Mts - MyFishTank.Net Freshwater Saltwater Aquarium Fish Forum

Bakerman · 10-11-2008, 07:52 PM

I purchased and set up my 2nd tank today. Because as most of you know, one isn't enough for long! Multi-Tank Syndrome seems to be contagious on this forum.

It is a 46 gallon bowfront. I am using a Marineland magnum HOB filter, and chose a neutral gravel color.

Tank is lovely, looking forward to some fish.

Current plan is to move a Gold Gourami that has been something of a terror out of my community tank (28 gallon-slightly overstocked-set up August 6th), to the new tank along with 2 algae eaters. I was planning on using them to do a "fish in" cycle.

Any thoughts or guidance on going this route?

Dino · 10-11-2008, 08:04 PM

I am so glad I am in control of my hobby.
I currently have 195 aquaria set up.
Moving those fish sounds like the way to go.

misterking · 10-11-2008, 08:09 PM

Hmm I don't know a huge amount about cycling, but I do know that a fish-in cycle is VERY stressful to the fish and can be very risky, you could lose your gold gourami in the process. It's best to do a fish-less cycle, you can jump-start it but transferring some filter media from the 28 gallon to the 48 gallon filter, or some gravel, because it contains already established beneficial bacteria which will multiply and establish in the new tank a lot quicker. As I said I'm not too wised up on cycling, but I hope I was of help!

Meghan · 10-11-2008, 09:40 PM

I agree with MisterKing. I had done fish in cycle in my 10g, then I did fish-less cycle in my 29g- fish-less cycle was so much easier and way faster.

When you cycle fish in, you have to worry about testing your water daily, then doing daily water changes to try and keep the building amounts of ammonia & nitrite to a minimum so as not to be too poisonous for the fish. Then, if you are lucky, your fish survive, but when I did it, I lost 3 fish (even though I did daily water changes) and it took probably 3 months total.

Cycling fish less, once I figured out how much ammonia to add each day, I only did tests once a week to see where I was. Other than that, I just added a little ammonia every night and let it run its course. Mine took about 4 weeks with having added some gravel/decor from the established 10g. Once my cycle was complete, I did a 100% water change to remove some of the nitrates and the ammonia, did another set of tests to make sure all was good, then went out and bought my fishies! I followed Iggy's Cycle Recipe which is stickied in the beginners section.

I would definitely recommend fish-less, but good luck with whatever you decide!

TAL · 10-12-2008, 07:26 AM

I started a new tank and seeded it with material from my first tank.

I am testing the water with the API test kit. All is good.

You can do this wayyyyyyy easier than if you were starting from scratch.

Bakerman · 10-12-2008, 08:21 PM

Well, I moved the 2 gold gourami's into the 46 gallon, along with about 1/2 a cup of gravel and the filter sponge from the other tank, wrapped in a cheesecloth.

Hopefully that will jump start my cycle in the 46, and settle my longgggggggg nitrite spike in the 28, by removing the 2 biggest fish.

CAPSLOCK · 10-13-2008, 09:19 AM

That should actually take care of both tanks - I would give it at least 2 weeks with those two fish before you take out the filter sponge or add anything else, then go 1-2 fish per every 2 weeks or so until you get it up to the full stock.

TAL · 10-13-2008, 10:35 AM

My 38 g is just about done cycling.

By seeding it I shortened the cycling process by many weeks so you may see similiar results.

I kept track of the water conditions with the API masterkit. It takes a bit longer to do than the test strips but the results are worth it. It also makes for a nicer father/son science experiment.

TAL · 10-13-2008, 10:38 AM

BTW....I hear ya on the MTS. Took me a little over a month to end up with two tanks and three isnt far away because this 38g tank is just wayyyyy too small to really get into the aquascaping and stocking that I want to do.

Bakerman · 10-13-2008, 06:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CAPSLOCK

That should actually take care of both tanks - I would give it at least 2 weeks with those two fish before you take out the filter sponge or add anything else, then go 1-2 fish per every 2 weeks or so until you get it up to the full stock.

Thank You for your wise advise. I will follow your suggestions.

Helping both tanks was my intent in getting the new one. The nitrite spike in the 28 gallon has been going on for 4 weeks, and I have been doing just about daily water changes to keep it in line. It will be interesting to see how long it will be until that ends now with the 2 largest fish in another tank.

Again-thank you.