Need Ideas for Upsizing to 20 Gallon

Hello. I currently have a 10 gallon tank. Due to a sudden influx in shrimp fry, I'm worried that my bioload has reached it's limit. So, I'm mentally preparing myself to upgrade to a 20 gallon. I'm not 100% sure how to undertake this. How does this sound:

I remove my living creatures from the 10 gallon & remove most of the water into buckets. Move the 10 gallon from the living room stand & put it somewhere else for now. Put the water back in, put the living creatures back in.

I then set up the 20 gallon on my living room stand & let it cycle for however long it takes. Once it's cycled, I can add my creatures from the 10 gallon & sell said 10 gallon set up on craigslist or something.

Does that sound about right, how experienced fish people would upgrade to a new tank? Am I missing something or does anyone have any suggestions to make the process go smoothly?

Thanks!

 

Some bacteria may be in water but it generally lives on a surface such as plants,substrate,filter media, sponge filter, glass of aquarium. Its easy to set up a sponge filter and run it for awhile so it can be "seeded" and move it to an aquarium. Generally such as a hang on back filter that has an extra sponge can be moved to the new tank filter.

 

I did this last June or so. I had to move the 10g tank and put my 20g in it's place. What I did was kept most of the 10g water in buckets. Removed my fish and put in buckets, it is a pain trying to catch the fish.

Since I wasn't going to use the 10g, I removed all decor and the cycled filter and put it all in the 20g, along with the 20g new filter. Added the 10g water and also added new treated water. It's pretty much an instant cycle! I would keep an eye on the water parameters.

 

I did this last June or so. I had to move the 10g tank and put my 20g in it's place. What I did was kept most of the 10g water in buckets. Removed my fish and put in buckets, it is a pain trying to catch the fish.

Since I wasn't going to use the 10g, I removed all decor and the cycled filter and put it all in the 20g, along with the 20g new filter. Added the 10g water and also added new treated water. It's pretty much an instant cycle! I would keep an eye on the water parameters.

yep, just move the cycle from one tank to another. No need at all to go through another long drawn out cycling of another tank.

 

I just upgraded from a 10 to a 20. I have 2 giant sponges in the 20 so I waited until they were almost cycled and then added the hob from my 10 just for extra water circulation. Along with my fish of course. I successfully achieved an "instant cycle" this way even though it took 10 days lol

 

Thanks everyone! Whew, I'd much rather do the almost "instant cycle" than what I was going to attempt - that would've taken a long, long time.

 

Main thing is to keep an eye on the parameters for a couple of days after the move as there may be a mini cycle. But WC should keep that in check. Good luck. It is always exciting to go to a bigger tank.