Can I store saltwater???

[Nmertz1]

Hey guys,

I am in the process of transferring over my 29gal biocube to a 50gal cadlights cube.. I just have the tank, stand and sump as of now and there are a few things I still need to purchase which will take a few weeks to get what I need..

My question is that can I slowly start saving water from my biocube when I do water changes so I will enough water when I move everything over to the larger tank? I just don't want to have to add "un-established" water to my new tank.

Any comments help!

Thank you

 

[SquidBreath]

Tagging along here...am interested in what people might know about how long salt water stores....new or used.

Having done a few tank Xfers lately, I would say do a good water change a couple days before your move. Then save as much of the water as you can from the move and replace the rest with new salt water. Don't save the stuff you are transporting the livestock in as you move.
I would say you should be able to keep about half.

 

[Nmertz1]

Great thank you! I'm curious how long it will last if I store it in buckets as well.. Not sure if the water would go bad or grow algae.

 

[SkyDiv3r17]

Hey guys,

I am in the process of transferring over my 29gal biocube to a 50gal cadlights cube.. I just have the tank, stand and sump as of now and there are a few things I still need to purchase which will take a few weeks to get what I need..

My question is that can I slowly start saving water from my biocube when I do water changes so I will enough water when I move everything over to the larger tank? I just don't want to have to add "un-established" water to my new tank.

Any comments help!

Thank you

You must be a little confused. The purpose of a water change is to bring "fresh" water into your system and to replenish things in your tank. If you save the water from the water change, you're just going to be adding old water into your system

It should be perfectly fine to just add the 29 gallons of water (from your tank) to the new 50 and then add probably 27ish (counting rock volume) of fresh salt water. This way, you are still "diluting" but its easier than saving water, keeping a pump and maybe a bubbler/heater in there to keep it going.

I would also do probably a 10 gallon WC like 3 days before the big swap. That way you get them some fresh salt water!

BTW the water isn't necessarily "established", it's the substrate/rocks/filters, etc.

 

[SquidBreath]

Right...sorry...wasn't clear.
What I was saying was to give the existing tank a good water change about two days before the move.
Then when moving, save most of the water from the original tank, for use in the new tank. Still will have to add in new saltwater...but the old water should bring a lot of good bacteria over.

 

[jda123]

If you let it sit for too long, it will shift. The water will grow new bacteria to consume what is in the water, and the old bacteria that is not needed will die. It won't look like the water that came out of the tank if you let it sit for long. In any case, it will need to be oxygenated and kept warm.

 

[deboy69]

You can store new water for a while. Just keep in mind the calcium alk mag and etc will start to precipitate out the longer it sits. Now for old water you may be OK as long as it is heated and circulated. I would test you old water to make sure it's OK to add such as nitrates nitrite and ammonia.

Edit I wouldn't keep it longer than a day or two on your old water.
KCCO

 

[Nmertz1]

You must be a little confused. The purpose of a water change is to bring "fresh" water into your system and to replenish things in your tank. If you save the water from the water change, you're just going to be adding old water into your system

It should be perfectly fine to just add the 29 gallons of water (from your tank) to the new 50 and then add probably 27ish (counting rock volume) of fresh salt water. This way, you are still "diluting" but its easier than saving water, keeping a pump and maybe a bubbler/heater in there to keep it going.

I would also do probably a 10 gallon WC like 3 days before the big swap. That way you get them some fresh salt water!

BTW the water isn't necessarily "established", it's the substrate/rocks/filters, etc.

That really helps thanks for clearly that up. I just thought that if I added that much "new water" that my tank would have to re-cycle. But you don't think that will be the case?

Thanks!

 

[Walkpraz]

"Established" water typically contains more bad than good in a new system. Just add fresh saltwater and some rock from the old system and cycle the tank. Personally I wouldn't worry about saving old water from your existing setup and using it in your new one.

 

[deboy69]

If it's going to be weeks as you said I would advise against it. As said earlier water really doesn't contain the bacteria you're thinking it does its in the rock

KCCO

 

[Nmertz1]

"Established" water typically contains more bad than good in a new system. Just add fresh saltwater and some rock from the old system and cycle the tank. Personally I wouldn't worry about saving old water from your existing setup and using it in your new one.

Can I still transfer my corals and everything over though same day?

 

[deboy69]

Fish should be drip acclimated. Corals can too or not it's your choice.

KCCO

 

[Walkpraz]

As long as the tanks cycled, yep that should be fine.

 

[xxHLTxx]

Fish should be drip acclimated. Corals can too or not it's your choice.

KCCO

i personally like to drip fish as Deboy said, but for corals and inverts i prefer to do a slower drip than for fish.

Fish i do probably 3-4 drips per second, inverts/corals i will tend to do about 1 drip a second. I like to let the coral and inverts acclimate slower... but thats just me.

Ive seen people take fish out and put fish directly in... same with corals... and they do fine

 

[SkyDiv3r17]

Glad to clear things up for you. For what it's worth, when I swapped everything from my 45 to my 75, I put rocks in a 29 gallon with most of the water, and put 3 chromis, 2 clownfish, 1 gobby, misc crabs and my 6 corals in a 5 gallon bucket. I added a heater and a 450 pump and left them overnight while the new water that I added to the substrate (which I had moved from the 45 to the 75) cleared up. Everything turned out great. Just make sure to use a heater and a bubbler/pump to where ever you have fish/corals!

 

[xxHLTxx]

To be honest. If you're going to transfer, my best opinion would be to save what water u can from the transfer, swap rocks and sand... And then fill with fresh saltwater and call it a water change. LoL.