mature bacteria question

[The Wolf Pack]

Since we've been made to stay home my wife's "to do list" gets longer every 36 minutes. Needless to say the room where my tank is she "needs" painted happy wife happy life right? So i have to breakdown the tank in that room so I can move them to paint. I suggested painting as far being the tank as I can reach to give the appearance that the entire wall is painted and i don't have to move the tank but her middle name is O.C.D so that didn't work. Anyways i have enough totes to put the fish in with a few hang on the back filters I have hanging around. The remaining media should I put in the same totes as the fish with an air stone or a separate tote with the remaining media? How long will the media last outside the tank in the tote full of aquarium water of course?


And second question I just picked up a 6" bass 3 weeks ago, previous owner stated he only ate tilapia but all my current fish are pellet trained. I've continued to feed my fish te pellets and the new fish isn't interested at all. I want to drop in a couple pieces of tilapia for about a week then stuff the tilapia with a pellet. Being that I've never fed tilapia do thaw it out completely (seems messy) do I feed the tilapia partially thawed or do i keep it frozen and cut the tilapia into chunks and drop it in?

 

[tlindsey]

Since we've been made to stay home my wife's "to do list" gets longer every 36 minutes. Needless to say the room where my tank is she "needs" painted happy wife happy life right? So i have to breakdown the tank in that room so I can move them to paint. I suggested painting as far being the tank as I can reach to give the appearance that the entire wall is painted and i don't have to move the tank but her middle name is O.C.D so that didn't work. Anyways i have enough totes to put the fish in with a few hang on the back filters I have hanging around. The remaining media should I put in the same totes as the fish with an air stone or a separate tote with the remaining media? How long will the media last outside the tank in the tote full of aquarium water of course?


And second question I just picked up a 6" bass 3 weeks ago, previous owner stated he only ate tilapia but all my current fish are pellet trained. I've continued to feed my fish te pellets and the new fish isn't interested at all. I want to drop in a couple pieces of tilapia for about a week then stuff the tilapia with a pellet. Being that I've never fed tilapia do thaw it out completely (seems messy) do I feed the tilapia partially thawed or do i keep it frozen and cut the tilapia into chunks and drop it in?

Don't allow the bio media to dry out and never rinse it off with undechlorinated water.
You can place the bio media and sponges in the HOB Filters or in the totes with fish. The bacteria on the bio media such as ceramic rings, plastic scrubbers, lava rock, Biomax, and sponges will survive because the fish will provide food for the bacteria.
Yes chop up peices of Tilapia the size the P Bass will be able to eat without problems.
Thaw the peices of Tilapia and insert pellets hopefully the PBass will eventually learn that the pellet is food.
I personally would place bio media in mesh aquarium safe bags and add to each tote.

 

[twentyleagues]

Since we've been made to stay home my wife's "to do list" gets longer every 36 minutes. Needless to say the room where my tank is she "needs" painted happy wife happy life right? So i have to breakdown the tank in that room so I can move them to paint. I suggested painting as far being the tank as I can reach to give the appearance that the entire wall is painted and i don't have to move the tank but her middle name is O.C.D so that didn't work. Anyways i have enough totes to put the fish in with a few hang on the back filters I have hanging around. The remaining media should I put in the same totes as the fish with an air stone or a separate tote with the remaining media? How long will the media last outside the tank in the tote full of aquarium water of course?


And second question I just picked up a 6" bass 3 weeks ago, previous owner stated he only ate tilapia but all my current fish are pellet trained. I've continued to feed my fish te pellets and the new fish isn't interested at all. I want to drop in a couple pieces of tilapia for about a week then stuff the tilapia with a pellet. Being that I've never fed tilapia do thaw it out completely (seems messy) do I feed the tilapia partially thawed or do i keep it frozen and cut the tilapia into chunks and drop it in?

Well the wife thing seems to be a common occurrence, either all "us" fish keepers are exactly the same, or we all like the same type of woman(for the most part) or it just cause we are guys or they are woman I'm not sure. Happy wife happy life is a lie, I was married for 18years and I'm the happiest I've been in about 13 years right now sans wife! Lol but that's me. I did everything to make her happy all the little to do lists and I suggest you do the same and try for the happy wife happy life thing because it's the right thing to do. Whether she will be happy or not will remain to be seen.

Any media not supplied with ammonia,nitrite, and flow will have the bacteria die. It would probably be best if you put the media with the fish.

Thaw the tilapia before feeding. I cut mine in chunks while still slightly frozen it's easier to me to cut it and I'm to impatient to allow it to thaw before I cut it. So technically I cut it frozen, chop it up in bite sized pieces and put it in some tank water to thaw the rest of the way, then feed.

