Can i put the fish from my established 30l tank into my newly set-up 100l tank?

[Andy C]

I have a 30 liter fish tank that has been set up for 6 months. Today i set up a 100 liter tank.
I know that when starting from scratch you need to go through the nitrate/imonea cycle but can i just put the water from my small tank in the new one to skip that stage?
If this is not posible, as i only have 7 tetras would it be safe to just put the fish in the new tank anyway as it's such a big tank?
Thanks for any help

[Tek W]

yes putting the new tank will help a lot it will simulate a partial water change. I have done that before with no problems. also use the old filter and gravel and decorations. those will help too.

yes, you have small fish the tank will naturally cycle before those tiny fish will produce enough ammonia to harm themselves.

[hmx_mail]

Using your old tank water is a great idea, and it will definitely begin the process of establishing your new larger tank. Also, hooking your old filter to your new tank (in addition to the new bigger one) with your old cartridges in it will help a ton as well. Your beneficial bacteria live in your water and in your filter as well as in your gravel. You don't have to use the old gravel if you don't want to, but that will help as well. You will end up losing some of the bacteria in the move, but it should be enough to stabilize the new tank, especially if you don't add any new fish for awhile (like one or two weeks). Give the bacteria enough time to catch up from the loss in the move before adding more fish.

Also, tetras are pretty hardly fish, with the exception of a select few types. They are commonly used to start the cycling process in new tanks and should be able to easily conquer any small water quality changes while the tank stabilizes. Test your water often and do water changes to keep your levels down, and if you're diligent about that, you should have no problem.

Oh, and you can take your old filter off the new tank after a few weeks as well and let the new filter run solo. The bacteria will have had plenty of time to take hold in the new filter by then.

[Tek W]

yes putting the new tank will help a lot it will simulate a partial water change. I have done that before with no problems. also use the old filter and gravel and decorations. those will help too.

yes, you have small fish the tank will naturally cycle before those tiny fish will produce enough ammonia to harm themselves.