So I Was Thinking Of Moving Fish Into A Bigger Tank.

I have a 2 foot tank with a number of platies in it and I wanted to move them into a bigger tank.

I have a large piece of drift wood in the old tank and I plan to transfer that across to help with beneficial bacteria colonisation. I had the idea to run a new internal filter in the old tank for a few weeks then move it over to the new tank.

Does that sound like a good idea? I have to buy a new internal filter firstly, Aquatopia Internal Filter.

 

What filter are you running now? Can you just transfer the media from the old to the new filter? Then you would let it run a couple of weeks before adding new fish so you know it is cycled.

 

Run the filter for a month then your method should work just fine. Maybe have some stability on hand just in case you need a boost.

 

Are you going to keep the first tank running? If you want to have both tanks running then I would add some extra media to your existing filter and add the new one to the existing tank. After about 2 weeks you should be able to do an instant cycle.

Or if you have enough media in your current filter you can take some out, add it to the new filter and along with the driftwood you should be able to do an instant cycle as soon as you get your new filter.

 

I want to totally clean out the old tank first, tear it down and give it a good clean and replace the silicon seals in the tank which is the reason I wanted to move the fish in the first place, once the old tank has been fixed up I will stock it again. I will be using different gravel in the new tank so I was a little worried I would have enough media for a new tank.

My old tank has a trickle filter (which I don't like) and an Eheim internal filter, I like the idea of adding a little extra media to the existing tank and then add it to the new tank when I am ready. The new tank is full of dust at the moment. I don't plan to move the gravel out of the old one at all, or move the fish till the new tank is up and running.

What filter are you running now? Can you just transfer the media from the old to the new filter? Then you would let it run a couple of weeks before adding new fish so you know it is cycled.

I have an Eheim pickup filter. I like that idea of adding media to the current filter then transfer it. I can add some filter floss.

Run the filter for a month then your method should work just fine. Maybe have some stability on hand just in case you need a boost.

I need to buy some stability as I don't have any, I have never used it before today.

 

You don't need Stability. I have done many instant cycles ( actually doing another one tomorrow) With your filter and the wood in a larger tank you should be just fine. If anything just keep track of your water parameters and do a couple extra partial water changes with some Prime if needed.

 

You don't need Stability. I have done many instant cycles ( actually doing another one tomorrow) With your filter and the wood in a larger tank you should be just fine. If anything just keep track of your water parameters and do a couple extra partial water changes with some Prime if needed.

Thank you. I have 3 generations of platies in the one tank and I don't want to lose them. I can't sell them to my LFS, but I give the fish to the shop in way of trade.

I have a new born platy named Kevin, I don't know why I settled on that name, it looked like a Kevin to me I guess.

 

To really be on the safe side test your water everyday after you move your fish to the new tank. Do that for 2 weeks if you can. After that if your water parameters have remained good you should be all set.

One other thing you can do is take some of the gravel from the old tank and put it in a filter media bag or a nylon stocking that hasn't been used and put that in your new tank by the filter intake or outflow. That'll give you even more of a jump start and you can just remove once everything is going good.

I like that name. It's cute.