Upgrading 10 to 30 gallon tank

Hello!
I currently have a 10 gallon tank with a bunch of cichlids in it. I have bought a 30 gallon tank & am trying to get the tank cycled. It has been about 4 weeks & the tank finally seems stable. The nitrate level in the 10 gallon is really high close to 80 ppm & I am wondering if this will affect them when I move them because the new tank is 0 ppm. There are no fish in the new tank yet. I am worried about moving them. Any help is much appreciated!

 

Welcome to FishLore!

I would be very concerned about exposing the fish to that rapid of a nitrate swing. If it were me, I would do daily partial water changes over about a week or so to get the nitrates down to about 10ppm. Then transfer them over.

Best of luck!

 

If the new tank is cycled there should be nitrates in it. If you are really worried about it, add the water from the 10 gallon when you add the fish. Personally I wouldn't worry about it. But make sure the new tank is actually cycled. Having 0 nitrates makes me wonder.


Sent from my VCR using Fish Lore Aquarium Fish Forum

 

How are you cycling the new tank? Are you moving all the fish to the larger tank? One good way to cycle the new tank is to moved filter media from the old tank, as long as that media has been running in the old cycled tank for at least a month . Or if you are moving all the fish to the larger tank, you could move the filter to the new tank and probably have an instant cycle.
I would also be concerned about moving the fish from 80 to 0 nitrates. I agree with doing water changes to get the nitrates down, then moving the fish. With a gradual acclimation.

 

Thank you for the help, I will do more water changes to try & get the nitrates down, I know its from over crowding. How can I be sure it has cycled then? I thought it would have by now because it has been running for 4 weeks. I want to move all the fish eventually.

 

Are you testing the water and how are you adding ammonia to the new tank? Once you can add ammonia and have 0 ammonia and nitrites within 12 to 24 hours your tank is cycled.

And welcome!

 

I added rocks, decorations & water from my other tank. Should I do more?

 

Without an ammonia source to feed the denitrifying bacteria you will not cycle the tank. I would suggest reading up on the nitrogen cycle if you haven't had a chance to yet. The water from the other tank has likely already had most or all of the ammonia (waste from fish, decaying food, etc) converted into nitrites and then to nitrates so it is not a good source to feed a cycle. The good news is you can probably just run your current filter on your new tank and it will work fine. The media in that filter is already loaded with good bacteria and should handle your bioload without additional cycle time.

Check out the link below.
https://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm

 

I hadn't realized that you had not actually cycled the new tank. Many people get the false impression that cycling a tank means to just run it without fish for an arbitrary amount of time. These people usually get this false impression from people working at the fish store.

But cycling is actually a biological process where two types of bacteria grow in your filter media. The one bacteria converts ammonia into nitrites and the other bacteria converts nitrites into nitrates. Ammonia and nitrite are actually the food source for the two respective bacteria. So unless you have an ammonia source, any bacteria that you may have added to the tank will starve off.

So the cycling process begins when some sort of ammonia source is added to the tank, be it either by fish producing waste or you adding an ammonia source to simulate the ammonia the fish would produce. Then if you have no bacteria in the filter the ammonia levels will rise until bacteria forms. It usually takes about 3 weeks for the ammonia consuming bacteria to develop. But then all the ammonia starts getting converted into nitrites. So your nitrites will continue to rise until the bacteria that converts nitrites develops (usually about an additional 3 weeks).

But if you use fish as the ammonia source there is a problem. because first the ammonia and later the nitrite levels can get pretty high and stay high for several weeks, you fish can be killed. So when cycling with fish you need to keep them protected by daily partial water changes with a water conditoner which can detox ammonia and nitrites (I recommend SeaChem's Prime) until the tank cycles.

But if you have filter media from a cycled tank, and put it into the filter of the new tank (or if the old filter is rated for the size of the new tank, just using that filter) you should get an instant cycle if you add only the old fish to the new tank. The reason being is because that "seeded" filter media has enough bacteria to process the amount of ammonia that those fish produce.

 

I've added flakes and stress zyme to the aquarium too but how can I be sure it has fully cycled? My old filter is a regular power pump that hangs onto the side of the tank & the new filter is a canister. Can I still use filter media to help? If so how? I want it to be ready before I put any fish in it.

 

You will need a test kit that measures ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates. Once you read 0 ammonia and 0 nitrites your tank is cycled. In your case the flakes you are putting in are the only source of ammonia which may not be much. Most of us use the API Master Test Kit.

For the filter if you can fit the old filter cartridge or anything else that is in the old filter into the new canister that will work. The other option is to just run both filters for a few weeks on the new tank.

If I were you I would do a large water change in the new tank and let it run for a day before moving the fish. In that time do a couple of water changes on the existing tank to lower the nitrates as much as possible. This way the move isn't quite as much of a shock. After moving them over move the existing filter over as well. Get a test kit and test the water regularly until your sure you have no ammonia or nitrites. After a few weeks try turning off the old filter for a few hours and test the water. If there is no ammonia or nitrites you should be good. If there are some turn the filter back on for a few days and repeat.

 

Hello again! I have an apI test kit & right now my pH is 7.6, ammonia around 1-2ppm, nitrite 0 & nitrates 40 ppm. So do I just wait until the ammonia is 0 or should I be doing something else? I should continue with water changes right?

 

If there are no fish in the tank, there is no need to do a water change at this point.