10g to 55g move

[brentd123]

I currently have a 10 gallon tank that has been set up for a few months and my fish are out growing it so I bought a 55 gallon. I was wondering if I moved all the gravel, plants, decorations and used the filter on the tank for the first month would I just have a mini-cycle? or would it completely cycle and kill all my fish? Also i have a bottle of "cycle" I can use if that helps. If this little plan does not worked im prepared to do a proper fishless-cycle. Just wanna know if I can do it the easy way lol.

Thanks brent*SUPERSMIL

 

[Lotus]

Yes, if you move everything from one tank to another, you should only have a minimal cycle. You must include all the gravel, decorations, filters, etc., and you may have no cycle at all.

 

[unwritten law]

your gonna need a bigger filter for the 55 gallon than the 10 gallon obviously but using it will help keep your levels down but the new filter would need to be cycled. Putting some of the filter media from the old filter into the new one would help most but try and leave some in the old so that it can keep doing it's thing. Moving decor/ gravel should also help a bit but the gravel is gonna get mixed up a lot and that isn't gonna help the established bacteria on it.

 

[brentd123]

thanks alot that makes everything alot more easy. obiously since 10g worth of substrate is not going to be enough, do add the new suff slowely or just all at once? Also I have the bio-wheel 350 , im thinking that will be sufficiant filtration for a community tank if I dont over stock.

 

[Lotus]

One thing you can do to help is put the new filter on the smaller tank for a few days (or weeks... depending on when you're setting it up). That will help establish the bacteria on the new filter.

Wait a week or so after moving the fish/stuff into the new tank before adding more gravel. It will give the bacteria a chance to settle. If you cover over the old gravel when you first set up the new tank, it could cause problems. If you really want to add the new gravel, put the old gravel on top of it.

 

[brentd123]

Alright sounds good, now I just need to figure out what other fish im going to put in it.....