Is this a good idea?

[christinap]

I got a 50g on freecycle! WHOOOOO!

Anyway, it's cycling now, so I have what 6 weeks before I can put any fish in it?

I was thinking about moving my 6 guppies and the 3 week old fry I have now
(10 total), frog and pleco in that tank and tossing the 2.5 gal (where my fry are now) and using the 10 gal as the nursery instead of the 2.5gal.

My main concern is can you move fish too often? I have a female I've already moved once and fry I've already moved once. By the 6 week cycle of my tank, I will have moved the fry into the main tank to make room for new fry. So is that moving the fish too much?

Also, in my 50g can I add 2-3 peacock eels? I would really like to get one of those! And a few shrimp. Any suggestions?

 

[S-kate]

I think the eels would eat the shrimp. A friend of mine has one and buys ghost shrimp as feeders. As for moving the fish too much I don't know. I imagine if you acclimate them very slowly it would be alright.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

If you seed the 50g with gravel or filter media from your established tanks, the cycle should be much shorter than 6 weeks... just to throw that out there.

It's not moving the fish too much, so long as the water conditions are similar.

 

[christinap]

Thanks, I didn't think about that!

If I do add gravel and water from the 10 gallon, how does that affect the cycling?

 

[IDunnoWhy]

Some say with a properly "seeded" tank, the cycle is virtually immediate, I don't agree, however I've seen this said countless times.

 

[christinap]

So how do I properly seed it?

 

[IDunnoWhy]

So how do I properly seed it?

You could take some of your "seeded" gravel put it in a nylon and hang it or bury it in your new tank, I've also heard of using your filter media from your existing fliter, you could just hang it in your new tank, or put it in the new filter housing if there is room.

If there is any doubt about the age of the "doner" tank (Meaning your not sure it's completely cycled) then I would just suggest fishless cycling, takes longer but it will be done right. A guide can be found in the stickies section of the beginner forum.

 

[christinap]

Well, that 50 gallon turned out to hold 38 gallons, SOOOOOOo still ok for a main tank. (Can't complain it was free) I will do a fishless cycle for this one, but my sister gave me a second 10 gallon and her 2 loaches, so I'm going to put my big mama in there and that will start my 10 gal breeder