newfisher Posted March 3, 2009 Report Share Posted March 3, 2009 I have finally got the tank I want... trick was to keep getting more and more little tanks till family said enough just get one big tank :lol: I have a couple of questions please. My plants in the old tank have what I believe is Black Beard Algae not all over but it is there. Should I move them into the new tank? If I do move them to the new tank and use Flourish Excel ( I believe this will get rid of it?) should I wait longer to move the fish? I used half the stones from my old tank and tonight was going to move the bio media from the old filter into the new tank then the fish. Would this work or do I have to cycle from scratch? My new tank is 215lts and will house 4 clown loaches, 2 mollies, 2 GBA's 20 neon Tetra's and 4 Black Phantom tectras. These are from the exisiting tanks. Eventually I want to have 6 Clown Loaches, 20 Tectras of some sort, my 2 GBA's as I find them cute, 2 mollies. Do you think a couple of Angels would work with this? Sorry for all the questions but I want to get this right if possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted March 3, 2009 Report Share Posted March 3, 2009 No idea on the algae, some people say a double dose of flourish but it is hard on fish so maybe chuck the plants in the new tank and dose them up without fish see if you can clear it up? No real need to move the stones, the biomedia and sponges from the filter will be enough to keep the tank cycled for the same boiload just keep an eye on things an extra water change or 2 might be needed but I haven't had trouble with just moving half the media. Angels are very likely to eat neons when fully grown I would say they will more times than not.. Some people get away with it some don't it is upto you personally I have found angels very good at eating other fish and wouldn't keep them with small fish like neons as anything they believe they can eat they will try to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave+Amy Posted March 3, 2009 Report Share Posted March 3, 2009 Get flourish Excell and directly squirt some over the plant with Black Beard Algae, it should die shortly. Or try biological control with Siamese Algae Eaters - they do a great job! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newfisher Posted March 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 3, 2009 Thanks ryanjury. Will probably sell off the neons and replace with another schooling fish. If they eat the baby mollies that'ld be geat as I seem to breed these without trying. Sounds harsh but thats life. I really want some discus but cant afford the $$$$ and the babies need too much work to begin with..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whetu Posted March 3, 2009 Report Share Posted March 3, 2009 I have finally got the tank I want... trick was to keep getting more and more little tanks till family said enough just get one big tank :lol: I have a couple of questions please. My plants in the old tank have what I believe is Black Beard Algae not all over but it is there. Should I move them into the new tank? If I do move them to the new tank and use Flourish Excel ( I believe this will get rid of it?) should I wait longer to move the fish? I used half the stones from my old tank and tonight was going to move the bio media from the old filter into the new tank then the fish. Would this work or do I have to cycle from scratch? My new tank is 215lts and will house 4 clown loaches, 2 mollies, 2 GBA's 20 neon Tetra's and 4 Black Phantom tectras. These are from the exisiting tanks. Eventually I want to have 6 Clown Loaches, 20 Tectras of some sort, my 2 GBA's as I find them cute, 2 mollies. Do you think a couple of Angels would work with this? Sorry for all the questions but I want to get this right if possible. Move the bio media from your filter at the same time as you move your fish - the greeblies in the media won't survive indefinitely without food, and they get the food from the fish. You shouldn't have to do a cycle at all, but do keep an eye on your water parameters (especially ammonia) and be ready to do large water changes if something does get out of whack. As for the BBA, remove as much of it as you can before moving your plants. Can you trim off the most badly affected leaves? I threw away all my plants in a desperate attempt to get rid of the stuff but it just came back. So it was really a waste of some nice plants! I also tried the double dose Flourish Excel method but it didn't work for me (although some people swear by it). I found Siamese Algae eaters the best solution by far. They seem to keep on top of the problem and nibble the BBA wherever it pops up. As far as new fish stock, I would suggest only moving the fish you're sure you want to keep. Much easier than trying to catch them again if you decide you want a different type of fish in your tank. Have fun with the change-over. A bigger tank is always better! :bounce: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
megs27 Posted March 3, 2009 Report Share Posted March 3, 2009 Hi there, I myself have just set up a new tank (upgraded from 150lt to 300lt) and I used all new material, I just let the tank sit for a week with filter and heater going adding stress zyme as per instruction and after checking the water I added the not so expensive fish into the new tank for a week and none of them died so then I added my other fish (discus and blue ram) and everybody is very happy in their new home and I also had that black hairy growth problem in my old tank and was told that maylasian trumpet snails eat it along with all the dead leaves of your plants and leaving the heathy leaves so got some of them off trade me too. Good luck with it hope all goes well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted March 3, 2009 Report Share Posted March 3, 2009 I definitely wouldn't start a tank from scratch, leaving a tank for a week with everything running and no bioload will do nothing regarding cycling the tank. I don't believe that the good bacteria (that has to be fed with ammonia and a supply of fresh flowing water) can survive in the stress zyme bottles for a shelf life of how many years they state it is good for. Adding a small number of fish for a week is a good idea but adding blue rams and discus to a tank that has only been cycling for a week is not something I would suggest as these 2 fish are very sensitive any an ammonia spike will kill them. The easiest and safest thing is to add as much media (or even the established filter) to the new tank. Megs you probably have the advantage of having a reasonably big tank so any changes will happen slowly and hopefully be picked up before you loose any fish, how long has your tank been setup and have you been testing the water daily or doing daily water changes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
megs27 Posted March 5, 2009 Report Share Posted March 5, 2009 I have been checking the water about once a week now and the only thing that went slightly out of sorts was the PH and i've had no fish die and it's been about four weeks now so I think everything I did was good and also got help from someone who is in the know so there are other ways to do things that work just as well and I just said in the last post what worked for me, it might not be the "right way" in some peoples view but I still have my fish Discus, blue ram, tetras, guppies and a pleco. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newfisher Posted March 6, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2009 Ok so I moved the bio media and fish over last night. They all look great. should I do a water change on Saturday as this is my once a weeek water change day or should I wait for a few more days. My clowns are sooo happy or maybe not they are out exploring there new home. i will have to go and buy some more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whetu Posted March 6, 2009 Report Share Posted March 6, 2009 Ok so I moved the bio media and fish over last night. They all look great. should I do a water change on Saturday as this is my once a weeek water change day or should I wait for a few more days. My clowns are sooo happy or maybe not they are out exploring there new home. i will have to go and buy some more. When you moved the fish to the larger tank did you use mostly fresh water in the tank (as opposed to salvaged water from your old tanks)? If so, I wouldn't bother doing a water change yet. Just leave things to settle - but do keep an eye on the ammonia levels. What fish did you end up moving into the new tank? It would be really useful if you could post a list here with: type of fish number of each type size of each (especially the clown loaches and other fish that can potentially be very big) That way if you start to have any issues with the tank, we can already see the complete list of fish and it may help us to help resolve the issues. Also - we neeeeed photos! :bounce: (But that's just for fun :lol: ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcase Posted March 7, 2009 Report Share Posted March 7, 2009 Definitely Siamese Algae Eaters + UV Filter Had it bad, tried Flourish and all sorts of other things but put in 2 SEA's + UV filter & all gone in 2 days and never came back. Good Luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newfisher Posted March 8, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2009 ok so I moved in 4 clown loaches 5cm, 2 mollys, 20 neons and black phantom tetras. photos to come :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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