Couple of questions on setting up new tank

[Paul]

Changing over from my 46g bow front to a 40g aquarium. For bacterial
purposes, how much of the old gravel is good to put back in along with new
gravel? The old gravel is about a 50/50 mix of flourite and white gravel and
want to make it mostly flourite except for the old gravel put back in. Will
be keeping the filter in tack. I have one pleco, one CAE and 5 Zebras.
Probably adding some more Zebras, but will wait a few weeks before doing it.
Thanks.
--
Paul

[Marcus Fox]

"Paul" > wrote in message
...
> Changing over from my 46g bow front to a 40g aquarium. For bacterial
> purposes, how much of the old gravel is good to put back in along with new
> gravel? The old gravel is about a 50/50 mix of flourite and white gravel
and
> want to make it mostly flourite except for the old gravel put back in.
Will
> be keeping the filter in tack. I have one pleco, one CAE and 5 Zebras.
> Probably adding some more Zebras, but will wait a few weeks before doing
it.
> Thanks.
> --
> Paul
>

If you are using the same filter, you do not need to move any of the old
gravel over. Otherwise, you could add maybe a kilo or so to seed the tank,
but you would need to wait until the tank is fully cycled until you add all
your old fish to the new tank. If you don't want to physically mix the old
and new gravel, use a muslin bag.

Marcus

[Paul]

> "Paul" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Changing over from my 46g bow front to a 40g aquarium. For bacterial
> > purposes, how much of the old gravel is good to put back in along with
new
> > gravel? The old gravel is about a 50/50 mix of flourite and white gravel
> and
> > want to make it mostly flourite except for the old gravel put back in.
> Will
> > be keeping the filter in tack. I have one pleco, one CAE and 5 Zebras.
> > Probably adding some more Zebras, but will wait a few weeks before doing
> it.
> > Thanks.
> > --
> > Paul
> >
>
> If you are using the same filter, you do not need to move any of the old
> gravel over. Otherwise, you could add maybe a kilo or so to seed the tank,
> but you would need to wait until the tank is fully cycled until you add
all
> your old fish to the new tank. If you don't want to physically mix the old
> and new gravel, use a muslin bag.
>
> Marcus
>
> Thanks Marcus. Forgot to mention, if it makes a difference, I will be
returning the water out of the old tank less about 10 gallons to the new
tank, my normal water change amount.
--
Paul

[Marcus Fox]

"Paul" > wrote in message
...
>
> > "Paul" > wrote in message
> > ...
> > > Changing over from my 46g bow front to a 40g aquarium. For bacterial
> > > purposes, how much of the old gravel is good to put back in along with
> new
> > > gravel? The old gravel is about a 50/50 mix of flourite and white
gravel
> > and
> > > want to make it mostly flourite except for the old gravel put back in.
> > Will
> > > be keeping the filter in tack. I have one pleco, one CAE and 5 Zebras.
> > > Probably adding some more Zebras, but will wait a few weeks before
doing
> > it.
> > > Thanks.
> > > --
> > > Paul
> > >
> >
> > If you are using the same filter, you do not need to move any of the old
> > gravel over. Otherwise, you could add maybe a kilo or so to seed the
tank,
> > but you would need to wait until the tank is fully cycled until you add
> all
> > your old fish to the new tank. If you don't want to physically mix the
old
> > and new gravel, use a muslin bag.
> >
> > Marcus
> >
> > Thanks Marcus. Forgot to mention, if it makes a difference, I will be
> returning the water out of the old tank less about 10 gallons to the new
> tank, my normal water change amount.

Won't really make much difference to the bacteria as they live mostly in the
filter, with a small amount on the gravel, not in the water column itself.
However, the fish might appreciate you keeping the same water that they've
been used to.

Marcus