Upgrading from 10 gallon to 20 gallon need help!!

F

FiShNoObIe88

AC Members
Jan 7, 2010
98
0
0
ok so i finally am upgrading my tank from a 10g to a 20g and need help on how to do it properly. I obviously want to keep the beneficial bacteria and not have to cycle again so tell me what i need to transport over from the 10g to 20g. Also as far as the filter goes I have a aquaclear 20 can i use that or should i go out and buy a new one. How much water from the 10g should i put in the 20g. Im concerned that some of that water might be dirty especially where the waste gets stuck in the gravel. Please let me know from your experience on how you guys upgraded and how you do it so you dont have to recycle the tank. Thanks in advance!
 
I would defer to the wisdom of the more experienced members here, but my understanding is that the beneficial bacteria mostly doesn't live in the water; it lives on everything else. That means you're best off to move all of the gravel, decorations, plants, etc. and filter from the old tank to the new tank. As long as you dechlorinate the new water that you add to the new tank, the move shouldn't disrupt the bacteria much at all. I think you'd even be fine to gently rinse the gravel in old tank water to get rid of the major gunk before you move it.
 
1) set up new 20gal (unless it is going into same place as 10gal).
2) Fill about 1/2 with "Primed" water and set temp.
3) Put in gravel from old tank--Dirty and cloudy is OK.
4) Move in all other stuff--Rocks, plants, ect. and fill with water.
5) Move filter over and run to clear water.
6) Next day move in fish.
 
I'd just move all the gravel, plants, decor over to the 20gal. Then take all the water for the 10gal and move it over to the 20gal. Fill the rest of the tank up with water(treated of course). Move your current filter over. Wait for the water to reach the proper temp and then plop the fish in. If you do it this way then it shouldnt cause the fish too much stress as it would be just like doing a water change. Make sure you test the water before putting the fish. Poop in the gravel isn't going to hurt your fish, you don't want to wash it all out cause that's where most of the good bacteria is. Good luck.
 
all great advice but unfortunately i am putting the 20 gallon where the 10 gallon is now. So what do I do with the fish while im making the switch? I have a 5 gallon tank with one tiger barb in it can i put them in there for a little while or not a good idea?
 
You can bag them or put them in a 5 gal bucket.
 
I would think you could carefully move it with 1/2 the water and everything else in there(just put 5g in a bucket and save it, along with any decoration that may be heavy if you have rock or something in there). Just temporarily keep it up and running off to the side on a temporary stand. You can put the 5g right back in it as soon as you move it. Better yet, put those 5 gallons in the 20 and complete a normal w/ch back into the 10 to 'brew' some more while you set up the other one. ~50lbs, 2 people. Only need to move it 2-3 feet to wide enough end table or something.
 
This is what i did for my 5 gallon to 20 swap, the whole move took less than 15 minutes
-Put a layer of substrate in the 20
-Move fish + most of the water to a big tub run an air stone
-Take out filter and set aside (I did NOT touch nor clean the filter media for a whole week)
-Pull up all the plants/decor/rock/wood for the 5 set in another tub
-Scoop out ALL of the the old substrate from the 5 and put it in the 20 -Plant, rescape
-Add some water, run filter for 15 minutes
-Add the old water and the fish
After that a very minor cycle happened, but too small and quick to have any bad effect on the fish. I didn't loose any fish in the process.
 
Also, if you are getting a bigger filter for the 20, double up and run the old one in it as well for a bit.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom