New Tank

[Dutsey]

I have just brought a 125l Juwel Rio and the guy has offered to keep the water for me.

Do I accept this?

My main question is, if accepted would I be able to top the water up with the water from my old tank and would this be ok?

What should I do with the fish if I do this? Do I put water from my old tank into a bucket and put the fish in there whilst I do water change and heat new tank?

Help would be much appreciated

 

[K_Hedin]

The only thing that really matters is that the filter media stays soaking so that the bacteria does not die off as fast. As long as the tank is filled with dechlorinated water and up to temp then you can drop in the filter that was being used and add all the same fish and you are good to go.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I would do an acclimation process though... But I am far from an expert.

 

[Tizer]

You do not need the water, it will not contain anything beneficial, in fact his water might be crap. Get the tank home, fill it up, dechlorinate it, turn the heater and filter on, leave until at the correct temp (you can use warm water from the tap to help bring it up) add fish. Or, if you want to be safe, add bottled ammonia for two days and check its processing using liquid test strips. An API freshwater masterkit should be top of your list of "to buy".

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, ideally the filter media should be transported in a manner that provides both water and air (fully submerged if the transport process is short or in plastic containers such that the sloshing around never lets it get dry for longer transports.) Further volumes of the original tank water are unimportant. Larger volumes of mature substrate can also help to maintain the bacterial load if also kept wet but this can also work against you if the substrate has not been well-maintained with frequent cleans. By far the most important thing is mature media that has not been allowed to dry out.

Mature media doesn't necessarily "take" after being moved. It is best to "qualify" the filter using the usual qualification techniques that most of the members here can help with (the biofilter needs to be able to "drop" 5ppm of ammonia to zero ppm ammonia and zero ppm nitrite(NO2) within 12 hours of raising the concentration to 5ppm via a dose of simple household aqueous ammonia.)

Often, if the transport process has been good, a mature biofilter will qualify immediately or within only a day or two and you'll be ready to stock.

~~waterdrop~~