# Help! upgrading tank!



## leeann (May 30, 2011)

Hello everyone!
i am new to the aquarium hobby and i have a question.
for about 6 months i have had 4 common goldfish in a ten gallon tank (i know too small *td i was doing water changes 4 times a week! ugh) but i bought a 21 gallon tank yesterday and i am eager to move them to their new home.

i put three gallons of water from the old tank in and the rest was treated tap water. 
everything inside is new except the bubble stone which was taken from the old tank.
i added a handful of old gravel into the new tank as well. 
i also "squeezed out" some bacteria from the old filter media into the new tank. 

my question in how long do i wait to put them in the new tank? is there enough bacteria in there now? the water is clear. not cloudy 
thanks!:goldfish:


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## holly12 (Apr 21, 2011)

Do you have a new filter? If it's a new filter and tank, it's going to have to cycle. If you can use the old media in the new filter, it will still need to cycle. Squeezing some of the old media into the new tank was good though. It would be better if you could use the old media in the new filter. You will need to be testing the water over the next few days and weeks to make sure it has gone through the nitrogen cycle. I would wait for a while to be sure that everything is settled right before putting the new guys in, just to be sure. I would put all of the 10 gallon water into the new tank when you go to move the fish, that way, they have as much good bacteria as possible. (You can cycle the tank by adding fish - some may die though - or you can do the fishless cycle. There are instructions on how to do this in the forum.

You will still have to upgrade the tank again soon, as a 20 gallon tank will fit a single gold fish, with another 10 gallons extra per extra goldfish after that. For 4 gold fish, you will need a 50 gallon tank. You will still have to be doing multiple water changes per week with the 21 gallon tank, as they will still be making a lot of ammonia. (Even the smaller, thinner gold fish will get big). 

"Goldfish are often kept in very small containers such as bowls or very small aquariums with no heaters or filtration. Goldfish need plenty of open swimming space and a bowl or small aquarium will not provide enough space. A lot of times this is can be the number one cause of death to your new goldfish. Goldfish such as Fantails can be kept in smaller aquariums because of their smaller rounder shape. That being said 20gallons should be minimum for one fantail and 10 gallons for each additional goldfish. Goldfish such as comets and other faster swimming torpedo shaped goldfish should be housed in much larger tanks 55 gallon being the smallest." - aquariacentral.com

Tank size for goldfish This forum also says the same thing.

In the Freshwater section under "Koi and Goldfish" you may find some helpful info' there as well.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

The new tank will still have to cycle and that won't even start until you add the new fish. I would take the filter off the older tank and put it on the new tank and run it alongside your new filter. Or...put the media from the old filter in the new filter...you didn't say whether or not you got a new filter. Putting water from the old tank will do very little. The gravel will help. Unless you're going to add something to cycle the tank without fish, then you can add them now. A bigger tank is better, but as was mentioned, still way too small for 4 goldies.


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

Yea the new tank is still too small.If you want to keep the goldfish,you still need a much larger tank.Are these commons or fancies?Commons will get way too large for a tank that many can have in their homes and are best suited to ponds.Fancies,its recommended thirty gallons for the first fish and ten for every fish after that one.Goldfish also require twice the filtration rated for tropicals.


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## Fearmancer (Apr 24, 2011)

Not to reiterate what has been said, but the new tank still has to cycle. If you would like to do a fishless cycle RTBob has a very good post for it here.


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