Nearly ready to cycle

[Steo the great]

Hi again I got some water from the pet shop around the corner-from me and they gave me some water from there filter tanks. Will this do good to add to my tank

 

[Fishkeeper26]

Hi again I got some water from the pet shop around the corner-from me and they gave me some water from there filter tanks. Will this do good to add to my tank

Unfortunately very little to no beneficial bacteria is in the water column. So it won't help you cycle, plus you dont want to add water from fish stores into you tank s because you don't know what kind of disease could be in the water

 

[eco23]

Agreed, I'd skip it. It won't really help, it can bring in some nasties, and give you some confusing test results.

 

[Steo the great]

Agreed, I'd skip it. It won't really help, it can bring in some nasties, and give you some confusing test results.

Ok I skipped it but went out and got a used filter from a shop jut now. Should I rinse it in clean water first or just put it straight in thanks

 

[eco23]

I'd pop it right in. You especially don't want to rinse it in tap water because the chlorine will kill any of the bacteria. Good find...it'll help tremendously

 

[jetajockey]

Unfortunately very little to no beneficial bacteria is in the water column. So it won't help you cycle, plus you dont want to add water from fish stores into you tank s because you don't know what kind of disease could be in the water

That argument fails here because the guy is getting media anyway, so the 'disease' thing is going to happen anyway if it were to happen. (Who gets stuff from fish stores that have diseased fish anyhow???)

Too much regurgitation!

One thing that no one considered is if they actually squeezed out the filter media into a container and gave it to him, that would have lots of beneficial bacteria in it. If it was just straight water then it's mostly useless, but I've seen LFS do this before with their filter media for people.

 

[Fishkeeper26]

In my opinion I don't put anyone else's water in with my water because I don't know what's in their water

 

[eco23]

To me, it's measured risk vs reward. A bag of just water which won't likely have much effect anyway isn't going in my tank (squeezing out the media would sweeten the pot though). A nice established piece of media, although there are risks, is worth it IMO to get things moving.

The comments were also posted before the piece of media was mentioned...so the same principle doesn't apply.

Also, if disease was so easy to spot, I'm not sure why we bother quarantining anything if the fish simply look healthy.

 

[jetajockey]

I'm not saying disease is easy to spot, but it's pretty easy to go into a LFS and see if their fish are in a condition worth buying. If I wouldn't buy fish from a place I definitely wouldn't use their filter media.

The adding media thing is a gamble, sure, but it's not any less of a gamble than adding water, since it all comes from the same system.

I wouldn't look at it as a big gamble if I also got my stock from the same store (they came from that same water after all), or if I was cycling fishless. And if the LFS has pristine tanks and excellent stock, then I'd feel more confident about it also.

Believe it or not, some good LFS actually do have quarantine practices and keep their tanks in good shape.