# New tank



## DollyGirl08 (Dec 1, 2012)

Some of you may remember me asking advice regarding tanks and my goldfish a few weeks ago. 

Well, i'm going to pick up my new (secondhand) tank this week. 
It's a 120l i think. A jewel bowfront tank. 
I currently have my fantail and comet tail in a 30l biOrb. 

Now, my question....how do i go about setting up and putting the fish in the new tank? Do i use the old water then top up? Do i leave it a few days then put them in? I know to put them in a bag first for 30 mins to settle into any temperature change. 

Also, can anybody recommend a decent filter that isn't too expensive? I know someone said to get one that's double the capacity of the tank? 

Any advice is appreciated, thanks.


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## JessIncaFCR (Oct 1, 2012)

It is a good idea to add existing water to the new tank, but the water doesn't hold huge amounts of bacteria like the filter does, so if you can't, you don't have to, but it certainly won't hurt. When setting up my second tank, I used tank water from my big tank as that was more mature. It is up to you really 

You now have 2 options:

Get your filter media from your biOrb and place this in your filter. The filter media is where most of the beneficial bacteria lives and this will give your tank a good boost.

OR

You can purchase a bottle of Tetra SafeStart, which may seem quite expensive (Will probably cost around £10ish for a set up that size) but is full of beneficial bacteria. This is the only aquarium start up product that consistently works. I have used and it hasn't failed me.

Either of the above would be fine.

Make sure when you start it up and have added the filter media/SafeStart, do not wait too long (More than an hour or 2) before you add the fish. Otherwise, the beneficial bacteria will die off.

My recommendation would be to initially just add one of the goldfish. As goldfish are heavy waste producers, adding 2 may be too much, and if the beneficial bacteria cannot cope with it, your ammonia will rise. Float the first goldfish in the bag. Acclimate him as if he's a new fish in a new tank from the fish shop. Feed him very little. Make sure all of the food is eaten. If lots of food is rotting at the bottom, it will produce ammonia. If you have a test kit (Would recommend the API Freshwater Master Test Kit) you should test it every day/every other day to ensure that the ammonia is not getting above 0. Small amounts of ammonia can be very toxic to fish. After a week or so of the parameters being good, feel free to then add the other. Keep feeding them small amounts and monitoring your water quality.

Oh and as for a filter, the allpondsolutions filters are great and a very good price. I have an external filter and this would be superb for your tank All Pond Solutions - 1000EF Aquarium External Filter - All Pond Solutions It may seem big (up to 400L) but if it will fit in your cabinet, I would suggest going as big as you can.

Hope this helps


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## DollyGirl08 (Dec 1, 2012)

Thanks that was very helpful. I just panic lol. These are my first fish so i'm still learning.


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## NaomiM (Sep 22, 2012)

Do you know what the ammonia and nitrite levels are in your biorb? If you have any ammonia/nitrite at all, personally I'd transfer both fish to the bigger tank straight away, and put all the filter media from the biorb into the new filter, as this will kick-start the cycle for the new tank. Transfer the gravel over as well, as that will also contain some beneficial bacteria.

If there's no ammonia or nitrite in your current tank, I'd consider doing a full fishless cycle in the new tank first. There's a good article on fishless cycling here: Tropical Fish Forums UK - Setting up your new Aquarium If you gently squeeze a sponge from your old filter into your new filter (and then put it back in your biorb's filter), this will kick-start the cycle without removing too many of the beneficial bacteria from your current tank.

I personally am very sceptical of bacteria-in-a-bottle products - from what I've heard, Tetra SafeStart is one of the few that do actually work, but it's still not 100% :mellow:

To acclimatise, float them in a bag in the new tank, as yoiu said, then after 20 mins or so, pour a little water from the new tank to the bag. Repeat this every 5-10 minutes for an hour or so, then net them out of the bag into the tank.

Whatever method you use, keep checking the ammonia and nitrite levels (in whatever tank the fish are in) daily until they've been stable at 0 for a week or so. Do partial water changes as necessary (this may be every day if you have more than a trace of ammonia and nitrite) to keep the levels under 0.25 for both ammonia and nitrite.


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## DollyGirl08 (Dec 1, 2012)

Thanks.

Where can i get a 'checker' for the levels and what type is best? 

I'm getting thr tank in the week so have a few days to get/order the filter etc.

So, i can put my pebbles and ceramic stuff/fake plants in the new tank to help the bacteria too? 

I have never done the ph level stuff so no idea what it is.


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## JessIncaFCR (Oct 1, 2012)

A test kit for testing ammonia/nitrites/nitrates would be something like the API Master Test Kit. Liquid test kits are more accurate than strips which can sometimes give inaccurate readings. 

Yes, you can also put the old ceramic media and pebbles in, but if it were me I would not want to have the ceramic media unless I had to, so I would put them in a mesh bag which means that you can eventually take them out, or if you wish you can conceal it behind plants and stuff like that


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## Tropical Fish Delivered (Sep 25, 2012)

There is a surprising amount of beneficial bacteria living on the gravel (top layer) so adding some of this will help. Then once you have added the fish in to the tank you should treat like its a new aquarium, recycle and monitor those parameters


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