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call me an idiot but im not at all sure of the best way to do this.
i am considering upgrading my 260L tank to a 450L, the thing is i am not sure how to go about it.

the current tank is fully stocked and planted, therfore the problems i see are:-

1, the new tank needs to go where the old one is and both are far too heavy to move with water in.

2, the new tank needs cycling and i dont have room to run the 2 tanks together for a change over period.


can someone please give me an idiot proof step by step guide on how to do this.

thanks

edit, not sure what difference it make to the job but the existing tank is an internal built in filter (juwel) and i plan on keeping any plants and decor i can.

Last edited by hembo666 at 11-Jan-2006 10:36

Go to a hardware store and get some of the new(clean) 5 gallon buckets. Rise them out like you would if they were something to go in your tank. Use a few buckets to let water sit for a few hours.(make sure the water is near room temp) Move your fish and plants into as many of the buckets you think is safe. Use another bucket for gravel. Take the old tank down. Put the new tank up and the gravel, the water you let sit, any decorations, plants, and finally the fish.
You fish should be safe for an hour or two if you put an airstone in with them. About a week ahead of time lower the heat down to the low range of normal.(so the temp doesn't botter them as much in the buckets.
You can reuse the buckets for latter uses.(water changes, house hold uses, any thing you can use a bucket for) You can never have too many buckets.-well you can but then you have some issues

Last edited by weird22person at 11-Jan-2006 10:53

Last edited by weird22person at 11-Jan-2006 10:58

20 Gallon Long:
Aquaclear 300
2 Bolivian Rams, Mikrogeophagus altispinosus: Gumby and Pokey

Hi there


1.) Plan out the new tank first. You'll have a lot mroe room in this one (well, depending on what the dimensions are) so don't go into it hodgepodge and just dump everything in. Plan plan and plan again! Do little set-ups with whatever decor you have planned so you can see before hand what looks good/ doesnt look good. It's easier to set up everything before hand then to have to redo it majorly later

2.) Buy a large plastic container, one that holds at least half, if not more of the water in the original tank.

3.) Set up the container somewhere on the floor, close to where you'll be working, but not too close that it gets in the way

4.) Remove at least half, if not more of the original water from the original tank and put it in the container. Remove fish and plants and put them in the container as well. The plants will be fine to float around while the work is going on. Take the filter off the tank and attach it to the big plastic container/ tub. Let it run as normal. same thing with the heater.

5.) Use a gravel vac to dig down into the gravel and siphon that mulm/ water into a separate smaller container. The water isn't important here, the mulm is.

6.) Now that the water is gone from the old tank it should be easy to move. Pick it up and put it somewhere else, you can clean it out later. Set-up the new tank/ stand plus whatever else is going there.

7.) Add gravel/ substrate to the new tank, pour the mulm plus some original water over it into the gravel bed. This is part of seeding the new aquarium. You can also put some mulm into the new filter.

8.) Set up decorations/ hardscape

9.) Fill tank with some more new water. Set up the plants. Also, get more plants since the aquarium will be bigger. get more than you think you need, they'll help with any mini-cycle, with fish stress, and to combat algae right away. Seriously, get what you think you need, then get more.

10.) Fill tank back up, using new water plus about half of what's in the tub.

11.) Attach old filter to new aquarium. Let it run for a few weeks until the new one builds up its colonies. Attach heater.

12.) Acclimate fish to new tank as normal, using drip method or whatever you normally use.

Keep the light out the rest of the day, they'll be under enough stress as it is. The most important things are:

1.) Plan everything ahead

2.) Save as much mulm from the original tank as possible.

Good luck

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Back in the saddle!

That is a dilemma...

Well, what kind of filter will the larger tank have? You can run the new filter in the old established tank for 2 weeks or so to seed the new filter with beneficial bacteria.

Get a couple of large buckets, or a plastic trash bin (completely clean and fish-safe of course!) works well. Save as much of the old water as possible. You can put your heater into one of these buckets along with an airstone, or the new filter you've been seeding, and keep your fish and plants in the bucket for a day or two. Don't feed them, and keep them in a dark and quiet place while you tear down the old tank and set up the new one.

Vac your gravel really well, and save all the gravel, too.

Now you should be ready to finish tearing down the old tank and get the new one into place. Use the old gravel mixed with enough new gravel to fill the new tank, and fill partially with new water, and as much of the old water as possible while still keeping the fish in enough water. Get a good water conditioner to remove chlorine/chloramine/metals/etc. If you have it available, get some "aquarium-bacteria-in-a-bottle" like cycle, bio-spira, or something similar. Some stress coat might not be a bad idea either. Make sure you have test kits for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate on hand. Finish setting up the new tank, saving the filter and heater from the bucket until last if possible. Dose the tank with the conditioner, cycle, and stress coat, and run the filter for a few hours while the heater heats the water to your desired temperature. Once the tank is clear and running well, acclimate your fish and introduce them to their new home. You should fill the buckets with fresh water again and add water conditioner for your first water change at this time. Leave the lights off, don't feed, and keep the room quiet if possible until the next day. Test your water about twice a day to keep track of ammonia and nitrite levels, and if they start getting high, do a small water change as needed using the aged water from the buckets. After about 2-3 weeks, you should be out of the woods and your tank should be fine.

Hoping that there must be a word for everything I mean...

thanks,
NOWHERE, your point 1. too right, made that mistake with the 260L.

just been doing a bit more research and the 260L and 450L have exactly the same internal filter fitted, so i can swap all the media from the old filter and use it in the new one, that should help right?

btw, the tanks in question are a juwel vision 260 and juwel vision 450.

all i need now is to raise a few funds, (ebay here i come, lol)

thanks again

Glad to help. There's no rush on this, so take your time planning ahead, it'll make things much easier down the road.

Re: the filter media - you can just transfer the media, but it's vital to keep water moving over the filter media while you're working, that's why I suggest running it on the holding tank. These bacteria need oxygen to stay alive, if the water gets stagnant or if they dry out they'll die.

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Back in the saddle!

thanks all, just seen a 7ft tank in a nice cabinet for £300, £400 with 2 external filters but dont think it will fit in the lounge