BlackSS/SC Posted December 17, 2008 Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 (edited) I am picking up a 58 gallon tank this weekend. I have a well established 90 gallon tank that's been running trouble free for over 2 years. Can I use about 30 gallons and some of it's gravel (the 90 gallon's) and top the rest of the tank with the water that was in the 58 gallon? Will I need to cycle the tank again? Or can I fill it and add fish? I will be using a Fluval filter that has also been established. Edited December 17, 2008 by BlackSS/SC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lana Bollers Posted December 17, 2008 Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 You will probably be fine, just add lots of stability daily for several days, that will also help the tank estabilish itself. We did this with our 120 gal and it has never spiked... I used ornaments, water and established filter media to help with the cycling. We added 9 fronts and probably 8 dolphins and 2 deep water electra's... all are doing great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackSS/SC Posted December 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 Pardon my ignorance but what do you mean by stability? Is that a chemical? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bottomdweller_fan Posted December 17, 2008 Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 It is called Seachem Stability. The product description from Seachem's website http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/Stability.html states: Stability™ will rapidly and safely establish the aquarium biofilter in freshwater and marine systems, thereby preventing the #1 cause of fish death: "new tank syndrome". Stability™ is formulated specifically for the aquarium and contains a synergistic blend of aerobic, anaerobic, and facultative bacteria which facilitate the breakdown of waste organics, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. Unlike competing products, the bacteria employed by Stability™ are non-sulfur fixing and will not produce toxic hydrogen sulfide. Stability™ is completely harmless to all aquatic organisms as well as aquatic plants, thus there is no danger of over use. Stability™ is the culmination of nearly a decade of research and development and represents the current state of the art in natural biological management. It works extremely well to help establish a new tank. Hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Ram Posted December 17, 2008 Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 There is no benefit to using water from an existing tank. The water itself contains nothing beneficial. Using the gravel and established filter media should cycle the tank as long as it is stocked appropriately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lana Bollers Posted December 17, 2008 Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 Sorry I didn't explain "stability" I had no idea what it was either when I started, which was in June... so I am pretty new to the whole fish thing... I just happened to jump in with both feet and never looked back... so far we have six tanks... You will find the best products to use are the seachem products, you should have seachem Prime as well as stability on hand. Prime helps to elimenate the chlorine and chloramines from your tap water... not sure if you knew that so thought I should say this time... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackSS/SC Posted December 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 I've been using prime for quite some time now in the 90 gallon. If I take out some gravel and filter media for the 58 gallon will it mess with the 90 gallon's stability? Do I need to let the new 58 gallon cycle before putting fish in it? Or should it be ok using some filter media and gravel from the established 90 gallon? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lana Bollers Posted December 17, 2008 Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 I've been using prime for quite some time now in the 90 gallon. If I take out some gravel and filter media for the 58 gallon will it mess with the 90 gallon's stability?Do I need to let the new 58 gallon cycle before putting fish in it? Or should it be ok using some filter media and gravel from the established 90 gallon? How many filters do you have on the 90gal? You should be fine using the filter media from the 90 gal without ill affects, as the ornaments, gravel etc will keep that tank balanced. If you are worried, just use stability in that take for a couple days... When I set up my big tank, everything was added right away, due to the seller of some fish being in a hurry and I had no where else to put them. I probably poured half a bottle of stability into the filter itself, then double dosed it for I think it was 7 days, I watched my levels and everything was good. Your tank will still cycle, however it will never get to the dangerous levels it could if you just put the fish in... If you are unfortable doing it this way you can fishless cycle, it does take longer to do though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackSS/SC Posted December 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 The 90 gallon tank has two Fluval 304 filters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lana Bollers Posted December 17, 2008 Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 Are you moving the entire filtration system over or just the media? When I used the filter media, I just put it in the tank with the fish. You can also take the sponge from the filter and squeeze the "juice" into a new filter that will also help it establish faster, and it will leave the good bacteria on it so not to throw your other tank off... but with two filters you can use the media out of one and be perfectly fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackSS/SC Posted December 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 I am leaving the two filters on the 90 gallon going and I will just remove some of the media like your said for the 58 gallon. Thanks for the help!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmaan. Posted December 17, 2008 Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 if you use filters from the 90 gallon on the 58 gallon you should be fine. brand new filters with old water will not do anything. you need bacteria in your media. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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