# how to start 125 freshwater tank



## steven1 (Dec 19, 2009)

I have a 30 gallon with goldfish, platys, and pleco. I had it for a year but i need to upgrade to 125 gallon. i have no clue about amonia, nitrate, and other stuff.
im starting a 125 gallon freshwater tank with gravel as substrate.. what exactly do i have to do before i put the fish in it. Im buying the supplies for it this weekend.


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## hXcChic22 (Dec 26, 2009)

The first thing you should do is decide whether you want goldfish in the 125... or the other fish. It's not healthy for you to keep goldfish and tropical fish together... they have different temperature requirements and goldfish muck up the water.


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## steven1 (Dec 19, 2009)

i keep the temperature at 75 degrees.. i do weekly water changes. is that ok or do i still have to separate them


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## hXcChic22 (Dec 26, 2009)

75 is too warm for goldies and borderline too cold for tropical fish. Usually they need to be kept in the upper 70s to low 80s. 
It's good that you do water changes but the problem is that the two types of fish are incompatible. They may get along, but they need different things.


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## Trillion (Feb 28, 2010)

Yes, fully agreed about separating the fish. Keeping them together is unhealthy for both kinds. Pick one community for the big tank and leave the other in the small. When you set up the big, I would recommend doing a water change on the small tank and putting that water in the 125, and fill it the rest of the way up and cycle it just like you would with any other tank. To get a good idea about cycling, go check the sticky in general freshwater about the nitrogen cycle. It should answer all your questions.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

move the goldies into the big tank, leave the others in the small. Snip a corner off the filter cartridge from the small tank and put it in the big tank's filter. Repeat in a week.


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## Toshogu (Apr 24, 2009)

if you have no clue about cycling read the forum posts on cycling. if you have questions go ahead and ask. Best bet to cycle your new tank is to take all the gravel in the 30 and transfer to the 125 once the water is dechlorinated and up to temp. Make sure you have your new filter up and running on your 125 and just dump the substrate in, let it just go all over the place. Yes it will look horrible, but it will make sure that the bacteria that is in your gravel gets into your filter and new substrate too.

PURCHASE A TEST KIT THAT TEST FOR AMMON, N2, AND N3.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Seed the tank with old gravel (you can put it in a mesh bag or tied off nylon stocking) or old filter media. Move one fish every week or two. Feed lightly. A 125 is nice and big, it should be hard to get a deadly ammonia spike.


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## steven1 (Dec 19, 2009)

Im separating the fish, so i should add the gravel to the new tank and start the cycle.


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## Blue Cray (Oct 19, 2007)

I'm sorry but the first thing you have to do is rethink everything. I 125g is completely unacceptable imo, no room for any really cool fish, go big or go home. I suggest a 230 and fill it with an asian arowana, a couple BD Leos, a few big bichirs and a GATF.


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## steven1 (Dec 19, 2009)

No, my uncle got a tank with 1albino knife AND 1 royale knife AND 1 snakehead AND 1 jaguar cichild AND 1green terror AND 2oscars AND 4 huge plecos AND 1 b diamond AND 2RED BELLY HYBRID PIRRANHAS AND one jack demplsy and 1 red devil and 1 arrowana AND 1 bass and 2 ALBINO FROG AND 1 DRAGON GOBY in a 450 gallon. i help him with his tank and he lives a few blocks away. I really dont like the aggressive fish. His tank looks Nice but i like the fish i have more, i dont have the time to clean a tank more then 200 gallons


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## steven1 (Dec 19, 2009)

I asked him for help but he told me he never did any cycles before he started his tank with just tiger oscars, thats why they died. so im asking other people for help


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## DavidAl (Nov 17, 2009)

I'm going to take a contrarian position and say that all three of your fishes will do just fine together at a temperature of 75F. Where I see a problem is in feeding; too much protein is bad for the goldfish. I would just transplant everything over to the 125-gallon. You'll obviously need to enhance the filtration if you're going to add to the tank, but run the old filter with the new one until the new one has had time to inoculate itself with nitrifying bacteria. After about a month, you can remove the old filter or leave it running indefinitely. If you're a DIYer, you can use the 30 as a sump, which will provide you with approximately 150-gallons to play with.

David


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## Guest (Mar 6, 2010)

am gonna agree with David on this one....i donno if you guys remember a debate between COM and my self about Golds....but where i live, the water is a constant 80...if not higher.....my Mom used to have golds but she gave them away.....its been 6 years now......they are still alive and kicking in the maids tank. they are twice the size of my fist and i got average sized fist.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Who would have 1 tank, when you can have 2? Eventually the goldies mouth with get platy-eating size. Might take 10 years.


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## steven1 (Dec 19, 2009)

thanks for the advice, i really appreciate it


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## steven1 (Dec 19, 2009)

thanks for the advice everyone, i really appreciate it.. (=


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