New Tank Ordered

Sounds like a good plan.

Lots of piccies to show your progress, please.

Morning Pitbull

How exciting! A new, BIGGER tank Definitely a thread on the changeover please, as I hope to be doing this myself shortly, going from a 60L to a Rio 180.
Good luck

The simplest way is to transfer filter media and all the fish at the same time. You can't transfer the media only and leave the fish overnight without media. You do have some bacteria on all the surfaces of the current tank but not nearly enough to deal with the ammonia the fish will make overnight. You need to transfer the fish and media together.
If you can find space to let the new tank sit overnight while leaving the current one still set up and running, that's the better option. If you don't have space for that, transfer everything over straight away.

Keep an eye on your ammonia & nitrite for several days. You will lose the bacteria on the glass, the old filter casing and anything else you choose not to move. But there should be more than enough bacteria transfered to make up this loss without you noticing.

I upgraded from a Rio 125 to a 180 litre custom built tank in January. I had the advantage that the two tanks were in different rooms so I could have both set up at the same time, and since I had to wait a few days for the new tank silicone to finish curing I needed that space! When I was allowed to put water in, I topped it up over a couple of days to check for leaks.
On transfer day I emptied 125 litres out of the new tank; filled a dustbin with water from the old tank; caught the fish and put them in the dustbin; put the filter in the dustbin (I wasn't using the built-in one); removed the rest of the old water into buckets and poured it into the new tank; moved the decor over to the new tank; managed to 'walk' the dustbin into the dining room and transfered the old water, filter and fish into the new tank.

Hey Pitbull,

Exiting getting a new aquarium! One thing to think of which I overlooked is the substrate for the new aquarium. Will you be using your old substrate or new? I wish I had put a layer of plant substrate down before my sand so I'm now having to use root tabs.

Anyway best of luck and remember we like to see photos of the progress

SWMBO didn't like the choices

I feel your pain.....   

The tank looks great 


Little tip if you need to fiddle with the background. If you cut it a bit taller than the glass, it will slot under the trim at the top and bottom. Maybe not quite in the corners where the trim fits tighter, but those small bits can be cut shorter. I found the background stayed put just by doing that, although when I moved the rio next to the door, I had to selotape that side down as the draught from the door pulled it away.
It only works with tanks that have a trim top and bottom though.

if you are putting plant substrate in the new tank be careful as if the new substrate contains nutrients for plant grow it will most likely leech out ammonia into the water column for a couple of weeks or more.
while this will help cycle a new filter/keep existing bacteria alive it wont do your fish any good.

That looks really good, Pitbull...exciting times