Moving questions. New bigger tank, sand

mmbd73

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Hey all,

In a few months I will be moving to a new house, upgrading from a 10 gallon to a 20 gallon long, and hoping to add more plants and sand to my aquarium. This is a huge transition on many levels and I wanted to ask a few questions so I am fully prepared for the big day!

To start, my axolotl is a about a year and a half and full size.
Her current set up is a 10 gallon with large river rocks and an anubias plant tied to one of the rocks and no sand. What would you recommend as far as sand brands go? I understand something fine grain but that's as far as I know.
Also, how do I go about adding sand to the tank? I know I should thoroughly wash the sand out. But again, this is where i get lost as far as depth of sand in the tank.
Going from a 10 gallon to a 20 gallon, I will be buying a new, larger filter (canister). How should I go about transferring my cycle? Should I use both the 10 gallon filter and the new filter in the tank for awhile, with used water from the old tank added?

And finally, what is the best way to transport my axolotl and transition her to the new tank? She is about 12 inches long and, I'll be honest, I have't physically handled her since she was about 6 inches long and I could scoop her up in a pitcher. :grin:
I also don't want to stress her out unnecessarily, or shock her when I put her in the new tank.

There are a lot of questions here, and I would appreciate any help!
 
Hey i posted a pretty much identical topic a few days ago. We're also moving house and transferring to a bigger tank.

I guess depth of sand is a personal choice but I have about half an inch of it, just enough for my axie to grip on to. He likes to move the sand around so I may give him more when we move. I use kids playsand as it's the finest I can find but it can be really dirty so washing it out thoroughly is definitely recommended. Keep rinsing it until the water runs clear but that will take a while. Even when you put it into the tank after fully washing it you'll get some cloudy water but that should settle.

I'm transferring my cycle by soaking a new sponge (I also have a new filter) in water from the old tank and transporting it in a container of water from his current tank. I'm also taking some containers of tank water from the old tank with me to start off the new tank.

Finally whenever we've had to transport our axie we put him in a tub that's about the same size of him and with enough water to cover him. I sat with him on my knee to minimise the water sloshing around when my husband drove. He was a little stressed out as we never handle him or move him from the tank unless necessary but once he's back into his tank he's fine. He seems to like having a new environment to investigate.


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Uhmm not to be rude but I'm just gonna point out that the beneficial bacteria do not live in the water column. soaking a brand new sponge in dirty tank water won't do anything at all. neither will putting dirty tank water in a new tank unless you're using it to cycle a tank and even then if the dirty water is coming from a cycled tank it would only have some nitrates and no ammonia or nitrites that the bacteria feed on so again...kind of pointless.

The best way to transfer your cycle would probably be to keep your current cycled sponge wet in a ziploc bag for the move and then placing that alongside a new sponge (in your new filter? or if the old sponge wont fit you can run both filters in the tank or simply cut the old sponge to fit) for several weeks and even then you'll probably still have a hiccup when you remove the old sponge so test the water frequently! good luck guys!
 
Thanks Allied. It's interesting you say that what I plan on doing is pointless cos the advice I was given on here a few days ago by someone else said that it would be fine. I guess people have their own way of doing things. When we got the axie I was given a soaked sponge to start off my cycle (or so I thought) and I never had any real issues establishing the cycle which I why I thought I could do similar to move my axie to his new home. I'll run both filters as the old one I have has a sponge that is a totally different shape to my new filter.


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