Tank upgrade or update existing tank?

Hey all! New to the site!
I have a 10 gallon tank that I set up for my boy (but let’s be honest, it was for me!!). I’m unhappy with my current tank and looking to either upgrade to a little bigger tank, or just update existing. I was against a glofish tank but on his birthday he wanted the tetras, and now that we have them I wish we would have steered more towards that. We currently have teal and blueish substrate and want to change it all to black or glofish substrate. Can I start a new tank, let it cycle, then transfer fish to new tank just as I would when I brought them home from LFS?

 

Hey there, is the current tank cycled? If your current tank is not cycled then yes it is better to move them since a fish-in cycle is much less dangerous in a larger tank. If the tank is cycled, cycle the new tank (skirt tetras will need a 20+ gallon tank to have a comfortable school size and promote good behavior) and then add the fish

 

Yes current tank is cycled and have had 3 glofish tetras and 2 serpea tetras for over a year. I’ve been reading websites about using existing substrate, water and filters when upgrading tanks. I get why that makes sense but I would think if you let the tank cycle and transition the fish slowly it wouldn’t matter since it’s about the same as bring new fish home from the store. Thanks for the reply!

 

Yes you can cycle your new tank and then move the fishes. I recommend you put a sponge filter in your old tank and 3 weeks later move it to the new tank. Wait a day and then move 1 or 2 fishes or buy a new fish if your tank is large enough and you will be buying new fishes.

If you don't want to mess with a sponge filter you can move your old filter - wait till the next day and then move the fishes. There will be a slight spike in 'bad' stuff and adding a few drops of prime for a couple of days would alleviate all risk but the tank will cycle very quickly because most of the beneficial bacteria lives in the filter.

Conversely you can just cycle the new tank the way you did the old one and then move the fishes. Just make sure the temp is the same.

 

If you are going to upgrade and not run both tanks just move the cycle from the smaller tank over to the bigger tank. I understand you want to use a different gravel so you will lose some of your bacteria but if you move everything else over to the bigger tank the lost bacteria should catch up quickly.

There is little to no bacteria in the water but I recommend you move some or most of the water over to the bigger tank. It is the water your fish are used to so by transferring it both your fish and the bacteria will just be getting a partial water change.

Just keep an eye on the parameters and be prepared to do water changes should you get an ammonia reading.

 

Awesome thanks all!! Google wasn’t giving me the info I was looking for but you guys gave me some good tips!! I knew i came to the right place!

 

Yes current tank is cycled and have had 3 glofish tetras and 2 serpea tetras for over a year. I’ve been reading websites about using existing substrate, water and filters when upgrading tanks. I get why that makes sense but I would think if you let the tank cycle and transition the fish slowly it wouldn’t matter since it’s about the same as bring new fish home from the store. Thanks for the reply!

Sorry if I wasn’t clear, yes cycle the new tank first. I wasn’t sure of the situation and thought maybe you got these fish recently. Your fish will definitely enjoy the extra space and some new company. You can use the 10g as a QT