Removed fish-took month vacation; can we use the old water?

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julicat

Aquarium Advice Regular
Joined
May 23, 2004
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Location
San Francisco, CA
I set up a 10 gallong in friends' house. Ran it for a while. Got a plant. Eventually got one Zebra Danio. Then all was fine, Danio was healthy. After a coupla months, the friends went to Ireland for a month. I took the plant and danio and put them in my tank. Their tank sat lightless, filterless, with standing water in it for the month. I was going to basically start again. Get rid of the old water, re-rinse the gravel, etc. My friend called me and said, "Oh, we just started the filter again with the water it already had, is this okay?

And, truly, I don't know the answer. Would completely new water be better? Does it matter either way?

-juliicat
 
I would add at least half fresh water. If it were really my tank, I would doa whole water change. The tank is not likely cycled any more.
 
My first thought was to basically start over, too. Empty out all the water, wash out the gravel in case anything evil began to grow in the stagnant month...but when asked, I did not know the answer.

Any suggestions for smart-sounding things I can say to my friend as to why new water is better than the old water?

When a more or less cycled tank becomes fishless and idle, does the biological process that'd been in place...sorta go bad?

Also, as an aside, I hang on to the idea that putting a plant in a fishless tank is sort of a beginning of some biological process. If the plant has light and food, part of a healthy system is starting up. I know the plant will do better when fish are added.
 
When a more or less cycled tank becomes fishless and idle, does the biological process that'd been in place...sorta go bad?
Yes. If the bacteria are not fed, they die.

Also, as an aside, I hang on to the idea that putting a plant in a fishless tank is sort of a beginning of some biological process. If the plant has light and food, part of a healthy system is starting up.
Hmmm, I'm not sure about that. Is the plant beind fed? When fish poo, the ammonia is converted to nitrite, which is converted to nitrate (plant fertilizer).
I know the plant will do better when fish are added.
Absolutely!

As for the stagnant water. Would you fill up a bathtub and let it sit for a month or so and then get in it??
 
"As for the stagnant water. Would you fill up a bathtub and let it sit for a month or so and then get in it??"

OKAY, OKAY! Sheesh.

Maybe THAT will be what I say to my friend. "WELL: Would you fill up a bathtub and let it sit for a month or so and then get in it??"

Nobutseriously, thanks as always for the informacion. Will reclean everything.
 
The bathtub thing is gross, but the symbolism is good!

Just stir around the gravel in the tank and then siphon all the water out. I would not take out the gravel and rinse it separately.
 
"Poo" is accepted by the FCC to be said over the airwaves instead of poop or some of the other lovely descriptive terms, and as it is a word you might use when potty training a child, it is perfectly acceptable as a family-friendly term. We could say "waste" also, if you prefer. :wink:

Let's say there was some leftover food in the bottom of that neglected tank, it would likely grow fungus, so tell your friend that you are avoiding fungus. That ought to do it. :D
 
hehe, not to be nitpicky, but poop is allowed by the FCC too :D i work at my college's radio station which is why i know this trivial stuff... though i guess it isn't trivial when there are huge fines involved for when you mess up

still, poo sounds better :D
 
Cool! I did not know you could say poop! Around here there is a radio station that gets fined by the FCC quite a bit for its morning show, and now they don't ever say "poop" but only poo - Thanks for clearing that up, rubysoho, and I guess I'll stop before I have to move myself to the Lounge, LOL!
 
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