to get new gravel, old one was ugly anyways and empty the tank really low and leave the fish in there while I move the tank.

 

Good call. Maybe mix a small amount of the old in for the good bacteria to grow quickly in the new one, even a small hidden layer may help!!

 

thanks I'll keep that in mind

 

You are one lucky son of a gun, a 29, 50, and a 75?

Is there any way you could split these lovely fish between all three tanks? It would mean dealing with three, but the amount of cleaning / water changing duties would be cut, as each tank would stay cleaner.

I just mention this because the pleco's will still have your 75 overcrowded. You could have one in each tank, and other fish in each, which would also alleviate a problem you may encounter soon, and that is the pleco's fighting. Many of the larger size like that don't like to share their space, and will really tear things up.

 

well the common pleco was an impulse first day buy, to be honest as soon as he's to big i'm giving him away. I didn't spend a grand to stare at a common pleco.

current status is I got the 50 gallon in front of the 75, 75 has the rena working and gravel in it, the temp is like 60 degrees so I'll be waiting awhile while my 2 heaters get it up to like 79.


there is no way I can keep the 3 tanks, i'm guessing at the end of the day I'll have the 75 and keep the 29 and get it back to working order as a backup hospice tank.

i've got my 50 gallon with about 25 gallons left in it, fish are just chillen while the 2213 is doing it's work. 2 hours and I should be ready to export them to the 75 gallon.

so much workk......

 

What do you plan on putting in the 75 G when your all done?

 

wow I just realized it's gonna take a helllll of a lot longer for my water to heat up, I just tossed a heater back in my 50 gallon, I think it's gonna take all night

 

What do you plan on putting in the 75 G when your all done?

i'll have my gibbeceps my l048 my common, 4 corydora's and 4 tiger barbs

 

personally, I think if you could fill up the 75 and get it up to correct temp, you could throw the fish in it the same day. I think this would work very well...

1. go to petsmart or ur LFS and buy filter sponges used to colonize bacteria, and put them in your 55 for a week or so

2.put the fish in big buckets, move the 55, fill the 75 with water and put it where u want it

3. get it up to temperature, and then add all the filter sponges you added to the 55, along with the old one u already had.

4. Add fish!

I think with all the bacteria you would have on the sponges, you could add the fish right away. I would strongly suggest using prime while doing this, to bind up harmfull ammonia and nitrites, just in case the bacteria need time to catch up!

good luck

 

well it seems i'm going up about 1 degree every hour
fish in half filled 50 gallon looking alright


soccakid i'm putting my old media in my new filter so i'm throwing my fish in once i'm at temp.

just a waiting game now I suppose

 

scaratch that to barely moving temp, currently at 54

it's for sure gonna take all night

 

I had to throw some water from the faucet as hot as it could get into the tank, or it went far to slow

 

well i'm at 74 degrees now, almost ready to put my friends in the new tank, about an hour or so and the temp will be perfect

 

wow finally done. Now to wake up tomorrow to find out how everyone's doing. thanks for the advice all. heck of a project

 

Question for you? where do you live that the water comes out at < 54 degrees? I'm more then likely the exception to the rule but here in south Florida it comes out in the high 60's. On a hot day the water will come out in the upper 70's ( till a flow is established). Congrats on that HUGE move.. kudos to you.

 

I live in new york, and even with 90+ degree summers we still have cold water around 55 degrees

 

I live in new york, and even with 90+ degree summers we still have cold water around 55 degrees

Ditto that. I can nice cold tap water in July. I'm always using hot water to warm up my tank water.

Morph, I did that same thing. Here's what I did:

1) Took a 20 gallon and put water in it. Remember, they won't be in there for long.
2) Put the fish in.
3) Empty the tank. (I had a 55 and was changing it to a 75.)
4) Put the new tank in place.
5) Put the old gravel in. ( I mixed my old gravel with new gravel)
6) Fill'er up. Put some warm water in with the regular. You'll save yourself a lot of time waiting to warm up water.
7) Put the old filter(s) and the new one(s) in.
8) Add fish.

Run the filters like that for 2 weeks, at least, to allow for the bacteria to populate the new filters, then you can remove the old ones.

 

I live in montreal, the day I filled my tank it was -25 outside