New Tank

[mobilecow]

Hi Everyone
I got myself a 75g to move all my discus into - scrubbed it down today and filled it with water and am running a couple of filters from established tanks. Will be running a fish-free cycle starting tomorrow... How long after it's cycled should I wait before switching the fish over?

[Tropical Haven]

Count on around 2 to 3 weeks, best way to know is purchase a master test kit and measure Ammonia, Nitrites and Nitrates. When you get a zero reading for all of those then it is safe to put the fish into it.

[White Worm]

If you are using established filters / media, your tank is cycled and ready for fish now. A cycle is the process of building up enough bio (good bacteria) to break down ammo to nitrites to nitrates (ie: establish your media / filters). As soon as there is enough bio built up to control the amount of ammonia and it is immediately processed, you have the cycle. You should always watch it for a couple weeks though in case of spikes depending on the fish load you add.

[mobilecow]

I've got ammonia and nitrite test kits... I will wait a couple of days and test for 0 levels on both, then stick some other fish (not my angels / discus) - if the levels stay down with them in, that would mean everything is fine, right?

[Ardan]

Hi,
If you are running cycled filters and not feeding the filters with food to keep the bacteria alive, then the bacteria will die.


then stick some other fish (not my angels / discus)

You may risk transmitting disease from these other fish to the new tank.


I would move the discus with the filters that the discus currently have to the new tank. then all will be cycled and good:) Just test for ammonia and nitrites for a couple of wks to be sure. and do wc's:)

hth
Ardan

[mench]

What I would do ,and what I always do is this...take about 50% water from your exisiting tanks and put it into your 75..so thats around 35 or so gals..then if you have a sponge filter in the other tank,take that and put into the 75.fill the 75 with water, get the temp right and presto your tank is all ready to put in the fish...
I have been doing it this way for years with no problems...I always tell new discus folks to keep a extra sponge filter or two going in the older tanks,that way you always have a filter ready if you need to set up a tank...

[mobilecow]

Mench - you hit the nail on the head - I neglected to mention that I've been drawing water from the two 45's I have to fill the 75g. I recently traded my hydrosponge to a mate who needed bacteria badly so the current one has only been in there a week. Do you reckon that will do it? or should I go with the smaller sponge 2 from another tank?

Ardan - I've got half a dozen black-skirt tetras, a 3" pleco, and a betta female in the "new" tank right now - feeding them twice a day - I was nervous moving everyone over because I thought I was going on a leap of logic... But, I see what you mean - will be making the switch this afternoon.

Is it more likely that the ammonia will spike or nitrites? I ask because maybe I can stick ammonia-remover in my filter?

[White Worm]

All you need is a tank full of clean water, a good amount of established filter media (sponge/s), not the 1 week old one (go with an older/ better seeded filters). Then add fish and feed them. Dont wait because you will lose good bacteria the longer your filters go without having something for them to eat (fish waste). Dont add other fish because you could possibly transfer critters from other species. Keep up on water changes and test for possible Ammonia or Nitrite spikes for 2 weeks or so. Use prime with your water changes. Salt can be added to negate nitrite affects.

[mobilecow]

When you say salt - you mean aquarium salt, not epsom, right?

[White Worm]

regular table salt works just as good, Non-iodized. epsom is for bloat.