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New ish Tank Questions

richiewheels

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Joined
5 Sep 2022
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8
Location
Tunbridge Wells
Hello all,
I have a current tank set up, stocked with fish and plastic plants. (silver and rainbow sharks, 2 pleco and 3 corys and 2 gourami)
I have a larger tank which I am going to set up with gravel and substrate for planting up.
The plan is to use my external filter from my old tank to set up and start the new one (smaller filter running internally on old tank) - I will also be using a large amount of the water from my running tank too.

Question is - when planted up will I need to carry out the preferred water change cycle as shown below - or can I get away with marginally less frequent changes due to using the original filter and water??
WK1 - 50% every day, WK2 50% every 2 days, WK3 50% every 3 days then WK4 50% every 4/5 days

Original tank 80cm long - running happily for 5 years+ - full of lovely fish and friendly bacteria

New tank 100cm long - will be using the Fluval 307 external filter from the old tank.
 
Hi and welcome to the forum :)
Question is - when planted up will I need to carry out the preferred water change cycle as shown below - or can I get away with marginally less frequent changes due to using the original filter and water??
WK1 - 50% every day, WK2 50% every 2 days, WK3 50% every 3 days then WK4 50% every 4/5 days

Depends on if you plan to add the livestock straight away and what substrate your using
Do I have to fill the tank completely with water - or can I just fill to the level of the new plants and cycle from there?

No, you can put the substrate in and as long as it is damp or covered with water it will cycle, you don't even need to have the filter on it. If you using a new filter and there is enough water in the tank you can fit it and run it and that will cycle also. added a few plant roots from the garden will speed the cycling up also. Adding something the bacteria can feed on helps also, I have added a glass or urine every few days to get the filter to cycled faster as well (not every ones cup of tea) No need for light on during fishless/ plant less cycle, tank is best kept in dark as it will prevent algae getting going with low/back ground light levels

IF the tank is cycled for six weeks then planet, limited livestock can be added virtually straight away also
 
Hello Zeus - thanks for the welcome and info :)

So I am starting with Fiji gravel and JBL Manado.

Interesting - so I can cover the substrate with water and cycle it in the dark for 6 weeks without plant/fish. The urine added is there increase the ammonia and convert to nitrite for the plant roots yes?

Was considering using my water/filter from my old tank to cycle it with substrate/plants and then add the fish at a later date after cycling. So as long as the plants are covered with water it will cycle OK

3 big silver sharks
4 decent sized rainbow sharks
2x pleco
3x cory
2 gourami

Plant wise - is there anything I should avoid due to the size of the fish?

Am aiming for mosses/ferns and some larger leafed stems plants and surface plants - not sure what I can find locally yet.
 

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If your still using your filter in old tank then leave it there until ready for adding livestock. The substrate will cycle without a filter in the tank as long as it is damp or covered with water and leave for six weeks, just fill tank carefully after six weeks then take all the water out to substrate level, then plant your plants, fill tank add a little prime if using tap water and add filter. I would leave the livestock out for 24 to 48hrs whilst filter does its job ( don't feed fish during this period) then I would add them.
 
Looking at the closet with wooden legs under your new tank, I wonder how long it would hold the weight. ;)
For your silver sharks, the new tank will be still way too small. Someone could call it animal mistreating. :thumbdown:

Got to agree here. Those guys can make 14”. Minimum recommend tank size is 120 - 150 gallons. They are going to need a new home. 🙁
 
Ouch, I thought those silver sharks were a camera trick. Sorry, that's really not fair to them. I'd return them to a fish shop asap, or pass them on. They need a tank ten times larger.
 
If your still using your filter in old tank then leave it there until ready for adding livestock. The substrate will cycle without a filter in the tank as long as it is damp or covered with water and leave for six weeks, just fill tank carefully after six weeks then take all the water out to substrate level, then plant your plants, fill tank add a little prime if using tap water and add filter. I would leave the livestock out for 24 to 48hrs whilst filter does its job ( don't feed fish during this period) then I would add them.
 
Lovely - cheers Zeus.
Hoping to get a few plants together on the weekend.

Superglue I see is used for sticking plants to rocks/wood etc.........would you go this route or cotton thread?
 
Looking at the closet with wooden legs under your new tank, I wonder how long it would hold the weight. ;)
For your silver sharks, the new tank will be still way too small. Someone could call it animal mistreating. :thumbdown:
Got a better solution for the tank base - and will look at re-homing the silvers......
 
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