Bacteria Transportation. . .

[Peanut_Power]

Heres the dealyo, the pretty lady lives about two hrs away. Just set up a new tank for her last weekend, so its still pretty new. What I am wanting to do is take one of the sponge filters from my already established tank and putting it in her tank to help seed it, thus hopefully shortening the cycle period a little.

Problem is she is two hours away. Can I put the sponge filter in a gallon ziplock bag with a fair amount of water in it and transport it that way? Or will the bacteria 'starve' of oxygen and die? Can't really set up a five gallon bucket with a heater and air pump.

How long can bacteria survive out of a tank setting as long as it is submerged in water and is kept roughly around the same temp?

 

[Richie_ELP]

Is the air pump not an option because of the power cord?
Since cars do not have 120v outlets as standard commodities, You could run a small battery operated air pump into a bag or small bucket on the floor of your car, just to be sure the colony does not die off from lack of oxygen. I do not believe temperature would be a real threat, unless the water was un-aerated and too warm.

 

[Peanut_Power]

Main problem is it would be HER car. LoL There are battery powered pumps I suppose, just trying to think of a way that would be the least amount of hassle for her. If it was me in my car I would have the whole works, but I won't be up there to her place for another week. Tis her weekend to visit. LoL

 

[MonsterMinis]

I've traveled a few times ( recent was 1 hour, 3 hours prior) and both times moved my entire collection, including my bacteria colonies.. I kept my bio-media in a bucket. enough water to cover my bio media ( wheels, and ceramics) and simply dumped the buckets, bio-media, water, and all the stuff that fell offa the media in. I took no extra care other then this. long as it's not extreme temps you should be just fine. I did do a few extra water changes the first month, but i moved fully stocked tanks.

PS- the buckets where covered with a towel to keep fish water offa the car upholstry. the normal joustleing of a car ride seemed to keep everything arrated just fine.

 

[Richie_ELP]

I see. In that case, maybe an old Tupperware container with one hole in the lid for the tubing? That way it won't really spill. As long as she isn't a lead foot. Before using the little battery pumps as backup I would lose colonies after power failures that lasted a few hours.

 

[Richie_ELP]

PS- the buckets where covered with a towel to keep fish water offa the car upholstry. the normal joustleing of a car ride seemed to keep everything arrated just fine.

I thought about the movement of the water from the driving as well. You might just be fine sealing them in a good container.

 

[PostalPenguin]

Just keep the filters wet, don't worry about keeping them aerated, the bacteria will be fine.

 

[Oddball]

If your lfs uses O2 in their fish bags, you can get the culture inflated and banded there. Then just keep the temp stable for the trip.

 

[Morledzep]

my first thought was a bucket (5 gallon, plastic, filled about half way up) with a battery powered air pump on the floor in the front seat. i usually put a piece of egg crate light difuser over the top of the bucket and set the air pump on that. i see no reason why a towel couldn't be thrown over the top of the egg crate to contain any splashes or spills.

 

[cichlid2006]

Stick it in a tub with a decent air gap, or a fish bag and it should be fine for a couple of hours as long as the temp doesn't get too cold. I have transported fish from the store for over 2 hours in regular fish bags with no issues, I'm sure bacteria will survive.