Fishless cycle done.. can’t catch my fish.

[Reaper_Six_Four]

Lol, I know the title is a bit wonky.

Heres the deal, I bought a new tank, an upgrade from my existing tank. I performed a fishless cycle successfully so now I can start transferring the fish from the tank to the new tank.

AWESOME!! Well not so much….

I can’t catch my fish yo transfer them over. I’ve removed some rock from the existing tank to facilitate capture, but I don’t want to remove all of it in fear of crashing my tank.

So herein lies my question:
How long can my new tank be fishless before the beneficial bacteria starts to go away? Do I need to continue to dose Dr. Tim’s ammonia chloride?

 

[Spare time]

I wouldn't stress over it. If its going to be a while, consider adding a pinch of fish food.

 

[landlubber]

agreed. ghost feeding will accomplish the same task In the short term. Also, a fish trap is a gentle way to remove your hard to catch occupants.

 

[Tamberav]

Lol, I know the title is a bit wonky.

Heres the deal, I bought a new tank, an upgrade from my existing tank. I performed a fishless cycle successfully so now I can start transferring the fish from the tank to the new tank.

AWESOME!! Well not so much….

I can’t catch my fish yo transfer them over. I’ve removed some rock from the existing tank to facilitate capture, but I don’t want to remove all of it in fear of crashing my tank.

So herein lies my question:
How long can my new tank be fishless before the beneficial bacteria starts to go away? Do I need to continue to dose Dr. Tim’s ammonia chloride?

it can be fishless forever and the Bactria will be fine. They literally eat your skin cells that land in it from the air or anything else. You can toss some pellets on once a week if it makes you feel better.

Your tank will not crash from temporarily removing the rock. I have done it a million times. Just spray with with salt water or put wet paper towels on it to keep it moist or even put it in a bucket of tank water.

I once left a monti on my kitchen counter overnight and it was mostly fine. Lol

 

[Spare time]

The main thing when removing a rock is to avoid releasing hydrogen sulfide from beneath it

 

[Tuan’s Reef]

How big is your tank? I find it way easier to catch fish when I drain the tank to low levels. The bubble fish traps works too.