D day is fast approaching

and I would appreciate as the title says opinions and suggestions

The start up Plan

Fill the sump (ready to turn the pump on)

Start filling the tank and when the level reaches the over flow kick in the pump

Fine tune the flows when fullish to full

Let it run for several hours ( give the tank a good rinse) then change top 2 filter pads

and drain some water from the main tank

Then do a 50-60% water change on my 55 gal keeping the water and adding that to the new tank top up if needed.

Thought this would be a goer I have been holding off changing the filter wool and cleaning the filter pads from the 55 (need changing big time lol)

and adding them to the new sump (fit new ones to the 55) got a big artificial crap ornament out of the 55 I'll put in temporally just to get the cycle happening

hopefully this will kick start the cycling

Keep doing the W/C with the 55 every 2nd day and check parameters daily

If needed I'll do the ammonia method till all is good

Convert workshop to house mode

ready for The Video Welcome to your new home

Cheers Gaz

Like all that! I am also a fan of nutrafin cycle too....shaz

Sounds like you have most bases covered.
Here would be my approach;

After filling tank and setting up the sump like you have already mentioned, I would get the heater organised, I left my tank overnight as it took a very long time to get 850 litres up to correct temps.

I'd hold off adding any old water, there is minimal beneficial bacteria in there and you'd basically be just transferring nitrates over to the new tank. But throwing the dirtied filter sponges in the sump is a good idea. Also, rather than just putting in the big crap ornament, a bunch of gravel from your existing tank can also help add BB, if you don't plan on using the same gravel just fill stockings/socks with gravel and put them in the tank or sump so they can be easily removed later. It doesn't have to look pretty straight away but it serves a greater purpose.

Adding the media from the 55 would be ideal, but if you plan to keep this running alongside the new one the 'fishless cycle' will be a good alternative. I'm sure you've already had a read about whats involved there. Expect around a month of waiting time to be fully established.


And of course don't rush in with regards to adding the fish stock, the health of your Oscar and co should remain the main concern.

im no expert on sumps, i have never had one. But what i do know is that once the tank is running you need to simulate a power cut by turning the pump off. You need to get the water level in the tank/sump right- too much and you can find water spilling out into the room- i am assuming you know about this but i thought i would just mention it?