So I am moving my 50 gal into a 100 gal tank.

What are the steps I take to have a nice clean and safe move for the fish.


How should I go about transferring substrate? Do I do it while the fish are still in the 50?

What is the best way to remove fish, including a large pleco and a very thorny talking catfish. I was thinking empty most of the water and just picking them up? Since it will be a bitch if they get all stuck in a net.


I will be transferring as much water from the 50 as I can. Should I fill the 100 half and warm it up?


I will be moving my fluval 304 into the new tank.
The 100gal also comes with an aqua-clear 110(ew hob) lol\



Here is a link to the tank I am getting.

winnipeg.kijiji.ca/c-pets-other-pets-for...m-W0QQAdIdZ164478268

i only catch catfish by hand, carefully so as not to get stuck with spines. nets and catfish are a very bad combination unless your prepared to either sacrifice your net or your cat in the process.

when you do your change, if you switch your filtration over, you should use as much of your tank water from the old tank in teh new, and some of the substrate too if possible, and since your bringing over your old filtration you shouldnt have any problems!

When I am doing the substrate change should I have the fish out of the tank? will the noise(vibrations) bother them?

i would put your fish in buckets of tank water while you do the switch.

I would go about it this way. buy a large water butt.(garden centre) fill this with old tank water, move fish into it and then the filter and heater. remember the heater can break if you remove it from water when hot. wrap in a wet cloth or keep it under water. now all you fish and equipment is safe drain the rest of the water. remove substrate and be very careful if you have rocks. the glass can break easy. move old tank and replace with the new.

At this point spend the time to make sure the new tank is level.

then its just a case of replace the lot. refill with new water first halfway as a test. use a mix of hot and cold water to get temperature right add water treatment finish off with all the fish and water from the water butt.

Thats a good size tank for your oscars. good luck

Marcus is spot on

Alright, Would a big cooler work?

Also I hooked up the aquaclear 110 to my 50 gal, in hopes to get the bac started. Even though I hope to have the 100 running by this time next week.

Any big container will work! I just combined two tanks into the 115 Tall I got and set that up. I used a big Rubbermaid container. I have also in the past used a big NEW trash can!

Good luck hun!!

Okay, so the tank is on its stand and I am going to get substrate today... I am going to do gravel.
I am nervous about catching the fish though. I don't want them to ram into the glass and get brain damage...

They will be fine! Good luck and take pics!

The easiest way is to use a fairly large net to catch the Oscar/fish. Don't chase the fish around the tank with the net because you will just stress it, Just follow the fish with the Net, it will swim away from you but if you persevere and try not to make any sudden movements, you can often get the fish to swim into the net and then you can just lift it out, be prepared to get a bit of a soaking.

If you haven't caught the fish in a few minutes, give it a rest for a while. Is quite an art but don't panic and take your time.

Tank is filling. I got some gravel that also has some fine pieces. it was dirty as hell and still is a bit dirty. will take a while for it to settle I think. will put fish it either tonight or tommorrow.