No Fish For 2 Weeks

[methodmza_uk]

Hi guys,

I have had to take my fish out of my tank for about 2 weeks as I am having a lot of work done on my house. They have gone into another tanks so they will be ok.

I am just worried about the bacteria in the filter media. Will it just be ok to leave the filter pads in the water they are in for 2 weeks, will the bacteria go away or stay in the pads.

Any advice???

Many thanks

 

[ox5477]

You will need to add pure ammonia to the tank every day and make sure your filter stays running. No water flow = Dead bacteria. They need a continuous source of food.

Add enough to make the ppm about 4 to 6 and that should be a enough to feed them

 

[Tolak]

Just run the filter on the other tank the fish are in, that will keep it cycled.

 

[Tommy Gunnz]

I agree with Tolak on this one, but adding ammonia could be an option, however I have only heard of doing so to start a cycle rather than keep a tank cycled. So, I cant say anything on that idea other than to get 5 ppm of ammonia into your tank, use 5 drops of pure, unscented, undyed ammonia for every 10 gallons of water.

Is your tank going to still be heated and full of water? If so, you can always just continue to 'feed' the tank as you would with the fish in there. This will leave a food source for the bacteria. It is important to keep your filter running though as water movement, like Tolak said, is essential. Also keep in mind that not ALL the bacteria in your tank is in the biofilter media. It is also in the substrate and attached to rocks, plants and decorations. I just found this out myself so if you can, you should try to keep the tank up and running at a normal temp to avoid losing your bacteria so much that it would have to be recycled when it is time to put the fish back in.

 

[methodmza_uk]

I dont have any subsrate in this tank so just the filter media has the bacteria in, but thanks for the advice. The tank the fish have gone to isnt mine and is quite far away. So i just kept it running and added ammonia to it. will stick a few drops each day in and see how it goes.

Thanks uys