60 L To 200 L Tank Change

If you intend moving everything to the new tank, once you have decided on your substrate it would be easier to  do it all at once. I don't understand why he is suggesting just half filling the new tank then filling it right up over a few weeks.


So, what exactly will happen. You get your new tank and then -
put in in the place where the 60 litre is now or somewhere different?
keep the 60 litre running as well as the 200 litre or just have the one big tank?
if keeping both, will all the current fish stay, move or some will move and some will stay?

It'll be easier to give our opinions when we know exactly what your plans are.

The first thing you need to do is make sure you have everything you need in advance. The last thing you want is to be half way through and have to dash out to buy something.

Feed the fish less than usual for a few days before and after the move and nothing on the day itself.

If you will be using sand it will need washing. Do this in advance as some sand takes a lot of washing!

Once you are ready, the first thing is to empty the 60 litre tank. You'll need as many buckets/storage boxes as necessary to hold the water in the 60 litre.
Start by transferring water to one bucket, then put the decor in there.
Then fill another, catch the fish and put them in bucket 2. It will be easier to catch them with the decor removed. Put the heater and filter in the fish bucket and turn them on. Cover this bucket as stressed fish will jump.
Continue emptying the tank into buckets until you've got as much water as you can without stirring up muck from the bottom.
Move the old tank to somewhere you can abandon it for a while.

Now move the new tank into position. Put the substrate in followed by a few inches of new, dechlorinated water. If you have live plants, now is the time to plant them. Attach the new heater to the tank.
Now start adding water from the buckets with just water in, then add fresh dechlorinated water warmed to the right temp until the new tank is almost full. Leave enough room for the water in the decor and fish buckets.
Now place the decor and water in the tank and arrange to your satisfaction. Turn ff the heater and filter in the fish bucket and take the filter out. The next step is up to you. You can either run both filters for a couple of months or you can remove all the media from the old filter and put it in the new filter, filling the gaps with new media. To be honest, I'd do the latter. Put the filter(s) in the tank and turn both heater and filter on.
Finally catch the fish and put them in the new tank and the water from that bucket. Strictly speaking, you should bag them in water from the old tank and acclimatise them to the new tank  but since you'll be using all the old water it's just like doing a huge water change. As long as the temperature isn't greatly different they should be OK going straight in. Finally top up the water to the full mark.

Leave the lights off for the rest of the day. Check for ammonia and nitrite every day for the next few days. You will lose the bacteria in the biofilm on the glass, the substrate and the old filter casing and heater. There will still be lots in the filter media and on the decor and they should make up the numbers quickly. But it is better to check just in case.


Then get a cup of tea and go and deal with the old tank!

I'd go for an external. 200 litres is just about at the limit for internals.

I've looked at the manual for the fan 3 plus and it's maximum turnover is 700 litre/hour. That's just 3.5 times the tank volume and the minimum recommended is 5 times. And tank manufacturers are notorious for putting underpowered filters in their tanks.

You do have the alternative of using the fan filter and a second internal. That would be cheaper, if that makes a difference  If you were to choose this option, look at Fluval U series or Eheim Biopower filters. Both would be good for your old media as the Fluvals come with a central box for ceramic media which could hold the old media instead, and Biopowers have a series of baskets filled with Eheim's equivalent of ceramic media which could also be be easily swapped for your old media.



I've just edited my previous post because in the last paragraph where it says check for ammonia every day for the next few days it should have said check for ammonia and nitrite 

In the short term you'll have just the same fish so you can just move the U2 to the new tank and run it in there. You might get away with running both the U2 and the Fan filter together in the longer term with more fish, but if you'd rather just have one filter it would look better.

If you want to move the 60 litre to another position it's pretty much the same as the swap, just not quite as bad. You would need to empty the tank and take the fish out as there's be no water. It is not advised moving a tank with water in it, even a couple of inches. Tanks are designed to be strong when stationary; the seals resist a large amount of water pressure from a full tank. But when a tank is moved, water sloshes about and this sloshing twists the panels against each other and can weaken the seals.
If you don't mind going through moving the water and fish later, it won't be as bad as doing everything at once.



Do they still make 60 litre plastic dustbins? I have one which I found very useful when I moved my old 125 litre across the room, and later when I upgraded from the 125 l to a 180 litre. They can even be 'walked' from one place to another when almost full. If you did get a large container, I'd still put the decor in a separate bucket
as not having decor in the tank or large container makes catching fish much easier.

hi, going to move 60l tank tonight to a temp position , then on wed i am moving them in to position in new tank, therefore i have a little time to sort out new tank, is it best to put some water in new set up maybe 25% and heater on, then when I'm ready add old water etc then fill up to top with tap water (treated of course) ..

first part done, everyone seems ok , I'm cleaning new substrate tomorrow and filling new tank then moving my fish in on wed or thurs the latest , must admit I'm a little excited at having a bigger tank  ... i have ordered my new 306 fluval and thats coming tomorrow so may start it up or may leave a while as I'm not quite decided which way to go as yet ... thanks again for your advice ill try put a picky on when I'm done ;-)

Well done, moving the tank is the harder part. I've done both - moved a tank across the room, then a couple of years later upgraded to a bigger tank in a different room. The main difference is that you are doing both within a few days not a couple of years 

You do have time to decide what to do about filters. As long as you don't get more fish until you have decided and then done it, the U2 is already cycled for the fish you have. It would give the bacteria in the filter media time to replace those on the old tank's glass and substrate if you take a few days to decide.
It would be easy to change to the 306 - just mix the U2 biomax with the 306 biomax, and put the U2 sponges either in the biomax as well, or cut U2 sponge shaped holes in the 306's sponge. You don't need to use carbon, I would replace that with more biomax or sponge. But you could place the U2's poly-carbon pads underneath whatever you choose to use in that basket. I would leave the old media in the external for a month after you have finished getting new fish. The biomax could stay there forever, and the sponges replaced with the media that was supposed to go where they are.

Congratulations on the fish move, great to hear that it has gone well. 
It is not unusual for there to be a sort of mini-cycle, even with moving all old filter media into the new tank. The old tank would have had beneficial bacterial on the tank surfaces, the substrate, everywhere, and it is that bacteria that you don't have yet in your new tank. I would say that you are doing the right thing with regular monitoring and small water changes, but it would be worth getting advice from our tank cycling expert @Sue .
I'm really looking forward to seeing some pictures. 

Congratulations again on your upgrade. 

I agree, changing tanks does lose some of your bacteria. The good news is that it shouldn't last long as the bacteria just have to play catch up rather than start from scratch. Keep an eye out for nitrite as well, particularly after ammonia starts to drop.

You could use this calculator to check for amount of ammonia in the toxic form. Enter your tank data on left (set salinity to zero) and click calculate. As long at the bottom figure on the right, NH3 concentration, is below 0.02 it is OK to leave it without a water change. Up to 0.05 is acceptable for a day or two but no longer than that.

But you'll need to do water changes if that number goes higher than 0.05 and/or nitrite goes above zero.

Sorry to hear about Glen. 

I'll leave it to Sue and fcmf to answer your question about ammonia and Seachem prime as they know their stuff.