hot water to a cold water tank

[DavidC]

does it hurt the beneficial bacteria to add hot water to a colder tank?... i removed some african cichlids out of a 150 gal tank temp 74, i removed the fish and did a water change but added 86 degree water to a previous 74 degrees.. does this kill beneficial bacteria or would it possibly spike a growth of bacteria.. also treated with prime and replaced some salt to get it ready for some new fish ;).. all filters are the same, never removed them from the water so i should have good bacteria on sponge and bio-ceramic beads... what do you guys think? i figured someone may have actual knowledge of the effects

[Eddie]

Shouldn't be a problem, generally its okay, just not scorching hot. It will be fine

Eddie

[Scribbles]

I don't think that a 12 degree change is enough to hurt the nitrifying bacteria. However, you might think about sterilizing all of the equipment before adding new fish which would mean starting a new cycle.

Chris

[Chad Hughes]

David,

Nope, you should be good to go. Some folks like to really break down a tank and bleach it prior to adding new fish. I typically don't do that unless I know I've had possible disease issues in that tank (like a hospital tank). What I do like to do before adding new fish it to get a 100% water change in before the new stock is added.

Hope that helps! Talk to you soon.

[DavidC]

thanks for the opinions... i didnt think 12 degrees would kill or sterilize anything, and definitely no chance of obvious disease... i guess there could always be a chance but even then a clean tank and a quarantined fish could bring in a disease that has just been hiding... most likely not but its possible.. so far after 2 days no crash so im guessing its ok