[sofiapentschev]

Hi guys, I just moved across cities and didn’t want to start the water cycle process all over again. I packed my aquarium water into mason jars and loaded them into my car. I’m about to set my aquarium up again using the water, but I’ve not been able to find anything online about people packing their water. Is this ok to do? Does the water get tainted by being in the jars/car for a 2 days. Any advice would be great!!

 

[en7jos]

Hi @sofiapentschev =)

I think the water is probably fairly irrelevant. What has been happening with your filter during the move? There's minimal bacteria in water compared to in the substrate and filter media. Bacteria need oxygen so if a filter (not sure what type of filter you have) has sat without water movement, then bacteria could well have expired.

Regards, James

 

[zer0signal]

Hi @sofiapentschev =)

I think the water is probably fairly irrelevant. What has been happening with your filter during the move? There's minimal bacteria in water compared to in the substrate and filter media. Bacteria need oxygen so if a filter (not sure what type of filter you have) has sat without water movement, then bacteria could well have expired.

Regards, James

Agreed, the important thing you need to save during a move is the filter. That contains most of the beneficial bacteria, moving water is kind of pointless; you're just creating more work for yourself.

If it was me, I would move the filter quickly to the new place and get it running in the tank or temp bucket with water. If its going to be a few days before the tank/livestock is setup you can pick up some ammonia and dose the bucket to keep the bacteria alive while you transfer the rest of your tank.

You can use this to continue the cycle on the filter while waiting for live stock (IF its going to be a couple of days before live stock) Amazon: Ammonium Chloride (look for Fritz)

 

[sofiapentschev]

Thank you guys. I’ve Saran wrapped the filter to keep it moist, but I totally didn’t think about the lack of oxygen levels killing the bacteria. It’s been 4 days since it’s been wrapped. It’s still moist, but do you think it’s dead now? I Saran wrapped my tank with the substrate and kept it misted so the substrate was kept moist. The beneficial bacteria in there may be okay?

At this point I may just toss the water In the jars and just add ammonium to my tank until it cycles

 

[Blue Ridge Reef]

The groups of bacteria we call beneficial in the hobby are highly aerobic, meaning they need constant O2 to metabolize. Wrapping in Saran wrap is honestly probably worse than letting it start to dry. If you had live fish you were moving we'd have a different conversation about a necessary fish-in cycle, but an empty cycling tank? Just move the dirty gravel and media to it and see what happens. Unless there were pathogens or anything to worry about, it can only go faster than starting from everything being new.

 

[Oughtsix]

Hi @sofiapentschev =)

I think the water is probably fairly irrelevant. What has been happening with your filter during the move? There's minimal bacteria in water compared to in the substrate and filter media. Bacteria need oxygen so if a filter (not sure what type of filter you have) has sat without water movement, then bacteria could well have expired.

Regards, James

The nitrifying bacteria like to attach themselves to surfaces and colonize (reproduce across the surface). Very little nitrifying bacteria will be free floating.

I don't think the water will hurt but I don't think it will make much of a difference.

 

[Fishly]

It’s been 4 days since it’s been wrapped. It’s still moist, but do you think it’s dead now? I Saran wrapped my tank with the substrate and kept it misted so the substrate was kept moist. The beneficial bacteria in there may be okay?

There's no way to know without you setting up the tank and seeing. I think it should be okay. Just set it up as soon as possible, add a source of ammonia (whether pure ammonia or just a ton of fish food), and see what happens.

Do you have plants or livestock to add to the tank? If not, just keep adding ammonia until you're good and settled in your new place and don't worry about it. The beneficial bacteria double every 24 hours under ideal conditions, so even if 90% of your bacteria died, they should be back up to speed within two weeks.