brishe Posted June 17, 2007 Report Share Posted June 17, 2007 We brought 6 small discus three weeks ago and they are currently in a small 40litre tank, we have just purchased a much larger tank to raise them in ( approx 200litres). I would like to know how to change their tank in regards to cycling etc as they are obviously not fish to put in a cycling tank. Any ideas?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GZ_Loach Posted June 17, 2007 Report Share Posted June 17, 2007 get a new filter and swap it with the one in the established tank, then take half the water from the tank and put it in the new tank along with the old filter. then fill up the new tank with new water and leave it alone for a few months to fully cycle. Gravel from the old tank will help speed up the cycle. also if you want you can get a few zebra danios to keep the cycle going. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted June 17, 2007 Report Share Posted June 17, 2007 when i did exactely what your about to do I put substarte & rocks etcthat was throughly washed then half filled the new tank, took half the water & the filter from the original tank & put em into the new one. I then put my least favourite fish in the new tank first. left em for two days & gradually added the rest over the next few days. i had no losses at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David R Posted June 17, 2007 Report Share Posted June 17, 2007 One would assume you have bought new filters for the larger tank. What I would do is run the new filters on the established tank, while doing regular water changes to fill up the larger tank. When the new tank is half-full with 'old' water (keep it circulating with an airstone and/or small filter) and the new filters have been running for 3-4 weeks on the old tank, you can transfer the fish, filters, gravel etc, and total water from the 40L into the 200L, top up with tap water and you should be right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ianab Posted June 17, 2007 Report Share Posted June 17, 2007 Using the established filter from the small tank is the way to go. You can set up the new tank, run it's filter, let the water clear etc. But of course it wont cycle untill there are some fish in it. You should be OK moving your Discus in there as long as you take the existing filter with them. ( some water and gravel wont hurt either, but the filter is the main thing ) That filter is cycled and will keep the water conditions under control untill the new bigger filter gets established. I keep a small spare filter in one of my tanks, so it's ready to go when I set up a tank. Even if it's not big enough for the new tank it will support a small number of fish in a large tank while it cycles. Cheers Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brishe Posted June 17, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 17, 2007 Thanks for all the helpful advice, when i purchased the discus i queried the tank size with the breeder and they said it would be fine as long as i keep the water clean, but after reading some other posts i see that i should of purchased a larger one to start with. We are having problems with some of the babies not growing so i am getting worried that their growth may be stunted, when they move into a larger tank do you think that they will start to grow properly or once stunted always stunted?? five out of the six are eating really well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herefishiefishie Posted June 17, 2007 Report Share Posted June 17, 2007 You won't really know about how their growth is affected until you throw them in the bigger tank. Frenchy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ianab Posted June 17, 2007 Report Share Posted June 17, 2007 If they are still young they will continue to grow when they have more space. Stunting occurs when they reach adult age, but are still small, because of their adult age they dont grow much more no matter how good the conditions. Cheers Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brishe Posted June 17, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 17, 2007 If they are still young they will continue to grow when they have more space. Stunting occurs when they reach adult age, but are still small, because of their adult age they dont grow much more no matter how good the conditions. Cheers Ian Ok that makes me feel a little better, i am hoping to get them in to the bigger tank in the next few weeks. I was just having a panic as its obviously going to take a little time to set up this other tank, longer than i thought but i have put so much time in to these babies i dont want to risk them dying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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