the big switcheroo.

[allysangels]

it is time. i have been putting this off for a while cause it isn't gonna be easy. i need to swap my 75g aggro tank with my 125g planted low-tech tank. i'm wanting to move substrate, all wood/plants, and filters. oh and the fish of course. good news is, the 2 tanks are side-by-side along a wall. and it's a tile floor lol. the oscars are getting too big for the 75g, and that RTC is a true monster. they need the extra 2 feet of tank space. and i want to keep the 2 canister filters with them due to the higher flow rates they generate at opposite ends of the tank. whereas the planted set-up is down to a few angels, corys, emperor tetras, and the snails and shrimp. the tank looks understocked this way, and so i'll squeeze it down into the 75g with it's AC70 and mag350. i'm thinking this goes down sunday. i'm kinda excited, but still working out the logistics. i have a large tub and a sponge filter i can use as a holding tank for the transfer, and i'm thinking it would be best to catch the smaller fishes and put them in while i remove the sand and wood/plants from the 125g and set aside, then transfer the big guys into the 125g, move the filters, then set the 75g back up with the plants/wood and put in the little guys from the holding tub. lol. any thoughts? suggestions? volunteers to help? oh and while i'm at it i want to switch the substrate from regular gravel to sand in my 29g now that it is home to my fire eel (who outgrew his 10g home) and a group of my baby geos!

[Ballinxalex]

Sounds like a plan

[mistahoo]

When you take out the livestock, wood, and gravel from the 125gal, do a 100% water change and get all the water out. You don't want all the trapped gases from the gravel to kill off your fish when you move them to the 125gal. Moving the smaller fishies to the tub is a good idea since they'd give you less trouble compared to the big fishies in the tub. After doing 100% water change, move the fish over. You should be good to go after that. Also if the whole process is going to take a long time, leave some water in whatever you're gonna put the gravel in as to keep the bacteria thriving. You don't want it to go through a mini cycle.

[mistahoo]

If you have a shop vac, it does wonders with taking gravel out. Takes a few mins to clean up a large tank.

[allysangels]

nope my ex took the shop vac with him. good idea though, that's how we cleaned the enclosures at petco.

[ScorpiosWife]

Let me see what we're doing Sunday. I may be able to help if you start early enough. I'll text you & let you know.

[ScorpiosWife]

Oh, and I have a shop vac. His name is R2D2 cuz I'm a nerd like that.

[allysangels]

yay thank you dawn!!!