Need some advice on upgrading the tank

[jerzguy]

I currently have a 72 gallon planted tank with 6 discus in it. It is running eheim classic 2217 and a Eheim aquaball filter. I am planning to upgrade it to 125 gallon & FX5 and already bought them. My problem is I can not set it up separately as they are on the second floor because of the weight constraints. Can I just transfer all the water from 72g to this one and add the remaining water then transfer the fish? In the 125g I will have trnafer my eheim classic & eheim aquaball and new FX5(not cycled) but my concern is will the tank be cycled right away as I am using my existing filters? I am also changing my substrate from redsea flora base to eco complete. (I did not get possitive feedback for Soil Master Select Substrate from the members here so I switched to ECO complete). Any thoughts on this please.

Thank you

[ejhart]

I don't see it being a problem, the bio load isn't going to change so the current filter should be fine until the FX5's bio is good to go. One thing I would do though is put some of the bio material that's in your eheim into the fx5's bio chamber to help seed the bio in the fx5 a little faster. Other than that you should be fine. You could also toss in some seachem stability or better yet some bio-spira just to get the fx5 bio going even faster, but as long as the bio load stays the same as it is in the 72g you shouldn't have any ammonia or nitrite spikes. Another idea is to put some plants in there so if by some small chance there is a slight mini cycle the plants will absorb any ammonia.

[stephcps]

I think that should work fine. I have done similar on a smaller scale and it worked fine for me. If you are using cycled media your tank will be cycled. I would think you may want to wait before adding too much more biload for the new filter to catch up. Just go slow.

I don't have near as much experience as most on this board though. I'm sure others will chime in. I use the eco complete for my planted tanks and have been happy.

Sounds like fun!!

[exv152]

I did something similar but on a smaller scale. I was setting up a 20 gal tank and I took the new canister filter I bought for it, and hooked it up to my 75 gal tank for about three weeks. I then transfered the filter to the new tank and I haven't seen any ammonia or nitrites. The bioload is low though. I think if you take it slow and don't rush it, it ought to work out just fine.

[GrillMaster]

You wont have an issue tranferring the filters to the 125G. You would have a cycled tank.

As far as the SMS...I dont know who gave the negetive reviews but I loved this substrate! The plants loved it...The color for me was the issue...It just wasn't natural. The plants on the other hand thrived... :) SMS red... ;)

[rickztahone]

no need to transfer dirty water. other than that the previous advice has been sound