Wazza Posted April 10, 2004 Report Share Posted April 10, 2004 Hi folk, I'm a newbie here, and in fish keeping. At the beginning of the year I inherited my mother’s old 80 litre tank with a 7 year old red spotted Pleco who is a foot long. Since then the tank population has expanded to a point where it’s getting a bit over populated. So today I paid for and ordered a new 220 litre tank to be made. Currently I am running 2 internal mechanical filters and the ph and ammonia and nitrate levels are spot on. The tank has only tropical fish in it and the temp is 26 deg. For the new tank I purchased a new Aqua One external filter with a 700 litre per hour flow rate. I have set this running on my old tank so it is prepared for the new tank while still running both internals. My 1st question is, can I over filter the tank? My 2nd question is, in the tank I have 3 Firemouths, all well and eating and swimming, but the largest 1 seems to only come out in the dark, the others don’t care when they come out. He has dug a trench down to the bottom of the tank under a rock, is this normal? Thank for all the interesting helpful post I’ve read so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warren Posted April 10, 2004 Report Share Posted April 10, 2004 Sound's like you are on the right path for filtration. Good idea putting the new filter on the old tank. It will mean a very easy changeover. You'll need to transfer the new filter to the new tank and leave it for a few days. You'll then be able to move the fish across a couple at a time a few days apart. This will let the filter gradually adjust to the load. You can't over-filter, only under-filter. The size of filter you have will be ok with the fishload. Are you going to use internal and/or undergravel filters as well. Watch the effectiveness of the undergravel filter if the Firemouth is digging right down to the gravel plates. It can stop it being effective completely... It is normal for the Firemouths to dig a nest. It's the breeding instinct taking over. Just keep an eye on the other two to make sure there is no fighting. If the other two are females, check he is not being too aggressive with them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wazza Posted April 10, 2004 Author Report Share Posted April 10, 2004 Thanks Warren, I dont run a UG filter as I had both internals working. The new tank will contain everything from the old one. Plus the half of the old water mixed with new tap water from the next 3 water changes. This should give me a little over 200 litres to use in the new tank. I have found 2 100 litre containers to do this. It was my intent to do a straight swap as I need the location of the old tank for the new tank. If the new tank has all the gravel and objects and a filter worked for a fortnight, should it be considered cycled? If not I guess the kitchen table is about to be used as a temp stand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warren Posted April 10, 2004 Report Share Posted April 10, 2004 If the old filters are going to be used, you should be able to swap everything all at once with little need for the new filter to cycle. The filters you have now are doing the job. Fill the containers with your old tank water and put the current filters in them still running. This will keep the filter active for the short time it takes to transfer eveything over. It will be effectively like doing a 50% water change on your old tank so the fish will be fine. The new filter will need 3-4 weeks after everything is transferred before you start adding more fish. This will give it time to come on-line before the load increases. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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