55 Gallon Tank Need Help/Advice Current to New Tank

Hello! First time poster, here.

Thank you for your time and am looking forward to the potentiality of our fishy friends!

So, my fiancé surprise adopted a koi angelfish(approx. 3" tall). They're currently in a 10 gallon tank with a small BN Pleco(approx. 3" long).

She's impulsive and was just happy to have our new friends. I did explain that they'll need a bigger home. We've recently acquired a 55 gallon tank. It still needs to be cleaned and setup and we were looking forward to dropping them into their kingdom. I was hoping to accomplish that this "weekend"(next 6 days off) but have been reading quite a bit regarding tank cycling and explaining to her that in order to provide the best home for them that we need to properly cycle the new tank, which can potentially take quite some time.

I have concern with their current environment as it is so small and not cycled and at the moment we don't have a proper testing kit(can't test for ammonia). I'm worried about the ammonia levels. I have a lot of stuff on the way to help accommodate our little guys in their new home.

My curiosities lie in how long it will be okay to keep them in their confined, non-cycled tank while attempting to get a proper cycle on the new one or if it will be more beneficial for them to be in their new home during the cycling process?

I have quite a bit of things arriving for them within the next few days. API Master test kit, Fluval C4 filter, gravel vacuum, cholla wood, and Fritz Zyme 7.

Apologies if this is too much or if I posted this in the wrong area. Kind of difficult to navigate on a phone.

Thank you in advance for your efforts and knowledge!

 

Hello, welcome to fishlore

Did the adopted angelfish come with it’s original tank/filter setup? If so, just move the existing filter pad on over to the new tank. If not, I’d still move the fish over to the 55. It will be very easy to cycle with just the two fish in the 55g. You can still add the fritzyme into the new tank with the angel.

Let us know temperature and ph when you get your test kit. Also test your tap water for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates so you have a baseline. I recommend SeaChem Prime while cycling and generally a great water conditioner.

Keep the ammonia + nitrites under 1.0, with water changes, you can add SeaChem Prime every 24-48 hours to help keep the fish safe. Don’t over feed, the angel fish only needs a few pellets twice a day. This will help keep ammonia down also if you don’t over feed. You’ll need to test ammonia and nitrites frequently. When ammonia and nitrites are 0 and nitrates are rising you’ll know you’re cycled. If you have the original filter padding this will be almost instantly.

Lastly live plants help as the immersed plants will use ammonia as a food source and semi-aquatic will use nitrates first as their food source.

It’s really important to not add fish too fast, this is one of the biggest mistakes people make and then their bio-filter / cycle is overwhelmed and fish start dying from ammonia or nitrite poisoning. Make sure your tank is cycled first for the angel and pleco before adding anymore.

Edit: Also, until you get your new stuff, I’d be doing daily 30% or so WC in that small 10g tank. Test that water as soon as you get your API test kit.

 

Agree, if you are going to have to do a fish in cycle either way, best to do it in the larger tank and stay on top of daily water changes.

 

Thank you for the welcome and advice!

She purchased a new tank(full setup) and it ran for about three days before introduction of the fish.

I'll let her know what I've learned and what has been advised. I really appreciate it, thank you so much. I'll do my best to provide pics on their new home. Although, Plicasso is pretty shy. Mr. E.F. loves being in the spotlight though.

She'll be happy to hear that recommendation of moving them to the big tank during cycling is as such. I was hoping to hear that, too.

Thank you, again. I'll provide tested levels as soon as I have the information. You're rockstars!

Edit: What pellets are you referring to in regards to angelfish feeding? We currently have flakes.

 

Update: The new tank is setup but we won't have the fritzyme for another couple of days. We don't have our C4 filter yet but currently have a Cascade 700 canister filter running in it.

We got 3 large Java ferns from our LFS today to help with the environment and tank development/cycling.

Still haven't received our test kit. We have our heater set for 79F.

We are going to replace the Cascade for our Fluval that is on the way. The Cascade is causing a lot of aeration. The discharge of the tubing is so short that it can't be submerged unless our tank was completely filled.

Would it be safe to add our fish to their new home and then begin our cycling by adding the fritzyme in a couple of days or should we hold off until we get our colonies? I'm also curious about the stress levels of tank movement and then in 2 days another big movement of filter replacement.

Thank you, again!

 

I haven't read all the replies, but if neither tank is cycled I'd recommend getting the 55 gallon set up and the fish moved into it as quickly as possible. Water parameters will take longer to get out of whack in the larger tank, so you have a bigger margin of error.

I don't see any reason to leave them in a small uncycled tank while waiting on a larger one to cycle.

 

I appreciate the advice and we're happy that that is the case.

 

Update: Fish seem to be much happier in their new home. They're both more active and the pleco much moreso and a bit less skittish. Received the test kit and performed tests on both the aquarium water and our house water.

Tests were performed after the filter had been updated and the fritzyme and cholla wood had been added. Cholla wood was boiled and set to cool before addition. Fritzyme was added after I had let the new filter run for at least 30 minutes. I allowed the system run for over an hour with everything before performing the tests.

Results:
Tank: (Temp at 83; in process of lowering)
pH - 7.8
Ammonia - 0 - 0.25(closer to 0)
Nitrites - 0
Nitrates - Almost 5

House:
pH - 7
Ammonia - 0.25
Nitrites - 0
Nitrates - 0