Bacteria transport....

pitthull

pitthull

AC Members
Oct 20, 2005
49
0
0
60
Pittsburgh, PA
Does anyone have any good suggestions for transporting some good bacteria from one of my tanks -- I need to bring it from home to work with me tomorrow -- it will likely be here in the office all day -- then further transferred to a buddy's house after work. I will obviously put it in aquarium water -- but should I keep it in an airtight container -- do I need to keep it warm -- etc??? I am afraid that it could sit for 10 hours without waterflow/food/etc and all the bacteria will be DOA. My initial plan is to put it in a tupperware container full of water and to keep it at room temp in the office (around 72F). Thoughts??
 
You need to keep it oxygenated. It would be best if you could bring an airstone (with the pump of course) and plug it in at work. If not, you can just find a way to aggitate the water every half hour or so. You might get some dieoff, but I dont think it would be that much. Temperature isnt a big deal if its going to be at 70*F
 
thanks sf -- I'm actually bringing an airpump and accessories in for him as well -- guess I should have thought about that!! I'll just bubble it throughout the day! Thanks a million!
 
Hey no problem. Glad I could help. You may get some funny looks when there is an empty container of media/gravel sitting there with an airstone in it. Then even more when you tell them its for the bacteria LOL
 
Ah -- what the heck -- they all think I'm wierd anyway!!! :dance:
 
Not very far -- 20 mins to work -- 30 mins to his house -- it's the 8-10 hours of work in between that I'm worried about. I'm going to use just enough water to keep the filter media from one of my tanks floating and moist. I was just worried that being in an airtight container all day would kill the bacteria -- I'll be in my office -- and I'll have the pump I giving him so I'll just rig it up to let the airflow happen! Thanks!
 
The best way to keep it oxygenated is to emmerse the bacteria. Keep it in water only halfway full so that the bacteria stay moist but can still be exposed to air. As long as they don't dry out they will be fine.
 
Just a thought but wouldn't keeping it in a fridge slow down the bacteria and thus slow it's death rate? Much like keeping biospira in the fridge? Anyway you do it there will be some loss but there will be some bacteria that make it. I had no problems with a 5 hour car drive once. I just put my sponges in a tupperware container with some water to keep them wet.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom