Big dilemma

[csuvi]

had a really bad staghorn algae outbreak, so decided to start from zero on my 182 liter. I had around 30 fish (tetras and corys) in the tank, and for now they are in a 30 liter tank which i used for babies in the past.

i am not sure what to do.... 30 liter tank is surely not enough for them, but on the big tank i did a full rescape, new substrate, new hardscape, new plants. the filter (oase thermo) stayed the same, well matured, over a year, but i am not sure what would be the better option.....

keep the fish in the small tank, and wait for other to mature, or put them back in the big tank, and do daily testing and waterchanges, and hope for the best? any suggestions?

 

[Toby C]

While you were re-scaping, what did you do with the filter and its media? And how long did the re-scape take?

If you kept it running, I’d keep them in the main tank and do daily water changes.

 

[csuvi]

i did everything in 1 day, and now the filter is running again.

 

[John q]

What substrate did you use in the rescape?

 

[DaveWatkin]

get some seachem stability and daily dose for a week or so and get some seachem prime and test water twice a day and dose as required if there are any rises in ammonia or nitrite. Oh and daily water changes.

Just did similar and all fish survived with no damage and never seemed particularly stressed.

 

[csuvi]

What substrate did you use in the rescape?

ada powersand, a mix of tropica and ada soil, and a bit of la plata sand

 

[csuvi]

get some seachem stability and daily dose for a week or so and get some seachem prime and test water twice a day and dose as required if there are any rises in ammonia or nitrite. Oh and daily water changes.

Just did similar and all fish survived with no damage and never seemed particularly stressed.

i am already using prime, and added some bacteria (fluval).

thanks for all your advice. i will put them back, test regularly, try to do water changes and see how it goes.

in terms of water changes, should i do around 50%, more, or maybe less? my back is killing me 😀

 

[DaveWatkin]

I have a 90L tank and was using a 30L barrel to water change so taking hardscape and substrate into account it was a 35-40% water change daily. I feel your pain, this tank was upstairs and my supply is in my shed so lugged the 30+kg barrel up and down daily.

 

[John q]

ada powersand, a mix of tropica and ada soil, and a bit of la plata sand

Well ideally you wouldn't be adding any live stock until that mix of substrate has finished releasing ammonia into the water column.
I understand your dilemma so if you do end up putting the fish back in (which I wouldn't) then you need to do large, daily (60~70%) water changes and overdosing prime would be advised.

 

[csuvi]

Well ideally you wouldn't be adding any live stock until that mix of substrate has finished releasing ammonia into the water column.
I understand your dilemma so if you do end up putting the fish back in (which I wouldn't) then you need to do large, daily (60~70%) water changes and overdosing prime would be advised.

this is the dilemma. if i had a decent size tank for the 30 fish (plus amanos and cherries), i would just keep them there for a couple of weeks. unfortunately currently they are staying in a 30 liter tank. how long do you think i could keep them in there?

 

[John q]

how long do you think i could keep them in there?

Hard to say; You're caught between a rock and a hard place. With good aeration, filtration and daily water changes they could survive in the 30l but its obviously not ideal and I wouldn't recommend it.

Is there no way you can go and buy a cheap plastic storage box and keep them in that for a couple of weeks.

 

[csuvi]

Hard to say you're caught between a rock and a hard place. With good aeration, filtration and daily water changes they could survive in the 30l but its obviously not ideal and I wouldn't recommend it.

Is there no way you can go and buy a cheap plastic storage box and keep them in that for a couple of weeks.

that's a great idea John Q. i am off to b&q. thank you very much 🙂