View Full Version : 55g to 75g transfer
Talek
03-19-2007, 09:49 PM
Okay so I'm sick of being told not to add fish to a 55g so I think I'm going to upgrade to a 75g this weekend. The measurements are as follows:
48 1/4 L x 14 1/4 W x 21 H (Comes with the top and light)
This will all come out to 199.99 plus tax (damn NY for heavy taxing) So I was mainly wondering this, my 55g is on a stand in my room where I would like to put my 75g, but the 75g is going to have to go through cycling so any suggestions on what I should do, I'm one tough SOB but I can't lift a 75g tank being full and placing it on the stand with the 55g still housing my O. And also what other fish would be able to be added to this tank. The main reason I want this is to give the oscar more room to turn around and enjoy himself and also to add more life to the tank. Any suggestions would be great, thank you !
crackatinny
03-19-2007, 10:15 PM
I would put the O in a temporary housing, drain the water into holding drums (if available), then set up the 75G and pump the water back into it.
I am not that experienced, so I would wait for other suggestions, but I reckon that would have to help with cycling.
Drumachine09
03-19-2007, 10:22 PM
I would put the O in a temporary housing, drain the water into holding drums (if available), then set up the 75G and pump the water back into it.
I am not that experienced, so I would wait for other suggestions, but I reckon that would have to help with cycling.
Yea, go get a couple rubber maids and a small water pump, and pump the water into the rubber maids. move the tanks around, and use the pump to pump the water back in.
Fishguy2727
03-20-2007, 12:20 AM
That is about 60 gallons assuming you gave outer dimensions.
kimmers318
03-20-2007, 01:55 AM
If I am understanding correctly, you currently have a 55 gal with an oscar and you would like to replace that with a 75 gal. All above suggestions are great, we moved our 90 gal and each O sat in a 10 gal, as did our 15" pleco while we did the move. Remove as much water as you can, use clean containers to hold the fish, remove gravel and decor and pull tank down. Put new tank up on stand and get busy setting it up. If you are not wanting to use the same decor and gravel I would suggest at least putting some of the old gravel into some type of mesh bag that you can remove later, and also running the 55 gal filter in the 75 tank alongside the filter for the 75. If you do this carefully and quickly you won't need to cycle your tank as you will be transferring loads of good bacteria with the gravel, decor and filter into the new tank, the only difference will be more water volume. I have to assume the filter for the 75 will be different than the one on the 55 (unless you had massive filtration on the 55) so if you run both filters together for about 2 weeks your new filter will grow it's own bacteria culture and you will be good to go.
Instant cycle...alot of work for one evening, but well worth saving the bacteria and not having to go thru a whole cycle on the new tank.
If you wish to set up both and keep both running, you can still clone your new tank, it just might be a little "touchy" for awhile, but you can go there.
Talek
03-20-2007, 09:22 AM
Alright guys I really appreciate the suggestions? and the dimensions I gave you are a 60g? Well I hope not because thats what the person at the store told me it was, lol. Thanks again though
Talek
03-20-2007, 09:32 AM
Oh and 1 more question, I have been a member of oscarfish.com for a little while now and I realized they seem to be really uptight on how you treat your oscars, which is all fine and dandy but I think they are a bit to "finicky?" If I didn't decide to get that 75g would there be anyway possible of housing anything with my oscar, at Ofish.com they said there is no way possible of this happening but everywhere else I see people having other fish in theirs. Only reason I am sort of doubting grabbing a 75g is the hassle that it takes, tough doing that when you work 3rd shift =( So if their is I would love an opinion from someone who has done this or has known someone to do this and it hasn't hurt the bioload or anything of that sort to bad. Thanks!
P.S. I read on http://wetwebmedia.com (Which they seem like they know their stuff) say it's ok to place other cichlids such as Dempseys and convicts in a 55g is ok. Thanks again fellas
kimmers318
03-20-2007, 11:15 AM
Just from personally owning 2 oscars I would recommend sticking with the information you have about not putting anything else in with your O in a 55 gallon. You don't realize how messy those guys are. We have 2 8" or so O's in a 90 gal with a pleco, hubby fell behind in his water changes, although never more than a day or 2 each week, and after a large water change on Saturday his O's were looking pretty unhappy on Sunday. I tested his water and his nitrates were off the charts, and they were feeling the effects. It took 2 very large water changes to bring this down and they are not looking too great. Besides this issue, larger cichlids can be territorial and you may run into fighting issues. Stick with your plan to upgrade your O to 75, esp if you want to add something else, it will be in the best interests of your fish. And remember, the more fish you have, the more tank maintenance you will need.
Talek
03-20-2007, 11:31 AM
Thanks Kimmer for the quick response. I'll probably decide by this weekend whether to go through with the 75g or not but now I'm leaning more towards just keeping him single and the 55g =) Thanks again!
Fishguy2727
03-20-2007, 12:00 PM
75=48x18x21
I would get him intoat least a 75. They can exceed 12" when properly cared for and the 75 would be much better for it. It would be wrong to not do better for him if you reasonably can. In a bigger tank you are more likely to have other things work with it, but I personally would go for something like bichirs or a catfish, more likely than other cichlids to tolerate eachother.
...getting an Oscar was my 'Plan B'...however I'm not able...with our set-up...to provide 2 WCs a week...esp. on the 120g I was planning on getting for 1 Oscar and a small school of Silver Dollars...
...I have a good idea of the mess an Oscar can make from visiting tanks and I fully agree that you need to have the largest tank you can get...ultimately it will make your life easier...
...with your Oscar in a 55g...and with overfiltration...you'll still need to be prepared to do 2 or more WCs a week...
...and once that novelty of that wears off (and it will...quickly) then what? Find another home for the Oscar? Too much of that going on already. Buy a bigger tank? Cheaper and easier to that right from the start...
I am now on 'Plan C'...since I really REALLY don't want a tank bigger than 75 g...for practical maintenance purposes...
Fishguy2727
03-21-2007, 12:42 AM
Weekly water changes should be sufficient, although if the bioload is really high you may need them to be big, and many would rather do two smaller changes than one large one (even though they are not equivalent).
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