# Filling a 170g



## HGI (Oct 27, 2009)

K so I gotta pick up these piranhas by no later than the end of this month so here's what I had planned.

Fill the tank next week, dechlorine the water, make sure the filter is running and that the water is upto temp.

3-4 days of nothing happening here.

Then the day before getting the fish I was going to swing by the local store and get them to give me all the filter goop they're able to and dump it in my tank.

Then get the fish the next day, with as much of their tank water and filter goop I can get.

They're coming out of a 33gallon and going into a 170gallon.

Am I missing anything or does this seem like a reasonable battle plan?


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## JoeDizzleMPLS (Nov 5, 2007)

you don't need their tank water and you don't need their filter "goop" to dump into your tank... you would need some established bio media to add to your filter in order to put the fish in there right away. if you have a couple weeks, you should just set the tank up now and add a piece of shrimp or a few fish to help start the cycle.... you could still grab some established media to add at some point to make sure that your tank is ready.


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## Johnny_Zanni (Nov 8, 2009)

i think by filter goop he means media lol. if the LFS is using hob filters offer to buy them new inserts if they give you their established ones. but make sure when you take them out of the filter to put them in a bag of water from the tank just like a fish


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## dmackey (Jan 26, 2010)

Johnny_Zanni said:


> i think by filter goop he means media lol. if the LFS is using hob filters offer to buy them new inserts if they give you their established ones. but make sure when you take them out of the filter to put them in a bag of water from the tank just like a fish


humm i didnt know you could do that. good stuff johnny


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## Us And Them (Dec 4, 2008)

dmackey said:


> i think by filter goop he means media lol. if the LFS is using hob filters offer to buy them new inserts if they give you their established ones. but make sure when you take them out of the filter to put them in a bag of water from the tank just like a fish


humm i didnt know you could do that. good stuff johnny
[/quote]

I've tried that most places wont do it. But its worth a shot right ?


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## HGI (Oct 27, 2009)

Well I was thinking just grabbing a bucket and put some (say 2gallons) of tank water then clean some of their hob filter sponges in that bucket, getting their filter goo. Is a day in advance enough time or should I do this more in advance?


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## JoeDizzleMPLS (Nov 5, 2007)

HGI said:


> Well I was thinking just grabbing a bucket and put some (say 2gallons) of tank water then clean some of their hob filter sponges in that bucket, getting their filter goo. Is a day in advance enough time or should I do this more in advance?


so you are talking about getting the nasty stuff off the filters and not the filter media... that will do absolutely nothing for your new tank except provide a nice ammonia spike even before you put your fish in, it would actually be worse than doing nothing at all. dumping dirty water in your tank will be counter productive.

if you are getting your fish in two weeks, set your tank up now, why are you planning on waiting til the last minute? if you set your tank up now, you could be pretty close to having your tank cycled by the time you get your fish, if you could track down some established media the day before you get your fish, you'd be in a pretty good spot.


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## Johnny_Zanni (Nov 8, 2009)

some places will let you swap them if you buy them new ones


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