Should I add water from old tank to new tank?

[jgln]

I have a 125 been set up for about 10 years, fish are healthy, but as far as a reef tank goes I do have lots of critters running around but just 1 mushroom that struggles and sponges grow, that kind of stuff. But there is a lot of hair algae that is always clogging my powerheads. Tangs eat the young algae but not once it gets beyond a "film".

Anyway, I really need to get another tank set back up in case that tank ever leaks or cracks and I need an emergency place to put the fish in. Problem is I would really like a tank without all that algae especially if I an not going to have fish in there to eat it. The two tanks would be separate systems.

So is it a good idea to transfer some water from the 125 into this new tank or should I start fresh? Will the water contain algae? I'm guessing yes.

 

[heathlindner25]

Nothing good in the old water, I would fill it with new water.

 

[windlasher]

I have a 125 been set up for about 10 years, fish are healthy, but as far as a reef tank goes I do have lots of critters running around but just 1 mushroom that struggles and sponges grow, that kind of stuff. But there is a lot of hair algae that is always clogging my powerheads. Tangs eat the young algae but not once it gets beyond a "film".

Anyway, I really need to get another tank set back up in case that tank ever leaks or cracks and I need an emergency place to put the fish in. Problem is I would really like a tank without all that algae especially if I an not going to have fish in there to eat it. The two tanks would be separate systems.

So is it a good idea to transfer some water from the 125 into this new tank or should I start fresh? Will the water contain algae? I'm guessing yes.

I always use old water to start a new tank. As long as the old tank is healthy, I do a big water change and put it in the new tank. Never had a problem.

 

[jgln]

Interesting, 2 different opinions.

I would think it would help to use some of the old water to get the new tank "ready" faster, but my concern is algae, which I think would be "seeded" by using the water from a tank that already has unwanted algae growing.

When I moved from my apartment to a new house I upgraded from a 30g to a 125g. The problem was I couldn't set the new tank up until we went to settlement and I had 1 week to get out of the apartment.

....my solution. I bought huge Rubbermaid tubs, put them in my truck and drove to the ocean and filled them up and used that water to help fill about 1/3 of the water for the new tank. I had no issues and that was 10 years ago.

 

[ComforablyNumb]

Interesting, 2 different opinions.

I would think it would help to use some of the old water to get the new tank "ready" faster

Old water won't do that to any extent. Almost all of the useful bacteria are on surfaces like rock, sand, etc. Very little is in the water itself.

 

[kevin21]

Old water won't do that to any extent. Almost all of the useful bacteria are on surfaces like rock, sand, etc. Very little is in the water itself.

This is not correct. Certain algaes can have particles in the water column. I believe caulerpa is one of them. I dealt with something like this a couple years ago and I was lucky enough to have Sk8r give me some solid advice. USE NEW TANK WATER! Sadly, it is not worth the risk. If the tank was perfectly healthy I would say go for it. But due to your nutrient and hair algae issue, better to start fresh.

 

[billdogg]

I'm going to side with the "use all new water" group. I cannot think of a single good reason to use old water. A cup of sand or a piece or two of nice live rock to help seed the new system but no water at all.

 

[jgln]

Ok thanks, new water it is!

 

[trembz]

Have always used old water for transfers and never had issues.

Sent from my SM-G935W8 using Tapatalk

 

[TokiHacker]

i'm going to side with the "use all new water" group. I cannot think of a single good reason to use old water. A cup of sand or a piece or two of nice live rock to help seed the new system but no water at all.

+1

 

[ALLIDOISREEF]

+1

+2

 

[anthonys51]

i always use half new and half old when i move a tank. always buy dry base rock and put my live rock on top. I moved my old tank 3 times in past year and never lost a fish or coral in a move. To the people saying you can introduce algae with your old water, that is so laughable. even if you started a tank with new clean rock, water sand you will still have algae all over them in a few days. good maintenance and proper water chemistry controls algae
also nothing good in your old water, really shouldn't be anything bad either. i didn't realize my old tank was toxic waste.

but as you see on here you will get 100 different opinions when you ask a question. thats a good thing. do what works for you

 

[vashawn]

I had always old water to a new tank.
Never had an issue
my water para was always on point