# Will Beneficial Bacteria Survive?



## Philip.Chan.92 (Apr 25, 2010)

I am gonna set up my tank today. The tank is currently running at another location with plants and fish. I am gonna empty it and then move it to my house. Will the bacteria in the canister filters survive? What about the bacteria in the sand substrate? I will be adding water straight from the hose so it will be cold and not dechlorinated. I will add dechlorinator after I fill the tank. Will this water kill the beneficial bactaria? I also plan to run the filters as soon as the tank fills. My main concern is whether or not the bacteria will survive or do I have to start a cycle all over again?

Also, running a Fluval G6 and Eheim Pro3 in a 90 gallon mbuna tank good? Will this create a blender?


----------



## TBemba (Jan 11, 2010)

I would say you should have no issues. Just leave it running over night until the temp stabilizes.


----------



## Philip.Chan.92 (Apr 25, 2010)

Thanks, that makes me feel a lot more secure lol. So the tank will still be cycled right? I will start small, getting some yellow labs and steveni taiwan reef this weekend 6 fish in total (about 1.5") so small bioload to start.


----------



## TBemba (Jan 11, 2010)

Yes,

A coupe of days ago I had the opprotunity to pick up some Sumba Dwarf Comps, I have been waiting for them for over a year and these ones for 8 months cuz they grow so slow.

I had a HOB on another tank as a 2nd filter and had to buy a new 15 gallon tank for the new fish. I bought the tank filled it up 80% old water from my other tank and added the filter and some sand from my multi tank and the next day picked up the fish. Knock on wood I have not had an issue and it has been 4 days.

I have done similiar may times.


----------



## Philip.Chan.92 (Apr 25, 2010)

Problem is, all the water to be added to my 90 gallon is straight from the hose. If I don't empty the tank, it will be much to heavy too move. Once the temperature stabilizes, would it be safe to add fish? Wanted to get some demasoni from a breeder, he's only here till the day after tomorrow.


----------



## TBemba (Jan 11, 2010)

Yes it should be fine as long as you add water conditioner and allow the temp to adjust. All the good stuff will be in the filter and substrate


----------



## Harry Muscle (Mar 21, 2007)

I'd beg to differ slightly with TBemba information  . Bacteria responsible for processing ammonia and nitrite usually starts to die off after about 1 hour of not having oxygen. So if the move is going to take longer than that, after about 1 hour of the filter being off you will start to loose bacteria, you won't loose all of it at exactly one hour, but that's when the die off will begin. My recommendation, especially if that move is gonna take several hours or overnight, etc. would be to take the media out of the canister and put it in a shallow container of water with lots of surface area (ie: wide, not deep, tupper ware container). Because of the larger surface area and the fact that's it's not locked inside a sealed container (ie: filter) the water will have a decent amount of oxygen even without any water movement and will allow your bacteria to survive a lot longer. They won't have any food to eat, but that's now where near as important as having oxygen for them.

As for the bacteria in the sand, I would recommend mixing water in another container and dechorinating it, enough to cover the sand and maybe an inch or two extra water. Then add enough declorinator for the whole tank to this one or two inches of water that's in the tank and then start pouring in the tap water. This way you greatly reduce how much actual chlorine or chloramine will come in contact with your bacteria. You'll still loose some, especially at the spot where you are at first pouring in the tap water, but it should be a fairly small amount compared to your original idea of doing things.

Hope this info help,
Harry


----------



## Philip.Chan.92 (Apr 25, 2010)

Thanks for all the advice guys, luckily for me, the trip is only about 20 mins, so, gonna have it setup within an hour or two, so no mass die-off of bacteria . I hear from people that demasoni are fairly fragile one, I was planning to pic some up for cheap, they are about 2". Would adding them within the next few days be a good idea?


----------



## TBemba (Jan 11, 2010)

Well I would say the are not as fragile as Shellies Like I just got 

make sure you drip them or acclimate them slower than you may usually do with other fish and you should be fine.

Cichlids are pretty hardy and if the tank was well established you have little to worry about.


----------



## Joeee (Apr 3, 2010)

Harry Muscle said:


> I'd beg to differ slightly with TBemba information  . Bacteria responsible for processing ammonia and nitrite usually starts to die off after about 1 hour of not having oxygen. So if the move is going to take longer than that, after about 1 hour of the filter being off you will start to loose bacteria, you won't loose all of it at exactly one hour, but that's when the die off will begin. My recommendation, especially if that move is gonna take several hours or overnight, etc. would be to take the media out of the canister and put it in a shallow container of water with lots of surface area (ie: wide, not deep, tupper ware container). Because of the larger surface area and the fact that's it's not locked inside a sealed container (ie: filter) the water will have a decent amount of oxygen even without any water movement and will allow your bacteria to survive a lot longer. They won't have any food to eat, but that's now where near as important as having oxygen for them.


Out of curiosity, how long does it take for the bacteria to completely die off without a source of ammonia AND nitrite? I always thought it was 6 hours, but I guess that's just an unwarranted assumption on my part.


----------



## Harry Muscle (Mar 21, 2007)

Joeee said:


> Out of curiosity, how long does it take for the bacteria to completely die off without a source of ammonia AND nitrite? I always thought it was 6 hours, but I guess that's just an unwarranted assumption on my part.


That part I don't remember, but I know there's some debate as to whether they bacteria can actually "hibernate" for up to 30 days without a food source (but with a source of oxygen).

Harry


----------



## Philip.Chan.92 (Apr 25, 2010)

I am gonna be full stocked by this weekend  Getting demasonis tomorrow or friday, then going to mike to get my albino socolofi and yellow tail acei.


----------



## brapbrapboom (Sep 2, 2009)

will it also help speed up the cycling if I used a filter on my primary tank and use the water from it to a new tank?


----------



## ShrimpieLove (Apr 26, 2010)

I am not 100% sure, but when i started my shrimp tank i did take my sponge out of my guppy tank filter and swished it around in a bowl (with used tank water from a water change/gravel cleaning) to get a bunch of grunge in there and then soaked a new sponge for the shrimp tank in it b4 putting in the filter. I also used as much things as I could from my guppytank such as gravel and some plants, and when i filled the shrimp tank with water i used the water straight from my guppy tank too. I was told it would help "seed" the tank with bacteria a bit, tho the best bacteria is in the filter itself... At least thats what I was told lol Also used stability sparingly...


----------



## KhuliLoachFan (Mar 8, 2008)

Here's what you do:

1. put old tank water in a bucket.
2. put intake and outlet hoses in bucket.
3. leave filter running with its hoses in the bucket. now move the tank and fill it and add dechlorinator.
4. when you're ready to move the filter itself immediately with no waiting, then unplug it, drive it to its new location (20 minutes maximum)
5. win.

W

P.S. in the event that you must unplug for more than 20 minutes, I would disassemble the cannister and dump the biomedia and sponges out into a set of plastic bags. Tie it up so it doesn't dry out. You'll get hours out of that way, because it will have an O2 source. I would fill the new tank, and then rinse out the media inside your newly filled dechlorinated tank, then reassemble. Any bacteria lost from your media will simply be in the water column instead.


----------

