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It's time for a change

Carpman

Member
Joined
5 Sep 2016
Messages
329
Location
London
Its been nearly 2 years since I set up my tank, I keep saying to myself it needs doing but keep putting it off. I think its time I got it done, its a daunting process and I'm not really sure in how this is done. Its going to be a complete make over/strip down and re-scape. I plan to do this in 2 weeks (next (uk) school holiday period). I'm going to use my old 60ltr tank to hold fishand a smaller tank to hold plants for duration of re-scape.

Please correct if any of my thinking is wrong.
  1. Move fish shrimp and 60lrt of water from tank to holding tank.
  2. Remove plants and enough water to another holding tank.
  3. Remove remainder of water.
  4. Remove soil sand debris and clean.
  5. Re-Scape,
  6. Re-plant / plant use original plant water.
  7. Add Fish and original water.
  8. Top up with fresh water.
Now for some questions, I'm not sure about.
  1. Will my Eheim 4+ Pro be too powerful for a 60 lrt tank?
  2. If the eheim pump is to powerful, I can use my spare fluval U2? (I will need to replace the old media and filters not been used in 2 yrs).
  3. If I have to use the U2, I was thinking run it for a week with water from current tank to help populate media prior to fish swap?
  4. Can I use just an air pump and stone to aerate the water for plants?
  5. Is soil reusable (ADA soil and powder and sand)see original Picture?
  6. Is there a way to separate the soil from the sand?
  7. Do I need to keep any more of the original water for the new setup?
 
I would remove the plants then try and get the fish after... too many hiding places for them will make your job impossible... lowering the water level will help too...

It will depend on the species of fish as to whether your filter is too powerful. If you're concerned it's too powerful then you could use the u2, just replace any media that's in it with media from the current filter. Running it I'm the water for a few weeks first won't really help. The bacteria don't live in the water but on surfaces in the tank and filter. For this reason you may wish to consider keeping the plants and fish together so you move part of the filtration system with the fish... plants act like a filter too of course! Then you wouldn't need to worry about the airstone.

Ive no experience with ADA substrates I'm afraid...
 
@6 Use a Kitchen Sive!....;)
upload_2018-10-7_17-30-21.jpeg

hoggie
 
I would remove the plants then try and get the fish after... too many hiding places for them will make your job impossible... lowering the water level will help too...

It will depend on the species of fish as to whether your filter is too powerful. If you're concerned it's too powerful then you could use the u2, just replace any media that's in it with media from the current filter. Running it I'm the water for a few weeks first won't really help. The bacteria don't live in the water but on surfaces in the tank and filter. For this reason you may wish to consider keeping the plants and fish together so you move part of the filtration system with the fish... plants act like a filter too of course! Then you wouldn't need to worry about the airstone.

Ive no experience with ADA substrates I'm afraid...

The only issue with having the plants with the fish is there would be no substrate in holding tank therefore plants would just float on top

@6 Use a Kitchen Sive!....;)
View attachment 118426
hoggie

I don't know that the sand would pass through the sieve, but just mentioned it to the boss and she says thay come in different sizes so need to look into that.
 
I would set up holding tank using the new filter but put some media in from the old filter and replace the stuff taken out. Add about a third fish tank water and top off with fresh. Take out all the plants and put in holding tank and use lead plant weights in necessary, most will be quite happy floating where they can get to atmospheric co2. Ripping up the plants will cause a mess so leave it for a day until it clears which will make catching your fish far easier. Put the fish in the holding tank and put your original filter on obviously after a clean as it will just have pulled in all the crap from lifting plants. Set the new scape up and get it running using some aquarium water from the holding tank and the new filter then add the fish back and the filter you started of with initially. That way your original filter has never stopped running right through the process.
 
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