Transferring fish between tanks

fishgate · 05/31/2013, 11:33 AM

Well my new 125g long has been running for close to 2 months. I tested water today and ammonia/nitrite is at 0 (has been for some time) and nitrates are barely readable. The salinity and temp is exactly the same as my 40B. So I went ahead and caught my 2 pajama cardinals (2 years old), put them in a glass of tank water and dumped the glass into the new tank. We'll see how they do but hopefully all is well. In a week I'll transfer the 2 clown's and the big rock that they love along with the snails. After another week or two I'll transfer the rest of the CUC which is mostly snails and a few hermit crabs and then try to catch the scooter blenny to transfer him.

Oh and of course I just had a big batch of snails hatch most of which I will probably lose as they are just too small to find them all. Maybe I'll leave the old tank up and running as a grow-out tank for the snails. I hate to lose that very well established pod population too but I don't know how to get them out.

Does this sound like a good plan?

oscarinw · 05/31/2013, 11:50 AM

Sounds good to me.
A week between the cardinals and the clowns sounds safe enough but just to make sure, you may want to swap a rock or 2 to help with the diversity of bacteria and their ability to catch up with the new bio load.
Make sure to move the rock only gradually as that may impact your bacteria load... Of course you knew that already but just in case.
Post pictures so we can see.
Good luck with things!

05/31/2013, 11:33 AM	#1
fishgate Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Damascus, MD Posts: 3,340	Transferring fish between tanks Well my new 125g long has been running for close to 2 months. I tested water today and ammonia/nitrite is at 0 (has been for some time) and nitrates are barely readable. The salinity and temp is exactly the same as my 40B. So I went ahead and caught my 2 pajama cardinals (2 years old), put them in a glass of tank water and dumped the glass into the new tank. We'll see how they do but hopefully all is well. In a week I'll transfer the 2 clown's and the big rock that they love along with the snails. After another week or two I'll transfer the rest of the CUC which is mostly snails and a few hermit crabs and then try to catch the scooter blenny to transfer him. Oh and of course I just had a big batch of snails hatch most of which I will probably lose as they are just too small to find them all. Maybe I'll leave the old tank up and running as a grow-out tank for the snails. I hate to lose that very well established pod population too but I don't know how to get them out. Does this sound like a good plan? __________________ 125RR in-wall, 40B Sump, CS180 BM Skimmer, ATI 4x80 watt, eheim 1262, custom wrap around rock wall, ReefKeeper Elite 120g in-wall, 40B Sump, PC 54wx4, Jabao DC-6000 (full siphon), future seahorse t Current Tank Info: 125g, 120g, 2x40b sumps, ATI 4x80 T5HO

05/31/2013, 11:50 AM	#2
oscarinw Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Western Massachusetts Posts: 1,091	Sounds good to me. A week between the cardinals and the clowns sounds safe enough but just to make sure, you may want to swap a rock or 2 to help with the diversity of bacteria and their ability to catch up with the new bio load. Make sure to move the rock only gradually as that may impact your bacteria load... Of course you knew that already but just in case. Post pictures so we can see. Good luck with things!