Keeping Bacteria Alive

[shroob]

Hi,

Today I was due to exchange some fish with my LFS, which consisted of 2 tanks of fish. I bucketed them up and got them there, to find he wasn't in but his other staff were. So basically I have 2 tanks with no fish but I want to keep the media alive, as I will be getting the fish tomorrow morning. Should the tank be Ok for that long with no occupants? Or should I add media to an established tank to keep it alive for sure?

Thanks

 

[Miss Wiggle]

if you can get any pure ammonia add 5ppm daily as you would with a fishless cycle then do a big water change just before adding fish.

 

[Bignose]

If the fish are coming back tomorrow morning, I don't think I'd even worry about it at all. Some of the bacteria will die off, but only about 10%. That will grow back real quick once you get their food source (the fish) back.

If it is going to be another day or two beyond that though, then doing what Miss Wiggle said is excellent advice. Be sure to buy straight ammonia, not perfume or dyes or coloring or extra soaps. The only extra ingredient on the bottle can be "chelating agents" otherwise it should be only ammonia (it may say ammonium hydroxide or something similar) and water. The trick is if it is a clear bottle, shake it, and if it foams up real good, then there is extra stuff in the bottle you don't want. If it makes bubbles (like all liquids will when you shake them) but the bubbles pop pretty quick, it is in all likelihood pretty safe.

 

[TribeOfShroom]

Wouldn't a cup full of wizz do it?

 

[Colin_T]

it should be fine overnight. If you are really worried put a bit of fish food in there. But do a water change and siphon out the food before adding the new fish.

 

[Shrimper]

Wouldn't a cup full of wizz do it?

Don't see why not, but you would definatly want to do a big water change before adding fish again.

If you can add the filter to another tank for a couple of days that would probably be the easiest way.

 

[shroob]

The other tank I have set up has a sump, so would just putting a few sponges/media in there overnight be beneficial, or would a handful of pellets do the same stuff?

I should definately be getting some new fish tomorrow morning, if I don't, then I will move the media across for sure.

 

[Bignose]

Wouldn't a cup full of wizz do it?

No actually, it won't. Mammalian urine is mostly urea, not ammonia. There is some small amount of ammonia. Comparatively, fish urine is mostly ammonia and only a small amount of urea. In addition, the ammonia from the respiration of the fish, and you get a waste that is almost all ammonia You don't want to attract a large population of urea consuming bacteria. You want to keep the ammonia consuming bacteria alive.

 

[TribeOfShroom]

Wouldn't a cup full of wizz do it?

No actually, it won't. Mammalian urine is mostly urea, not ammonia. There is some small amount of ammonia. Comparatively, fish urine is mostly ammonia and only a small amount of urea. In addition, the ammonia from the respiration of the fish, and you get a waste that is almost all ammonia You don't want to attract a large population of urea consuming bacteria. You want to keep the ammonia consuming bacteria alive.

Ahh is this due our diets e.g large amounts of solids and not a lot of water (comparitively)?

 

[Bignose]

Wouldn't a cup full of wizz do it?

No actually, it won't. Mammalian urine is mostly urea, not ammonia. There is some small amount of ammonia. Comparatively, fish urine is mostly ammonia and only a small amount of urea. In addition, the ammonia from the respiration of the fish, and you get a waste that is almost all ammonia You don't want to attract a large population of urea consuming bacteria. You want to keep the ammonia consuming bacteria alive.

Ahh is this due our diets e.g large amounts of solids and not a lot of water (comparitively)?

Maybe, physiology is not a strong subject for me. I know that the current idea is that we (mammals) did evolve from a legged fish, and both fish and mammalian metabolism makes urea and ammonia, just that we make more urea and they make more ammonia. So, something did shift the balance along the way, but I don't really know what that would be.

 

[rocknurworld2006]

whizz as you like to call it lol!!

is full of so many things which majority of people are unaware of!
Eveyr day mostly i am testing patients urine to see what is in it and it can be full of nitrates leucocytes, glucose. But people are unaware of this!

So i would say it is not good at all for putting in a tank!!!!!!!!!

 

[TribeOfShroom]

whizz as you like to call it lol!!

is full of so many things which majority of people are unaware of!
Eveyr day mostly i am testing patients urine to see what is in it and it can be full of nitrates leucocytes, glucose. But people are unaware of this!

So i would say it is not good at all for putting in a tank!!!!!!!!!

Lol sorry, I tend not to swear on sites that are used by younger generations. But I suppose I never took into consideration the other elements that are present in your average human's piss! .... dammit! now you made me swear

 

[rocknurworld2006]

whizz as you like to call it lol!!

is full of so many things which majority of people are unaware of!
Eveyr day mostly i am testing patients urine to see what is in it and it can be full of nitrates leucocytes, glucose. But people are unaware of this!

So i would say it is not good at all for putting in a tank!!!!!!!!!

Lol sorry, I tend not to swear on sites that are used by younger generations. But I suppose I never took into consideration the other elements that are present in your average human's piss! .... dammit! now you made me swear

other factors as well everybodys urine can have different ph kh etc everyday also!!!
i could go on forever telling you whats in it and reasons not to use it lol!!!!

 

[TribeOfShroom]

whizz as you like to call it lol!!

is full of so many things which majority of people are unaware of!
Eveyr day mostly i am testing patients urine to see what is in it and it can be full of nitrates leucocytes, glucose. But people are unaware of this!

So i would say it is not good at all for putting in a tank!!!!!!!!!

Lol sorry, I tend not to swear on sites that are used by younger generations. But I suppose I never took into consideration the other elements that are present in your average human's piss! .... dammit! now you made me swear

other factors as well everybodys urine can have different ph kh etc everyday also!!!
i could go on forever telling you whats in it and reasons not to use it lol!!!!

Not to mention blood (if anyones had a kidney infection).. although one of my fighters kept 'biting' me when I cut my hand while doing maintainance.. cheeky bugger! lol

 

[shroob]

whizz as you like to call it lol!!

is full of so many things which majority of people are unaware of!
Eveyr day mostly i am testing patients urine to see what is in it and it can be full of nitrates leucocytes, glucose. But people are unaware of this!

So i would say it is not good at all for putting in a tank!!!!!!!!!

A bit off topic but isn't it very bad if you're passing glucose out?

On the topic of the tank, I have bought some new fish (6 F1 HRP's) and the other tank remains empty, so I'm moving the media.