Moving fish to a larger tank, pt II

In My Humble Opinion
1

So I have lines on two pretty well-cared for tanks that come with stands, heaters, and pumps. One is 33 gallons, and one is 40 gallons.

They both seem well-cared for for older equipment, and have been dry about the same amount of time.

Pros and cons:

33 gal:

PROS: I am less likely to drop it bringing in inside. It doesn’t sit so high up, and will be easier to clean. It will fit in the space I have without any rearranging or blocking windows. The top hinge is in better shape. It is the right size for the fish I have plus a few more loaches. Maintaining it won’t be that different from maintaining a 20 gallon. It comes with a regular stand.

CONS: it’s been sitting longer, and will need more cleaning. The substrate it comes with is sand-- maybe that’s not a con, I don’t know-- but I will have to wash the sand. It doesn’t come with any natural decorations, only plastic. I can’t experiment with adding new kinds of fish.

40 gal:

Pros: I can experiment with new kinds of fish. It comes with a pebble substrate that has some washed seashells, which should help keep down tha pH, a problem I have been having. It comes with some natural decorations. The biofilter looks like the giuy took time to rinse it off after he stopped using it. It has an airstone, impostant in a deeper tank

Cons: I have a dolly and blankets, but I’m not completely confident on my ability to mobe it. The stand is homemade (oak), and bows slightly. Otherwise, it looks vry good. I have a saw and scrapwood, so I could reinforce it, though. I’m not confident in my ability to clean it, although, I am good in a crisis. (Which is to say, if it must be done, it will get dine. It have large pebles for sunstares, and I’m not sue that’s good for corys and loaches. The top hatch is broken, but it’s still workable, and I could put hinged on it if I wanted.
Mainly, the people with the 33 want $100, and the guy with the 40 wants $50. I saw the $50 one today, and would have bought it if it were my only option, but the people with the $100 one got back to me first, so I feel obligated to look at theirs before making up my mind.

What would others do?

PS, part of the $$ for this is coming from selling my grandmother’s old record player and speakers.

2

Whew. Had a cat on my lap when I typed it, and so I typed it blind. Not my best work.

3

Generally the answer is go bigger. But you mentioned that the 40 is deeper, can you reach the bottom for cleaning? A gravel vacuum cleaner will take care of most of that for you, but I had black stuff start to grow in a 100 gallon display tank once. I couldn’t really reach the bottom to get it cleaned property without draining a lot of water out to lean in further while standing on a ladder. A big advantage to larger tanks is less water changing though.

4

I’ll have to stand on a small stepladder, and probably alternate sides that I vacuum, and may have to buy a longer vacuum, but buying a longer one isn’t a big deal, and alternating sides is SOP anyway, so you don’t take out too much bacteria with the debris. I with the guy’s homemade stand he was so proud of were a little smaller. The seller was about 6’3. I have a power saw, and could probably take two inches off of it.

5

In aquaria, bigger really is better. Just my opinion.

6

Bigger is probably better - easier to maintain water parameters, can keep more fish.

Watch the substrate though, the one with the shells may not be good for corys as anything sharp, even gravel, can damage their barbells. Normally sand is recommended.

I also have a feeling that shells in the tank will raise pH? Will increase water hardness at any rate I think. - might just want to check this.

What loaches are you stocking? I’ve got a 55G tank and even that’s too small for most sharks and loaches. This is a great tool for working out what you can stock in a tank based on dimensions, filter and the conditions the fish require.

You’ll also have to recycle the tanks, if the filters have been turned off more than 24 hours the beneficial bacteria start to die and can be replaced with bad ones - so either run it with your existing tank or cycle it for the 2-4 weeks until it’s ready for the fish.

7

This. Pool filter sand is easy to wash, play sand is cheap but requires a great deal of cleaning.