Hot 2 Cold

[Leedsboi86]

Hey,

Can a cycled Tropical tank be used for cold water?
I mean the mature filter?

 

[shelaghfishface]

why not, i would assume so, its all ammonia and goodies in there

 

[Leedsboi86]

I gave the 4 Cichilds to a friend who has a 5ft tank.
Mainly cause the damn heater broke in my 2ft tank but I was gonna sell it now I'm thinking of making it a cold water tank.
But would it be any good for Goldfish like fantails?

 

[Corleone]

What are the volume/dimensions?

As for the bacteria, they'll be fine. I've given mature media to people with goldfish and its worked fine.

 

[OldMan47]

The media will be fine. As Corleon started to get into, the real question is how many can really live in your tank without crowding. While you are making up your mind, keep the filter alive by feeding it with ammonia.

 

[Leedsboi86]

It's a 20G tank

 

[Bignose]

I think that the exact subspecies of bacteria may be a little different between cold and tropical waters. Similar in that different subspecies prefer different pHs of water.

The bacteria filter will still process the ammonia -- probably not as fast as they were at their preferred conditions -- but they still will. And eventually, the subspecies of bacteria that prefer the conditions will take over.

No matter what changes were made, for a time after the change you should be running water tests frequently anyway to ensure that the change over went smoothly. It's the same with this change. You'll just want to monitor to water stats for some time after the change to ensure the filter is still doing its job.