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Swapping ADA from one tank to another

Raekz

Member
Joined
14 Dec 2015
Messages
39
Location
NL
Hi,

Some of you might have seen my old tank (here). Since I've gotten a lot of nice and positive feedback, I figured this would be the best place to ask my question.

It's a rather simple question; is it possible to move my ADA Amazonia from my running tank to a new tank?

Reason for this swap, my DIY cabinet soaked up some water and I'm worried about the structural strength so I'm gonna tear it down (again) and figure out if I want to build a new cabinet or just get rid of the entire tank. However, there are inhabitants in it right now (10 Tetra's, 8 Oto's and about 30 RCS), so I need to house those till I figure out what I'm going to do. I've still got my 30l nano tank and while it's not ideal size wise, I figured I would house everything in that tank for the time being.

My idea was to get a large bucket, fill it with the water, plants and inhabitants from the tank, heater and filter. When that's done, drain the current tank in some more buckets, move the ADA soil to the 30l tank, put back the old water, plants, filter and heater, move the inhabitants back and that's that. I'm a bit worried about the amonia in the ADA, my current tank is fully cycled, I know how ADA works. What I don't know however, is if it will leech again when its being swapped/moved...Any of you have experience with this? I do not want to risk losing any inhabitants, I care about them.

Thanks in advance!
 
10 tetras and 8 otos is a lot to put in a 30L tank. I'd use the existing tank and just put it somewhere out the way. My 70L is currently on the floor on the upstairs landing, whilst I fixed the stand and set up a new tank in it's place. I drained it down to about 1cm above the substrate and moved it with everything (including the fish) in place (depends how big your tank is if that's practical). If you don't want to use that one you could pick up a bigger tank second hand or even a storage tub - doesn't need to look good, just hold a bit more water.
 
What tetra species? Some will manage better in the 30l temporarily than others - even with cycled filter etc, you should plan on frequent water changes

If you do regular water changes, skip saving all that “old” water ... just do a 50% water change, then drain tank water into any food grade plastic bin, move fish etc from tank - add filter, heater

Return to tank & remove plants - if there’s significant substrate disturbance, it’s possible to release toxins (ammonia etc) into the water which can rapidly kill tank inhabitants - then drain tank

You may find that the ADA has broken down significantly, if so, it’s best to replace with new substrate (Tropica Aquarium Soil retains its shape/texture much longer)

Some people have success reusing ADA, others experience issues (plant growth problems, unexpected livestock deaths)
Definitely plan on daily water changes for the first weeks if reusing your ADA

Regardless of substrate solution, just replant, fill with tap, move filter over, then fish ...the frequent water change schedule on the 30l tank ensures tank/tap parameters will be very close so no need to worry about “old” water


What are the dimensions of the 30l tank?
 
Thanks for the quick replies!

Both of you kind of confirmed the worries I had, especially regarding the ADA Soil releasing toxins, even when it's already cycled. This tank has been up for about 3 months now, so the ADA isn't as muddy as my previous tank, but still, messing with the substrate will release all sorts of nasty I guess.

I'll probably just sell/give away the inhabitants then, I don't want to risk anything that could harm the inhabitants. It will also give me time to decide wether I'll continue the hobby or call it quits.

For what it's worth, the dimensions of the 30l are 41,5 x 28,4 x 35,6 cm. The tetra's are Kardinals.

Thanks again!
 
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3 month ADA should be just fine to move (unless you’ve been rescaping every week ;))

If you like your fish etc, just pick up a food grade plastic of a suitable size, fish etc will manage fine in there for a couple months while you decide

I’d not keep the cardinals etc in the 30l for more than a couple weeks - with filter & plants & lights (to keep plants happy) it should be fine, very easy on that size tank to do daily 30% water changes, if you can’t manage some of the water changes, just skip feeding for those days
(In reality the livestock would likely manage just fine in the 30l for a couple months too, after a couple weeks you’ll have a feel for what you need to do to manage the water quality)

In the close confines of the 30l, the cardinals might hassle the shrimp a bit, so just make sure shrimp have some retreats that are fish inaccessible

Once the ADA is in place & replanted, I’d just monitor for a couple days - back to ADA method 50% daily water changes as I’m sure ammonia will be released during all the upheaval, but then this will settle just as it has currently in the tank - then add back livestock ... to be conservative, you can always add just a trio of fish/shrimp, wait a day, then add the rest

(Note for a quick tank stand, you might look at IKEA - anything rated for “public” use will have weight ratings that are suitable for a Rekord 60)
 
Thanks again, great ideas and suggestions!

However, I've decided to sell/give away the fish, only keeping the shrimp. I've got a small 20l emergency tank in the attic that's been well established for over a year now, I'll move the shrimp to that tank. After that, I'll be breaking down the Rekord so I can use the ADA soil, plants and spiderwood & seiryu in the 30l tank. Then just treat it like a freshly set-up tank, honoring the whole ADA cycling process.

I might build a new cabinet for the 30l, just as I did for the Rekord, I'll skip IKEA :)

Regarding my initial question, we can conclude that you will release ammonia, toxins and all other sorts of nasty when disturbing/moving the ADA, so it's a bad idea.

Thanks all!
 
release ammonia, toxins and all other sorts of nasty when disturbing/moving the ADA,
This can apply to any substrate ... depending ...

I killed virtually all my livestock when trimming/removing Vallisneria in a tank with Sera Depot & 2-3mm gravel substrate :sorry: :sorry: :sorry:
This was completely unexpected, there was no bad smells, or visible release of any bubbles etc ... nor was it the first time I’d trimmed back the Vallisneria in that tank
Tank was regularly maintained, weekly water changes of 50-70%, minimal debris etc, etc
 
I always double dose Prime or similar when I muck around with the substrate.
 
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