Hello OFL Forum!
Before I start here are my Fish/tank/specs.

Fish:
1 Adult Golden Gourami* (4")
1 juvenile Tiger Oscar (3")
2 Common Plecos (5")

* I plan on keeping my Gourami in the 10 gallon tank.

Current Established Tank:
10 US gallon w/ a Marineland pro 280 gph HOB.

New Tank Setup:
60 US gallon (48 1/2 x 15 1/2 x 17 1/4) w/ a Aquaclear 300 gph HOB and my Marineland pro 280 gph HOB from my old tank. With an 200 Watt Ehime Jagger heater. ( Note - my new tank hasn't been setup yet. Waiting on my stand coming this Friday )

Water Parameters for 10 gallon tank:
PH - 7.4
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 80*

* I know this is Horrible! I have been doing 25 % water changes 2 times a week.

Now that you have a brief understanding of what I am working with. I have some questions about Cycling my new tank. Should I:

A ) Cycle my new tank with my Gourami and Oscar? or

B ) Buy some Danios, Tiger Barbs, Lemon Tetras to cycle with and leave my Gourami and Oscar in my 10 gallon tank with high nitrate levels till the new tank is cycled?

I understand my current 10 gallon tank is WAY......... Overstocked. Which is why I am very eager to put my Gourami and Oscar into my new tank when I get it setup. I know I am Newbie at this hobby and are preparing to take the necessary steps to keep my fish healthy and happy for the future. If I have missed anything please let me know. In advance thank you for your help. It is sincerely appreciated.

Hi and Welcome!

You are on the right track! Now keep in mind that your new 60 should be home to your Oscar alone. They need a MINIMUM of 55 gallons to themselves.

What I would recommend doing is as fallows. When your stand arrives, set the new tank, fill with water. Get your filters running, ADD ALL FILTERS off of the 10 gallon and put all your fish in the 60 for now.

After 2 or 3 weeks of running all your filters you can move the old filter back to the 10 gallon tank, and put your Gourami back to the 10 gallon.

Essentially what you are doing is giving your 60 gallon an instant cycle.

The one thing I would tell you to buy is a American Pharmaceuticals LIQUID water test kit, If you don't already have one.

After you move everything to your 60 you should test your water daily to make sure your water readings stay where they need to be.

Let us know how it goes!!!

I actually do have that same exact test kit and I will keep and update :)Thanks for the help NickiSue.

welcome

Nicki has you covered.

Anyway you can re-home the plecos? they'll get too big for your setup with your current fish. Then you can have the Oscar in the 60 and the Gourami in the 10-gallon and you should have a nice setup.

nikkie has you covered.

welcome to the site

So if i setup a 55g - fill with water - have new filter and heater running - add 5 tablespoons of aquarium salt (1 tbs per 10g) - add some stress zym. Would this be ok to have running or a few days? Should i get a couple of crap fish to help the cycle?

5 tablespoons of salt per 10 gallons? I don't think so. Personally, I wouldn't bother with salt, I have never used it in my aquariums and I just don't see the benefits of it.

I certainly wouldn't be cycling your new tank with the Oscar, Tiger Barbs are very good fish to cycle a tank with. If you are putting a small filter on the bigger tank that is already cycle then that will help, but it will still take a while for your new filter to catch up so I wouldn't put the Oscar back in there until it is fully cycled.

Oscurida wrote:


If this tank and filter is new you will have to skip the salt, and add some inexpensive fish to cycle the tank for you! But keep in mind that cycling a tank takes about 5 weeks. Hope this helps, and you can always read the section on the site that explains how to cycle a tank.

So use my older filter on the new tank with the new filter as well?
If so how long should I wait till take out the old filter to put it back?
Also, if I find some driftwood for my new tank what do I have to do or but to make it tank safe?

"Also, if I find some driftwood for my new tank what do I have to do or but to make it tank safe?"


From what I've heard you could either soak it in dechlorinated water or boil it in a pot. I'm actually soaking mine right now. Its been about 6 days and im still seeing brown water (tannins that the driftwood releases). They said that boiling it would be the fastest way to remove the tannins from your driftwood but, given the size of your driftwood it could be hard to find a large enough pot to fit them into. Ive also read that tannins aren't toxic to fish its just brown water and will go away over time with water changes. Hope this is accurate and helpfull.

Okay so I have finally gotten my Stand for my 60 gallon tank. Its a Pine cabinet type of stand. I have some of Hardwood floor pads you put underneath the wooden floor panels. I was wondering if I should put that between my stand and where the 60 gallon tank sit on. Is this a good idea? is there some other materials that's preferred? Please let me know this way I know there will be more stability and no stress points on the tank when i fill it up. Thanks again.

Oscurida wrote:


Sorry, I should have spotted this straightaway. Please do not piggyback your questions onto other peoples threads. If you have a question then please start your own thread.