On the wife thing again, how is she with the fish thing? Is she really good with it or not? The painting thing could be a plea to get rid of the fish....... This would be a que I missed in the past. And I also would not have sat down and had an honest discussion with her on it either, I am not saying argue just a real discussion because I would have been mad as my ex would have said she wanted them gone. I would not have been adult enough or I guess the better thing to say unselfish enough to give the hobby up (again) without holding it against her.
I've recently been thinking (obviously) about my "failings" as a husband. I don't regret it at all. Like I said I am as happy as I've been in 13 years. But I could have been better and given up more to make her happier I guess. Food for thought.

 

[The Wolf Pack]

Thanks for the replies. So mesh bags with the fish should be fine for the day. I definitely know to use strictly tank water for everything. As far as my wife these projects are the very least I can do for her. She's always supportive and 100% onboard with my fish craziness and much much more and has taken a road trip with me 7 hours round trip to pick up a few fish. I'm not sore about the painting, I have my brothers coming over to help but more concerned about the fish.

 

[Hendre]

Fish will be just fine with the media in the water like that! Hope it all goes well

 

[MrsE88]

I’ve always done well with just keeping whatever bio doesn’t fit in hob filters in with the fish likes others are saying to do.

On a positive note, this is a good time for deeper cleaning and a rescape ?

 

[twentyleagues]

Thanks for the replies. So mesh bags with the fish should be fine for the day. I definitely know to use strictly tank water for everything. As far as my wife these projects are the very least I can do for her. She's always supportive and 100% onboard with my fish craziness and much much more and has taken a road trip with me 7 hours round trip to pick up a few fish. I'm not sore about the painting, I have my brothers coming over to help but more concerned about the fish.

That's good to hear!

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Here is the thing about the bacterial colony which keeps our tank safe from ammonia, The size of the colony will always change in response to a change in the ammonia levels generated in a tank. Normally we worry about adding fish which will make more ammonia and not having enough bacteria to prevent a spike before the bacteria can reproduce enough to handle the increased load. We rarely consider what happens when we remove fish. Removing fish has the opposite effect. Less ammonia means fewer bacteria are needed and the colony will shrink back some.

In the situation here the basic rule is simple. If you move the entire fish from one tank to one Rubbermaid, then you can move all the filter media over as well. If there is decor and substrate in the tank, it will have some amount of bacteria on it as well, Plants also consume ammonia. If one has them, they should be moved as well. As soon as one starts to move the contents of a tank to different temporary containers, the nitrifying bacteria living on/in things also gets spread out.

In an established tank the bacteria are present in sufficient numbers that if we remove 25% of them, they will be replaced in a matter of hours. However, if we move the bacteria to a place where there is not sufficient ammonia available to support that number. The bacterial colony will shrink. However, if you move a filter to a container and keep it running but there is no ammonia. The bacteria will not die, they will go into a state of dormancy. It is better to have no ammonia than a reduced amount of ammonia. In the forst case the bacteria will die back but in the second case, it will basically go ro sleep. it will wake back up when ammonia is again available. The bacteria can sleep for many months before they will begin to lose enough individuals to matter. This is why the vialbe bacteria starters on the market can easily work having been in the bottle for six months at room temperature.

What does all of this suggest for the situation here?

1. If you can move the entire contents of a tank to one container, do so. This would include putting excess media into that tank as well as decor and substrate.
2. If you have to divide the contents of a tank to multiple containers, try to move a similar proportion of the tank contents to each container.
3. If you have to separate some of the bio-media into a separate container, I would put it all into one container. This should have a heater and an airstone if there is nothing roiling the surface. Then add ammonia to the water as needed. Start with 1 -2 ppm of ammonia, wait 24 hours and test. If ammonia is 0 you can add the same amount again or wait one more day and do so. If the ammonia is not 0, wait another 24 hours and retest. Do not add more ammonia unless you can test it at 0 ppm first.
4. Reduce feeding to all bt fry to minimize potential ammonia.

I have run my own bio-farm for cycling filters and/or keeping then cycled for future use for years. I use ammonia chloride. This is available online, Google "Dr. Tim's Ammonium Chloride"

p.s. The bacteria need inorganic carbon- cabonates will do. If you have a media container with only water and filters, add a small bag of crushed coral. Also. change at least 50% of the water weekly to prevent the potential build-up of nitrite or nitrate. Nitrite is less likely but it may appear at the outset as the nitriye bacteria take a bit longer than the ammonia ones to double their numbers.

 

[jeaninel]

Lol this why I put off painting and new floors in my house. Have 5 tanks and did not want to have to break them down and move them. Well, a plumbing mishap (flood) fixed that! Needless to say it was a blessing in disguise as I have a practically new house now with all fresh paint, new baseboards and new flooring. It was a big project and pita though. I still have my 75 and 55 in my kitchen which I need to move back to their spots lol.