[UMphreak]

I know this topic has been hammered to death and I have been reading and reading but still I am not quite sure what to do. I am not totally sold on fishless cycle or bio spira. I guess I am used to the old fashioned throw some toilet bowl fish and wait.

I am setting up a new 125 gallon tank. I already have a 75 gallon that is established, so my plan was to use about 40 gallons of water from the 75, take some of the rocks and 1 emperor 400 and use that on the 125. Am I on the right track? Would it be safe to add a few cichlids at this point or should I just buy some danios and wait.

Thanks in advance

Dazed and Confused

 

[Ironmahn]

If the rocks are substrate from the established tank, then that's sound great. All those things will help with seedy the new tank, and speed up the cycle. I would go with the Danios... IMO.

 

[UMphreak]

thanks for your input. Ill take all the suggestions I can get.

 

[kingdave]

I encourage you to go with the fishless cycle if you are interested in adding a large number of fish all at once. Fishless cycling allows you to build up a larger colony of beneficial bacteria than cycling with a few Danios. It take s a bit of patience, but seeding with the established filter and substrate will speed up the process. We can help you through it if you need help or advice on the fishless cycling.

 

[UMphreak]

Thanks kingdave! I guess I should maybe read up a little more on a fishless cycle. My main objective is to try to set this tank up as cheaply as I can. I cant afford to stock a 125 six footer all at once so I am gonna have to do this slow anyway. My plan is to use my 75 as a temporary growout tank until I can stock my 125. Right now I think I have around 8 peacock and haps that I know are males, half are adult and the rest are sub-adult showing a little color. If I have to move them a few a time its really no big deal. Once I have all my proven adults moved from the 75, I am going to order a bunch of juvies from somewhere and put them in the 75. Probably gonna take some time but thats the fun of it. So with all that being said, would a fishless cycle make more sense or the danio method?

 

[mittzgame]

If you're using a used filter that was established on another tank, when you move it to the 125 you will have a cycled tank.

----> It's the filters you're cycling, not the tank.

Your 125 will be cycled for the same bio-load you had in your 75. Since you're not adding a full stock list all at once you'll be fine. Do you have any other filters on your 75? That can easily remain the growout tank. Add an extra sponge or a few more hand fulls of bio (or whatever form yours comes in) to your established filter and when you have juvies in the 75 you can move the extra bio over to the 75 and have an instantly cycled tank for your juvies.

King dave is right, that fishless cycling allows you to build up a bigger colony, but this is really only necessary when you're adding a large amount of fish all at once. Since it sounds as if you're adding a few at a time, it won't make a difference. Just allow a couple weeks between additions to your big tank (2-4 fish at a time) and your filters will be able to adjust without any input from you. It might be helpful to reduce feedings for a few days after the new additions, but other than that, your filters will be fine and your fish will too.

:thumb:

 

[UMphreak]

Thanks alot for the info. That cleared up alot of questions in my mind.