need to switch tanks?

[dana307]

Looking for advice and lamenting a bit I know. My 30 gal has several large variety of fish, while okay in size now, will need to die or move. Some will die at some point in time of course. My 50 gal is filled with lots of small types of fish. See lists below. Should I consider switching the inhabitants all together? Have to disturb what is working right now for all involved but also am carefully watching the size of the fish in the 30 gal. And NO I cannot buy a bigger tank!!!! If I were to do this, what is the best way to proceed? A bit at a time, all at one, how to acclimate to the new, etc. I can manage a couple of fish at a time but not two bunches at once, ya know? Thanks for any advice.....

 

[dana307]

'''''' typo correction....... "HATE to disturb what is workign, not HAVE to." significant difference. sorry.

 

[toodles]

If I were to do this, this is how I'd go about it. First off, I'd do a couple of water changes in both tanks. Make sure that the water quality is up to par. Next, I would make both tanks identical with regards to pH, temp, and of course your ammonia, nitrite levels should be 0 in both tanks and hopefully your nitrates would be low too....<20. (If your pH and temp are different in the 2 tanks, you will need to take several hours or even days to bring them slowly to the same level. No sudden changes!!)
Then I would get several large clean containers with lids. Put tank water in the containers. Take the small fish out of the 50g and put them in the containers. Once all the small fish are out, then start taking the large fish out of the 30g and if the water parameters are identical in the 2 tanks, you can just place the large fish directly into the 50g!!! Once they are all out, then simply put the small fish into the 30g.
***I can't stress this enough, the tanks MUST be indentical with regards to water parameters.....if they aren't, there is a very good chance you will stress the fish out and some may die as a result.***

 

[dana307]

Thanks for the input Kim. I am going to think about it for a while. I am finding that my taste in fish change with time. I love the smaller fish in the 50gal and am less thrilled with the Sevs and Tbars in the other. (Leporinus always rocks!) I know that the big fishies will need more room. Can't do it right now as I have two preg mollies in the 50gal. Bad time for a move. If I do swap, I will follow your advice. Thanks. Anyone else?????

 

[SoulFish]

well those fish are going to need larger then a 50, id go with 150-200gal range for all those fish

 

[dana307]

Soulfish, soulfishk, soulfish.

Didn't you read the "And NO I cannot buy a bigger tank!!!! " comment in my first post? And neither my budget nor my floors can handle a 150 gal. And haven't you heard that fish often die? And, if everyone lived to their full size, don'tcha think there's other options like returning a fish, etc?? Sorry but your post was neither helpful nor constructive.