Proof Dumb Questions Are Real

I feel stupid for asking but I've been curious, I have a 20 gallon tall that's cycled, with fish inside. I have a 20 long that hasn't been set up yet. My dumb question is, Can I take the stuff from the 20 gallon tall (heater,gravel,filter, even half water, the fish) and put it into the 20 gallon long and that tank will be cycled? Or should I wait before adding the fish?

 

You sure can move to another tank and be pretty much cycled instantly !
Move filter and some of the decorations .
If you want to move everything then vacuum the gravel good first doing a 50% + water change. Then contain fish while removing decoration and gravel. I would still rinse the gravel while moving it over.Get tanks set up and to temp and add fish. You should not need to take more tank water then is needed to do acclimation.
Once all is moved over just test daily for a week to make sure all is still going well.
Good luck.
I have done this many times with just filter as most of my tanks are bare bottom.

 

You sure can move to another tank and be pretty much cycled instantly !
Move filter and some of the decorations .
If you want to move everything then vacuum the gravel good first doing a 50% + water change. Then contain fish while removing decoration and gravel. I would still rinse the gravel while moving it over.Get tanks set up and to temp and add fish. You should not need to take more tank water then is needed to do acclimation.
Once all is moved over just test daily for a week to make sure all is still going well.
Good luck.
I have done this many times with just filter as most of my tanks are bare bottom.

Thanks so much, I was thinking the same thing but felt logic slapping me saying no lol

 

I feel stupid for asking but I've been curious, I have a 20 gallon tall that's cycled, with fish inside. I have a 20 long that hasn't been set up yet. My dumb question is, Can I take the stuff from the 20 gallon tall (heater,gravel,filter, even half water, the fish) and put it into the 20 gallon long and that tank will be cycled? Or should I wait before adding the fish?

Just putting the filter and fish in should give you an instant cycle.

 

I always like 'dumb questions' as I have had more then a few of my own !
It often seems funny to me how science explains a lot of it but nature truly does most of the 'heavy lifting' with just a little help.
Remember to test and don't be afraid to change water in first week or use prime to keep conditions good without spikes.

 

I feel stupid for asking but I've been curious, I have a 20 gallon tall that's cycled, with fish inside. I have a 20 long that hasn't been set up yet. My dumb question is, Can I take the stuff from the 20 gallon tall (heater,gravel,filter, even half water, the fish) and put it into the 20 gallon long and that tank will be cycled? Or should I wait before adding the fish?

The bacteria colony living in your filter media is large enough to handle all of the ammonia being produced with your current stocking. So switching from a 20h to a 20l will make no difference to your cycle, so long as you do not add more fish.

And to take this a step further, if you upgraded to a 45 gallon tank for example, so long as you didn't add any additional fish, you would still keep your cycle with the following caveat...If you used the same filter in the larger tank, you could end up with an ammonia spike due to the filter from the smaller tank not being able to pump enough water thru it. But if you were to get a filter rated for the larger tank and just put the filter media from the smaller tanks filter in it, you would also keep your cycle.

 

Yeah, you know the old saying: "There's no such thing as a dumb question"? Well, that's not true, no matter how often it is repeated. There definitely are plenty of dumb questions.

But this isn't one of them!

If you treat your population of de-nitrifying bacteria as an inhabitant of your tank...one that needs the proper conditions (temp, pH, etc.) and the proper nutrition (ammonia) to survive, thrive and grow, you will never go far wrong. That includes moving it from one tank to another.

 

Yeah, you know the old saying: "There's no such thing as a dumb question"? Well, that's not true, no matter how often it is repeated. There definitely are plenty of dumb questions.

But this isn't one of them!

If you treat your population of de-nitrifying bacteria as an inhabitant of your tank...one that needs the proper conditions (temp, pH, etc.) and the proper nutrition (ammonia) to survive, thrive and grow, you will never go far wrong. That includes moving it from one tank to another.

This is something that I don't think is said often enough. I try to point it out as often as possible. Take care of and handle your bacteria with care and it will serve you well.